Fear of the other country laying influence of their ideology, as a means to gain power, tensions rose. These tensions were fueled by the truman doctrine, which requested 400 million from congress to help combat communism in greece and turkey. The purpose of the Truman doctrine was to provide American economic and military assistance to any nation threatened by communism. The US feared the encroaching soviet strength, which perpetually launched them into an arms race with the U.S.S.R. The Soviets broke the US nuclear monopoly, and that struck fear into all americans, there is now someone just as dangerous as you are.
Though this treat he was able to have his way at the Yalta conference. Truman thought of America as the World’s atomic power and was assured by Cabinet advisers; America would reign supreme in the arms race. However Joseph Stalin was also attempting to build Russia’s power in this arms race too. Truman began to get tough on Russia in 1946 when there were strong protests in the Iran against Russian Troops. The Soviets had denied sharing control of the Turkish Straits as they had claimed they would not have.
To what extent was the nuclear arms race a stabilising factor in the Cold War between 1949 and 1963? The nuclear arms race was undoubtedly a significant factor is stabilising the relations between the superpowers of the Soviet Union and USA in the period 1949 to 1963. Although the superpowers came close to war on four occasions during this period: the Berlin Crisis, the Korean War, the Taiwan Strait Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Whilst all these crises indicate major tensions and possibly instability, the fact that the superpowers did not engage in a direct war shows that nuclear weapons created a balance of terror and therefore could be considered a major stabilising factor in the Cold War. Stalin was determined to make the Soviet Union a nuclear power, after the USA created the first atomic bombs during the Second World War, which were tested in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
How far was the nuclear arms race a threat to world peace 1949-1963? The period of 1949 to 1963 saw increasing developments in nuclear technology by the Soviet Union and the Americans. The word ‘race’ meant that both superpowers aimed to match each other and gain the upper hand in terms of nuclear missile technology. Nuclear arms were seen as a form of scare tactic against the opposition as they both felt threatened by each other’s ideological capabilities. It was also used as a defence mechanism in case of future attack.
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.
, highlighting that he believed without the use of atomic weapons, the Cold War was not an inevitability. Despite the pre-existing tensions between East and West, the use of atomic weaponry amplified the Soviet’s paranoia causing Stalin to authorise ‘a crash Soviet program to catch up’ , signifying the start of the Cold War which would shape the course of the twentieth century. A key significance of the use of atomic weapons in 1945 was the ethical implications that using such weaponry held. As Stalin stated ‘war is barbaric, but using the A-bomb is superbarbarity’ . Stalin’s view is supported by Admiral D Leahy, who in his memoirs writes ‘we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages’ This quote holds a substantial amount of weight to my argument due to Admiral D Leahy’s position as Roosevelt and Truman’s chief of staff, it would be expected for a man of such status to hold a view in support of America’s actions.
The blame for the Cold War cannot be placed on one person -- it developed as a series of chain reactions as a struggle for power. It can be argued that the Cold War was inevitable, and therefore no one's fault, due to the differences in the capitalist and communist ideologies. It was only the need for protection that had caused the two countries to sink their differences temporarily during the Second World War. Yet many of the tensions that existed in the Cold War can be attributed to Stalin's policy of Soviet expansion. Stalin's foreign policies contributed an enormous amount to the tensions of the Cold War.
Truman’s foreign policy may have been a major cause to start up the cold war due to his aggressive economic policy. There are many arguments that support the theory that Truman did actually contribute largely in starting up the Cold War. In the Potsdam conference, Truman had replaced Roosevelt as the new president and told Stalin that the USA had tested an atomic bomb, in order to intimidate him and try to show him the US’s superiority. Truman also had promoted the European Recovery Programme and The Marshall Plan, these two projects provided economic aid to European countries in an attempt to keep them in a capitalist government instead of having them turn to a communist government in an attempt to solve their problem, this also led to create fear in the USSR since the USA was attempting to make allies in the Eastern parts of Europe, attempting to both contain communism and to enclose Russia. The Marshall Aid plan also created worry in the USSR since it was revitalizing the German economy and it was the Germans who had twice invaded the USSR and caused great damage to it, especially Hitler’s regime, which had invaded less that five years ago and Russia was still recovering from the damage caused.
As if to reinforce the fear of communism, two spies working on behalf of the Soviet Embassy were discovered in an event known as the Petrov Affair and reignited the fear of communism which became stronger than ever before. The government’s seemingly desperate response to communism, such as sending Australian troops overseas in forward defence and in the hopes of displaying loyalty to America in return for support in a potential attack, also added to the fear of communism among citizens as they realised their own government saw communism as a menace. It is evident that events such as the Petrov Affair, a direct result of the Cold War, made Australian society extremely anxious about the threat of communism and this lead to substantial tension within the community. Unease within society became quite apparent as people became more concerned over national security and the government continued to send troops overseas to fight in wars against communist powers. During the 50’s and 60’s, there were many political and social protests within Australia and it was evident that the nation was split on many issues, especially those regarding war.
In order to end the conflict of the World War II, a weapon that surpassed all other conventional weapons of that time would need to be created. In 1939, rumors of Nazi Germany pursuit to manufacture an atomic bomb and insure their victory in the war terrified the scientist that sought refuge in America. It also heightened the urgency for America to create the atomic bomb first. Albert Einstein was the one of those refugee scientists that was alerted to Germany's intent and wrote letters