This idea is strengthened by the fact that the USSR brought in visions such as Cominform and Comencon, while the United States introduced ideas like the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine. However, it is not clear whether the division was due to a collective influence of policies, aims and interests; or whether it was in fact mainly the fault of the Soviet Union and its harsh plans and ideas towards post-war Germany. It is evident that the USSR did lead a major role in increasing tensions between the victors of the Second World War between 1945 and 1845, which did lead to the division of Germany. This is clear through Stalin’s use of policies that were implemented after 1945, and the plans that he had in place for Germany; such as Stalin’s determination to create a buffer zone between the West and the USSR; and also the Soviet’s general attitude towards Germany. Stalin wanted to protect the USSR from future conflicts with Germany, as this was a big issue that wasn’t properly addressed in 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference, and definitely was not dealt with in the Treaty of Versailles.
The tactics exercised by the U.S. and Great Britain were created to impede the Soviet Union’s endeavor to explicate pushover communist governments over subverted nations, with this approach Truman exposed his doctrine which pursued a responsibility in determining U.S. relevance’s. Winston Churchill’s public speech in March of 1946 was the principal impassion of what commenced the Cold War. Truman was solicited by his official’s not to advocate Churchill’s declarations, but he was enraged from Stalin’s refuted affirmation of enabling the polish people to establish their own structure of government, and publicly advocated the speech. The American populaces were dismayed by Truman’s arbitration, because Russia was
Their relations were worsen during Potsdam conference. Truman were the new USA president, he is very different from Roosevelt, he was much more anti-communist and suspicious of Stalin, he saw USSR's action in Eastern Europe a preparation of taking over the rest of the world. In Potsdam conference, USSR and USA had disagreement on the future of Germany, USSR want to impose heavy reparation on Germany as fear a strong Germany would post a threat to USSR in future, however USA want Germany to rebuild as Truman did not want to repeat the mistake in Treaty of Versailles again. Stalin was determined to protect USSR interest, so he was dissatisfied as the part of Germany he was controlling was pooper and less industry. Stalin was also obsessed with the security of USSR so the successful test of atomic bomb in USA
These actions support and represent a competitive capitalist economy, defense for the United States’ border, and encourage rights and democracy worldwide. After World War II, the Soviet Union had forced communism upon several Eastern European countries whom of which they had liberated. The United States feared that once a country became communist, other countries would follow forming the “Domino Theory.” Therefore the United States had shifted the American foreign policy to the policy of Containment. The United States must counteract all communist moves and decisions by the Soviet Union, therefore becoming involved with Vietnam. The goal was to contain countries with a communist government, and prevent the spread of communism to other countries.
Kennan predicted the types of laws the Soviet would try to make to defeat the U.S. and explained why we should accept them. Keenan believed that we did not have to go to war to put a stop to the Soviet Union, although this letter leads to the Cold War. Kennan felt the Union would eventually collapse on their own because they were built on weak principles like isolationism and fear. Kennan in all was trying to make the United States stand up for what we knew was right, if the U.S got stronger in political and economic influences we could stop communism and the Soviet Union. The NSC-68 was way more aggressive than the Long Telegram instead of discussion; the NSC-68 was more direct.
Mao was seen as an instrument of the Soviet Union’s bid to spread worldwide revolution. However, by 1958 relationships between the USSR and China began to deteriorate. One of the most dangerous points of tension during the whole of the cold war was the Taiwan Strait Crisis which occurred in both 1954-55 and 1958 between the USSR and China. The first Taiwan Strait Crisis ended when the Guomindang abandoned the Taschen Islands to the communists but held onto Quemoy and Matsu and at the same time the CCP took a more moderate line and negotiations was started. However, tension came to the
To what extent was the deterioration in Sino-Soviet relations in the years 1958-1969 due to personal rivalries? After the Communist revolution in China 1949, Sino-Soviet relations were thought, and feared, to be the start of a revolution that could threaten communism in China that could threaten communism in countries world wide. However, from the time of the Great Leap forward of 1958 to the Ussuri River dispute of 1969 these two once great allies had brought one another to the brink of nuclear war. The question is whether this was down to nothing more than the individual personalities of the heads of states, or was it more do do with the national rivalries that had been abundant even before the rise of communism in either country? In 1958 the Great Leap Forward was a Chinese policy designed to start an industrial revolution across China.
The responsibility of the origins of the Cold War often triggers questions among historians yet both powers should be blamed for taking part in it and how the fear from unpaid reparations from Russia, Stalin’s fear of the nuclear weapon and Stalin’s fear of the Truman Doctrine. Through most analyses, the fault was often given to Stalin’s ambitions to expand communism in Europe, a conventional idea of the Orthodox school. Other historians revised this idea therefore blame the United States’ actions for the origins of the Cold War, which were analyses of the Revisionists. Though Later, the Post-Revisionist school was adopted; its goal was not to blame any side but focused on examining “what” caused the start of it. Even though, both sides have claimed responsibility for their actions, Stalin’s intentions should be seen as defense actions from the West therefore, the United States is mostly responsible for the start of the Cold War.
World History since the End of WWII 1. What were the major events that led to the breakdown of the Grand Alliance (created during the WWII)? Three nations had underlying attitudes towards one another. The U.S opposed the Russian communism and British imperialism whereas Britain wasn’t consent with the U.S economic dominance. Russia opposed the others’ capitalism.
Modern History Assignment International Studies in Peace and Conflict: The Cold War “Evaluate the view that the ideologies of capitalism and communism influenced policies and strategies in the Cold War.” While the Cold War has come to be defined as "a clash of ideologies" by a majority of historians, the principles of capitalism and communism were exaggerated in political rhetoric by both the United States and the Soviet Union. Although the conflicting ideologies had a formative influence on the early strategies of the two superpowers – establishing a framework that would shape future policy - national and economic interests had a more significant impact on overall Cold War foreign response. However, an assessment of influences on policy making must be more complex than simply ‘ideological’ or ‘economic’. As Martin McCauley writes, "the weaknesses of the orthodox and revisionist analyses are evident: the former pays little attention to the legitimate security needs of the USSR, while the latter ignores Soviet behaviour which gave rise to shifts in American policy." In examining the factors that shaped the various strategies of the struggle, a more balanced post-revisionist approach must be taken.