Origins of Cold War

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How far do you agree with the view that the origins of the Cold War in 1945 and 1946, owed much to the ideological differences and little to do with personalities and conflicting national interests? In 1945 and 1946, Europe was in a state of flux and instability. It had undergone a long period of upheaval following the two major conflicts in the early part of the twentieth century. All the major powers were struggling to find a way forward that not only protected their national interests but ensured that another war could be avoided. With such different ideologies and conflicting national interests, and the different personalities of the Big Three, mistrust and suspicion would naturally arise. Historians have long debated the role of these factors and their relative importance. In line with the Post Revisionist school of thought, I believe that it was the situation in Europe at the time that led to conflicting national interest and the personalities of the leaders of the Superpowers, combined with ideological differences that played a major role in the origins of the Cold War. This school of thought argues that it was not one single set of circumstances that led to the Cold War but instead a complicated web of factors. An ideology is a set of ideas and beliefs that forms the basis of an economic or political system. The USA and USSR began to develop conflicting sets of ideologies during the very early part of the Twentieth century, even before the First World War. There is no doubt that the difference in their ideologies contributed to the origins of the Cold War. Communism, based on the ideas of Karl Marx, was a set of ideas and beliefs in direct opposition to the ideas and beliefs of Capitalism. In the USSR, Capitalism was viewed as responsible for producing a divided society with the rich one side and the poor on the other. The Soviets wanted their society to
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