That would make Germany weaker and put a buffer zone between Germany and the Soviet Union, Germany had invaded the Soviet Union twice in 30 years and Stalin wanted to ensure that it would not happen again. He also wanted to guarantee that Poland had a pro-Soviet government. Stalin already had a government who were in exile: the Lublin Poles. But Roosevelt and Churchill supported another group, the strongly anti-Communist ‘London Poles’. These Poles had helped organize the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, aiming to gain part of Poland before Stalin’s Red Army took full control of the country.
Later that year in Potsdam, many open disagreements took place because Germany had lost the war so Russia had promised to fulfil, Churchill had lost the 1945 election and Roosevelt died so Truman, who replaced him was angered by the large scale reparations imposed on Germany and the setting up of a communist government in Poland. He did not trust Russia, so kept him in the dark about him having the atomic bomb in 1945 before he dropped it on Japan to get them to surrender. By America using the atomic bomb, Stalin knew that it was possible for it to be used against them. Russia was therefore tricked by America preventing the Red Army from going to Japan. This threatened Russia and warned them that America was wary of them and could act on it.
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.
Personal differences between Khrushchev and Mao rather than ideological views and national interests were responsible for China’s rapprochement with the USA in the 1970’s. How far do you agree with this statement? The USA and Russia’s bitter feud throughout the cold war took a drastic turn when China turned to the USA in the 1970’s, many did not anticipate the move given the Chinese had been on the Soviets communist side in the preceding years. Relationship changes between the Chinese and Soviet leaders are credited with the split but within their differences it is debatable as to what really caused the split. Some argue that ideological views and nationalist interests were the key factor however some dispute that the personal differences between the two leaders got to a point of no reconciliation.
Communism’s goal was to bring down capitalism in any way possible. When Stalin came into power in 1924, the US mistrusted him even more. During this time, Germany was in the process of building itself up. Stalin was concerned that Russia would be attacked and the US was concerned watching Hitler spread his rule. Stalin and the US created a brief alliance because they were both concerned with stopping Hitler.
After the second world war, the Soviet Union occupied several countries in eastern Europe by not allowing them to have free elections. By doing that they created a buffer zone in order to protect their ideology. The government of America saw it as a violation of their pledge and the possible spread of the disliked ideology all over the world. This motivated the States to put their energy into an arms race and to be ready for a Soviet invasion, which actually never happened because this might not even have been the goal of the Soviet Union. 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.
This shows a reluctance to fight another war – a reluctance that would have undoubtedly been heightened by Churchill’s speech which looked to provoke hostilities. The US secretary of Commerce, Henry Wallace, was appalled by Churchill’s speech and subsequently claimed that Russia was a “force that cannot be handled successfully by a ‘get tough with Russia’ policy” because he advocated the need for peace and
There were a combination of reasons as to why relations between the USA and the USSR grew worse by 1948, but the underlying cause were the ideological differences between the two superpowers; USA (capitalism) and the USSR (communism). Once Germany was defeated, the joint aim of the allies was achieved and they were no longer forced to cooperate in an, “Marriage of Convenience”. From then on, the relationship between the USA and the USSR worsened. One main reason as to how the relationship between the Soviet Union and the USA grew worse was because of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. At the Yalta conference, Roosevelt’s death in 1945 brought an end to any superficial unity that still existed at the end of 1943 and Stalin had promised free elections in the countries of Eastern Europe.
Lenin’s real opinion of Stalin was highly negative. He was so concerned about Stalin becoming leader that he made a plea in his testament to do anything to stop this. ‘I suggest that the comrades think about a way of removing Stalin from that post and appointing another man in his stead.’ As well as his view to not see him as leader, Lenin described Stalin as ‘rude’, but more importantly, favored Trotsky to be his successor in the testament, stating that he was ‘most capable’ individual to lead Russia. If it wasn’t for Stalin using his role as secretary of state to keep this document hidden, these opinions of Lenin would have influenced the public hugely, as his death alone attracted millions of people to pay their respects. Stalin not only stopped a negative opinion of him costing leadership, but he completely turned that opinion upside down, persuading the public that he was very close to the much loved Lenin.
Stalin’s personality can be seen as two-faced because it was both Zinoviev and Kamenev who argued his case for Lenin’s testament not to be published which revealed that Stalin was not to be trusted, they argued that it undermined the authority of the government. Stalin can also be seen as ambitious and persuasive as he now had joined up with Bukharin the unofficial theorist on the right wing against the left wing. During the congress they both were able to produce a good speech as to why they were in support of the NEP. Stalin’s persuasive techniques lead to people joining his side and