When the war started off, U.S.S.R didn't expect it to be a decade-long war. Approximately one million Soviet soldiers were fighting in the war with some tens of thousands of them that were killed and injured. By 1986, the Afghan freedom fighters had already won many battles with the Soviet army as they were equipped heavily with US arms such as missiles and rockets. The numbers of of Soviet casualties were rapidly increasing and it was clear that the Soviets were losing this war. This is where the criticism and talks about Soviet leaders comes in.
How far do you agree with the view that the developments of the cold war in the year 1945-8 owed more to soviet expansionism than to USAs economic interests? The developments of the conflict within the cold war (1945-48) are something of intense debate for many years. Historians such as Wolfson and Laver (S7) accredit the influence that Russian expansionism contributed to the conflict between the USA and the Soviet Union. In contrast this prospective is contrasted by Terry Morris and Derek Murphy’s prospective (S8) which places emphasis on how US economic interests were seen as a threat to the USSR and thus contributed to East-West tensions. Source 9 written by Michael Lynch adopts both prospective of USSR expansionism and also US economic interests, however Lynch also emphasises misjudgement and misperceptions which contribute to the conflict conceived at Cold War.
Despite the Nazi efforts to win the battle, by late January the Nazi were out of fuel and had to abandon their tanks. This led to the victory of the Allies. The Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest battle fought during World War II. The losses were astonishing ending in over 89.000 for the Allies and about 100,000 for the Nazi (Cole, 1965). b.
Despite this, the Marshall Aid was a success and it bolstered the armies of Europe significantly, which put Stalin in a more vulnerable position. The Truman Doctrine was the American policy in 1947 of providing economic and military aid to European Countries, primarily Greece and Turkey, because they were threatened by communism. It was the start of the containment policy to stop Soviet expansion; it was a major step in beginning the Cold War. The policy stated that countries would have a choice between Communism and Democracy. The USA sent troops and funds to countries who were accepting on the doctrine and also those who were threatened by communism.
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.
Propaganda and foreign intervention helped to portray the Soviet leadership as ‘leaders of a national liberation struggle against foreign imperialists’[3] and this won them support from the masses whilst the Whites reliance on foreign aid rendered them vulnerable if such aid was to be withdrawn. Final, yet equally crucial factors in
In 1941 it defeated the Yugoslav and Greek armies, but did not have the needed weapons for mobile warfare. In 1941 it also defeated the huge Russian army all the way to Moscow, but because of the logistic neglect it was defeated by Russia's endless size and extreme weather, (2world). This demonstrates the strength of the German military mainly through the fact that the Germans were the first to use this effective style of warfare. It validates how the Germans could hit hard, and fast making the use of
Stalin's foreign policies contributed an enormous amount to the tensions of the Cold War. His aim, to take advantage of the military situation in post-war Europe to strengthen Russian influence, was perceived to be a threat to the Americans. Stalin was highly effective in his goal to gain territory, with victories in Poland, Romania, and Finland. To the western world, this success looked as if it were the beginning of serious Russian aggressions. The western view of the time saw Stalin as doing one of two things: either continuing the expansionist policies of the tsars, or worse, spreading communism across the world now that his one-state notion had been fulfilled.
Germany also lost all overseas colonies, and their boundaries within Europe were reduced, losing in total 13.5% of their territory, which included losing 7 million people to neighbouring countries. This left Germany humiliated, having been allowed no say in the matter, and not even being invited to the peace treaty conference at which the clauses were discussed. This humiliation angered Hitler, and he vowed to make Germany strong once more as it had been before the First World War. This was a long-term cause of Hitler becoming chancellor, as it is what first motivated Hitler to become a leader and change the way in which Germany was left
This, however, was seen by the Soviet Union as a form of economic expansion through which the Americans were bringing Eastern European states into their own sphere of influence, and was a direct challenge to their authority. It is possible to argue that the Americans were indeed trying to help struggling states with their growth and that the aims were purely altruistic in nature. However, it must be noted that the Marshall Plan did have strings attached, forcing the countries that it provided aid for to open their markets for American goods and not advancing it to countries who did not do