In his work, Fleming explained that if the Soviets wanted to attack the united states of America they had done it because they had all the necessary equipment but at that period the nation was more interested in its inner politics than conquering the world. Seeing the Soviet Union as its biggest threat and being afraid of the “Domino” effect, the American government decided to take actions by supporting the rebels in Latin America and countries that were gaining their independence in a hope that these societies will adopt the capitalist ideology. The decisions that the USA made where not always elaborated and in some cases they did more harm than good. Isolating the U.S.S.R from the world politics was
How far do you agree with the view that the developments of the cold war in the year 1945-8 owed more to soviet expansionism than to USAs economic interests? The developments of the conflict within the cold war (1945-48) are something of intense debate for many years. Historians such as Wolfson and Laver (S7) accredit the influence that Russian expansionism contributed to the conflict between the USA and the Soviet Union. In contrast this prospective is contrasted by Terry Morris and Derek Murphy’s prospective (S8) which places emphasis on how US economic interests were seen as a threat to the USSR and thus contributed to East-West tensions. Source 9 written by Michael Lynch adopts both prospective of USSR expansionism and also US economic interests, however Lynch also emphasises misjudgement and misperceptions which contribute to the conflict conceived at Cold War.
This, however, was seen by the Soviet Union as a form of economic expansion through which the Americans were bringing Eastern European states into their own sphere of influence, and was a direct challenge to their authority. It is possible to argue that the Americans were indeed trying to help struggling states with their growth and that the aims were purely altruistic in nature. However, it must be noted that the Marshall Plan did have strings attached, forcing the countries that it provided aid for to open their markets for American goods and not advancing it to countries who did not do
In my opinion, USSR actions were not primarily responsible for the division of Germany, despite that most of Stalins actions were very influent in terms of the division in Germany. On the one hand, the USSR actions were primarily responsible for the division of Germany in 1949, because the Stalins policies had very significant pressure of Western Allies, therefore they encouraged the Cold War as well as division. First of all, Stalin’s determination to create a buffer zone for the future protection of the USSR, and the breakdown of wartime cooperation as a result of Soviet encroachment in Eastern Europe resulted in discredit between Eastern and Western zones. Nevertheless, Stalin’ introduction of communist-style government in the Soviet zone and in other areas occupied by the Soviet army, which alarmed The USA in particular try to prevent communism spread, because its frightened Allies a lot, therefore the introduction of constitution on the points of Basic Law in FRG, proves FRG’s political and ideological aggression on GDR. Moreover, Stalins’ decision to impose the Berlin Blockade which led directly to the heightening of Cold War tensions, as well
APUSH Unit 6: Making of Modern America Chapter 37 Application ?s and Key Terms 1. In what ways was the Eisenhower era a time of caution and conservatism and in what ways was it actually a time of economic, social and cultural change? The Eisenhower era was considered a time of caution and conservatism. Eisenhower’s dynamic conservatism called for a liberal attitude towards society but pursed conservative economic and political actions. Also, the fear of the Soviet Union and communism brought along extreme anti-communist like Joseph McCarthy whose accusatory actions indicated the perhaps excessive and unnecessary caution taken by the American people.
Assess the view that the disagreements about the Second Front were the most significant cause of tension between Russia and the Western Allies between 1941 and 1945 It can be argued that the single most important cause of tension between the Allies during WW2 were the on-going disagreements over the opening of a Second Front in Europe by the Western Allies. However some historians have suggested that other factors were the primary cause of tension, including the core ideological differences between Russia and the West, the disagreements over Poland and Eastern Europe and finally the change in American leadership in 1945. We can begin to measure the amount of tension caused by each factor during the war by using as our principal criterion the intensity and longevity of any tensions caused, as well as looking at the reactions of the leaders from primary evidence. The disagreements over the second front were arguably the most significant cause of tension between the Western Allies and Russia between 1941 and 1945. This interpretation is presented by McCauley who argues that “the question of the second front was to bedevil tensions between the Allies during the war”.
Evaluate the impact of crisis in Asia on superpower policies in the period to the 1970’s. Evaluate the impact of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on the cold war. To what extent were Soviet attitudes and policies under Gorbachev responsible for ending the cold war? Evaluate the contribution of the Reagan administration to the ending of the Cold War. Account for the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR?
In the period directly following Soviet liberation of Nazi-held Eastern Europe, it became evident of the Russian desire to dominate that very region. The reasons for this are manifold, but one of the most significant reasons was a desire to ensure the USSR’s security. Russia had repeatedly been attacked through Eastern Europe (and most specifically Poland), from the time of Napoleon to Hitler not 4 years ago. With America and its allies building up force in Western Europe, Stalin was bound to be suspicious of the capitalist powers, even more so considering the increasing level of anti-communist demagoguery in America. Having a series of puppet states in Eastern Europe would give the metropole invaluable security, ensuring that the states which bordered it were friendly and would support it in a theoretical invasion.
• Who was more to blame for the start of the Cold War, the USA or the USSR? The origins of the Cold War; the 1945 summit conferences including the parts played by Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin and Truman, and the breakdown of the USA-USSR alliance in 1945–6; Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe; the Iron Curtain; the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan; the Berlin Blockade and its immediate consequences. June 2012 | Q.2 (a) What was the Iron Curtain? [4] (b) Explain why Berlin was a cause of tension between East and West between 1945 and 1949. [6] (c) How successful was the West in containing Communism in Europe up to 1949?
They pointed out that on his accession to office he possessed limited knowledge of foreign policy. Also, his rather abrupt and aggressive manner led to a rapid deterioration in US/Soviet relations. Many candidates also cited the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Pan as examples of how Truman could be held responsible for escalating tensions in the Cold War. To support this viewpoint, several mentioned revisionist interpretations of Cold War developments. Some, however, wrote an effective assessment of Truman’s role without considering other factors – which ignored the command ‘how far …?’which required Truman’s role to be evaluated against other factors.