Such as in source 8 which claims the USA wanted a war with the USSR to help its economy, emphasising the impact of the Military Industrial Complex on aggressive foreign policy which played a huge role in the development of the Cold War. Furthermore it can be argued that it was the misunderstanding and confusion between the two nations which owed more to the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-8.
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.
How far do you agree with the view that the development of the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union in the years 1945-53 was primarily due to traditional great power rivalry? Use sources 7, 8 and 9 and your own knowledge. The development of the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union in the years 1945-53 was primarily due to great power rivalry, though this rivalry was only made clear, due to the ideological differences between the two superpowers. The Cold war has been a clash on conflicting ideologies, which fuelled the great power rivalry between the USA and Soviet Union, and these differences led to increasing tensions almost to the extent of nuclear war. Yalta was the first event in the time period, and was where ‘the big thee’, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt met and discussed the reorganization of Germany and Eastern Europe after WWII.
As a description of United States foreign policy, the word originated in a report Kennan submitted to the U.S. defense secretary in 1947 This report was later used in a magazine article. As the perceived threat from the Soviet Union continued to grow, the West became desperate to stop the spread of communism. After WWII, the communist community grew quickly in many parts of Europe. England was desperately trying to stop the spread of European communism in key countries, one of which was Greece. A fear shared by the U.S. and Britain was that if Greece became communist, so would Turkey, and the Soviets would control the eastern Mediterranean.
While the United States was nervous of Communism consuming the entire globe. President Eisenhower believed in the “domino effect”, meaning that if you fight and succeed in stopping communism in one country others are sure to rise, stand and follow suit. China became a communist country in 1949, therefore, the United States forked out 2 billion dollars to support anti-communism. The Truman Doctrine was written and put in to effect stating that the United States would do any and everything in its power to put an end to communism spreading to any further country. Following a victory over a battle with the French, North Vietnam in 1954, set ways into communism and in turn proceeded to try and reign over the now divided Southern Vietnam.
To what extent was the cold war inevitable? The end of World War II can be seen to mark the expiration of what can be argued as, an unlikely alliance. The Cold War can be claimed to be greatly inevitable post-war due to the absence of a unifying interest of defeating Nazi Germany and Hitler. Here, the clash of ideology presents the most obvious cause of conflict between the two nations; capitalism and communism. The debate surrounding the inevitability of the Cold War and diplomatic relations between Russia and America will be explored from a traditionalist, revisionist and post-revisionist standpoint.
Karan Agarwal 12 E To what extent was the cold war a result of World War II? ESSAY PLAN Introduction v What was the Cold War? v Differences between USA and USSR Yes, it was a result of the Second World War: v v v v The question of a ‘second front’ during the war had worsened relations between USSR and USA USA had used the Atomic bomb without informing USSR (distrust) The USSR had suffered enormously from the war while the US emerged stronger (threat to USSR). The was a power vacuum in the heart of Europe was filled by The Red Army, that controlled Eastern Europe, which increased the USSR’s sphere of influence (threat to USA). v v Yalta conference agreements resulted in Germany being divided into zones of occupation and Berlin was to have a western zone.
The country then feared the spread of communism which lead into more global involvement. In the Truman Doctrine proposed by president Harry Truman he states “I believe that it must be a policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”(Reading 151). What he means by this is that the future of the United States relies on helping other countries and keeping them safe from the threats of communism/totalitarianism. The US even got involved in the Korean war that was being fought within Korea due to the fear that communism may spread. This goes to show how US is no longer under isolationism but rather being the leader of the world trying to protect
1949 was probably the worst year. After the Soviet atomic test in August 1949 and Mao Zedong’s victory in China, communism became an even greater threat. The Truman administration orchestrated NSC 68′s famous call to arms. To move the public to spend more on the Cold War strategy, NSC 68 portrayed the Soviet challenge as a contest pitting good against evil. American strategy remained torn between simply containing Communism or rolling it back by actively supporting the Soviet Union’s opponents.
Both sides eventually picked sides in the region and supported opposing forces. These opposing alignments became more clear when power struggles in Asia occurred. Events such as the Chinese Civil War and then the Korean War polarised the two superpowers and would serve as a precursor for future Cold War conflicts. Hence it will be argued that the power vacuum which occurred in Asia in the wake of WWII was a necessary precondition, but not the sole cause, of the Cold War in Asia. The desire of both the United States and USSR for primary influence in the region and the effects of the Chinese Civil War and Korean War must also be explored in order to fully explain the origins of the Cold War in Asia.