The origins of the cold war are not really that difficult to uncover. Nor are these origins that complex. Here in the west we have the tendency -- not unusual, I suppose -- to place the entire responsibility of the cold war upon the shoulders of the Soviet Union. And so, there have been a few events which have shaped this response. For instance, when Mother Russia overthrew its tsar, made a revolution, became the Soviet Union, unified itself under Lenin and created an ideological structure called communism, the United States could only react with fear and trepidation.
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.
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.
However, you shouldn't make the assumption that devotion to ideology was all that was behind Cold War animosity; countries tend to be more complaint trading partners with countries that share their political systems and both Stalin and the Cold War Era presidents in the US knew this. The tension eventually built, but no one wanted to go to actual war again after the colossal massacre of WWII, hence the term Cold War. 2. Describe and explain the ideological differences between the United Stated and the Soviet Union. In 1917, Russia became a communist country with an agenda of converting the world to communism.
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
Another significant reason why the US intervened in South East Asia was the power vacuum after Dien Bien Phu. The French were defeated and withdrew from Vietnam, and the US were worried that China, or even perhaps the Soviets would begin to take control. Then Ho Chi Minh emerged as a potential leader; Ho had spent time in Moscow and the US viewed him as a communist rather than a nationalist, which meant they feared him being in power and therefore, they had to get involved in South East Asia. Alternatively, the US may have intervened in South East Asia because of the lack of faith in the Geneva accords.
Anti-Communism and McCarthyism In the 1940s and early 1950s following World War II the communist Soviet Union was aggressively expanding. This expansion created a threat to America, and the beliefs it was built upon. The fear of communist expansion and control created an anti-communist movement throughout the American government and its people. Anti-communism did not just create foreign concerns but also domestic concerns in the public and government. Truman in the late 1940s, started to introduce doctrines that moved for the “containment” of communist expansion and influence in Europe.
Many would question how a country like Afghanistan could have had any impact on the strongest communist nation of all time, the United of Soviet Socialist Republics, and most people would answer by saying that U.S.S.R was already on the verge of falling apart and Afghanistan was the final conflict that pushed it. I believe that Afghanistan was a strong role in the fall of the Soviet Union. The outcome of the invasion of Afghanistan had proved that the Red Army was in fact not untouchable. Thus, this had caused many Russian republics to demand independence and challenge the Red Army. And most importantly, the economy of the Soviet Union was in ruins after the U.S.S.R had chose to spend massive amounts of money on wars and the arms race.
They thought a departure from this model would signify a Soviet surrender to the Capitalist West in the ideological war. However, not all policies resulted in failure and devastating suffering (Allen 1964). One notable exception was the policy of Peaceful Coexistence instituted by Khrushchev. Until then, the country had been led by Josef Stalin. Under Stalin’s leadership, many oppressive and rigid policies were put in place.
During his rule as General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Stalin was able to create a highly totalitarian regime. This was achieved by the dictator’s notorious use of terror, by controlling information and mass media and Stalin’s prominent cult of personality. However, the extent of the totalitarian rule didn’t achieve similar levels throughout the whole state. Stalin’s use of terror as a method of eliminating opposition was a key factor in the establishment of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union. In the early 1930’s Stalin felt threatened by his growing opposition and was determined to bring the party under his total control.