How far do you agree with the view that the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-8 owed more to Soviet expansionism than to USA’s economic interests? The Cold War, dated from 1947 to 1991, was a sustained state of political and military tension between powers in the Western Bloc, dominated by the United States with NATO among its allies, and powers in the Eastern Bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union along with the Warsaw Pact. This began after the success of their temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the USSR and the US as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences. Some of the major reasons for the development include Superpower Misjudgement, the difference in ideologies, the development of nuclear weapons and the traditional great power rivalry. In this essay I will be looking at 3 sources, Many historians agree with the view that the development of the Cold War owed more to soviet expansionism than USA’s economic interests in the years 1945-48.
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.
Revisionism is one of the three main approaches to the Cold War and its origins and significance of events. It originated in mid-sixties, while USA was involved in the Vietnam War. The revisionist approach puts blame for the cold War on the USA and its policies towards USSR. It also proposes the view that it was President Truman’s actions that caused the conflict. Revisionism contradicts the proposals of the traditionalism and its blame of the Soviet Union.
This was called the domino theory. As a result of the policy of containment, in 1950 Truman needed a crisis to sell the NSC 68 program which said the US needed to increase its conventional armed forces significantly to put them in par with those of the SU. In addition one of the assumptions in the USA of the early Cold War was that the SU controlled all communist movements and parties throughout the world and that any manifestation of communist aggression must have been inspired and assisted by Moscow. So strong was the American belief in the existence of a monolithic communist block, that the NKs were assumed to have been acting on orders from Stalin. In consequence, the USA intervened in the Korean war, not only to defend the independence of SK but also to deny the SU a victory in the Cold War.
Soviet Actions In Europe Between 1945 And 1947 Were Primarily Responsible For The Origins Of The Cold War. Assess The Validity Of This View. There has been a debate regarding whether who had started the Cold War. Historians that follow a Traditionalist or Orthodox view have cited that it was the Soviet’s dominating expansionism regime and its force in spreading communism that was to blame. Another perspective, the Revisionist view initiated by the historian William Appleman Willams regards that the American’s attitude to dispense their ideology of capitalism as well as their tactics in using military means to dominate with world trade was the cause.
Is it reasonable to blame the breakdown of East-West relations that ultimately led to the cold war, on one or two men, is this rational, but even so, what roles did Stalin and Truman play and where can the blame of this breakdown of alliance and international relations be placed on. Many can argue that in one sense the origins of this breakdown of trust can be traced back to the 1917 Bolshevik revolution which set up the Soviet system - an alternative model of political, economic and social organization which proclaimed itself an enemy of and more significantly, the successor of the capitalist system. Communism was initially viewed by capitalist governments with great suspicion and during the civil war in Russia 1918 several capitalist states aided anti-communist forces and even though they were unsuccessful Stalin was still weary of these capitalist states and believed they still hoped to destroy the USSR. (Lowe, 2008) In many ways Stalin’s paranoia had stemmed from the actions of these capitalist states and it was this paranoia that clouded his senses and led him to make decisions that made Western governments wary of Stalin and the USSR. Roosevelt was keen to encourage closer ties with the USSR and although many Americans were skeptical, Roosevelt worked hard to keep the peace between America and the USSR.
The Second World War ended in 1945 with the victory of ‘the Grand Alliance’ of the USSR, the USA and Britain. Although on the surface it appeared the West and the Soviets had reached a mutual understanding in their quest to defeat the Axis powers, strains in their relationship during the war and in the years preceding it suggests that conflict was imminent. Thus, certain actions by both the USA and the USSR can be interpreted as prompting the Cold War as early as 1945. As the Cold War did not involve direct conflict between the USA and USSR, locating its origin is a topic of contention. However, the breakdown in relations between the emerging superpowers during the war and the consequences of the disbandment of the Grand Alliance can be interpreted as the start of the Cold War.
U.S. History Between 1950 through 1990 many important historical events occurred. The years succeeding WW II resulted in a tense military, political, and ideological rivalry between The United Sates and the Soviet Union who became the key players in the cold war. The Cold War involved democracy and capitalism in an attempt to vanish communism. Another major event that also took place during this time period is the Vietnam War. As if this weren’t enough, to make matters worse the civil rights movement intensified the standing of this time period.
Tyler James Emery Period 3/4 Block Due: May 31 Foreign Policies During the Cold War: Rough Draft As the aftermath of World War II began to unravel, the Soviet Union and the United States were the most dominant nations, with opposing viewpoints in many aspects, especially government. Due to their opposing viewpoints and natural desire for power, they began to compete by attempting to convert the newly unoccupied region's governments to either Democracy (U.S.), or Communism (Soviet Union). The Cold War, which began after World War II in 1945, was caused due to the constant power struggle as well as poor relations between the two nations, creating idealogical and economical conflicts. During the Cold War era, the United States had begun
1. What were the causes of the cold war? How did the United States and the Soviet Union each react to what it perceived to be the other’s hostility? What was the effect of the Cold War on Europe? The paper will focus on the cause and effect of the Cold War that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union that began at the end World War II.