Personal differences between Khrushchev and Mao rather than ideological views and national interests were responsible for China’s rapprochement with the USA in the 1970’s. How far do you agree with this statement? The USA and Russia’s bitter feud throughout the cold war took a drastic turn when China turned to the USA in the 1970’s, many did not anticipate the move given the Chinese had been on the Soviets communist side in the preceding years. Relationship changes between the Chinese and Soviet leaders are credited with the split but within their differences it is debatable as to what really caused the split. Some argue that ideological views and nationalist interests were the key factor however some dispute that the personal differences between the two leaders got to a point of no reconciliation.
Another significant reason why the US intervened in South East Asia was the power vacuum after Dien Bien Phu. The French were defeated and withdrew from Vietnam, and the US were worried that China, or even perhaps the Soviets would begin to take control. Then Ho Chi Minh emerged as a potential leader; Ho had spent time in Moscow and the US viewed him as a communist rather than a nationalist, which meant they feared him being in power and therefore, they had to get involved in South East Asia. Alternatively, the US may have intervened in South East Asia because of the lack of faith in the Geneva accords.
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.
After the Second World War, the nations that were still standing strong were the United States of America and The Soviet Union. The domination of these two countries in the second half of the 20th century is known as the time of the Cold War, the diplomatic, geopolitical, and ideological clash of interests, also known as the rivalry between the capitalist democracy ( The United States of America) and the Marxist-Leninist communism ( The Soviet Union), which resulted in several proxy wars, but not with an actual war between these two superpowers ( Palmer 2014: 887).The distrust towards the U.S.S.R government was enormous and as a result to this, the State Department of the United States formulated the containment policy which would prevent the
It significantly highlighted the true conflict involving the US and the USSR, and more importantly the ongoing battle between two opposing ideologies- capitalism and communism. The Korean War began with the communist North’s invasion of South Korea only years after the neighboring China ended its civil conflict and embraced a new Communist Regime under Mao Zedong. Whilst in the West communism had already been threatening to “swallow up” Europe seen through Stalin’s role in Czecoslovakinan Crisis; his disregard for the Yalta-Potsdam Agreements and the mobilized Red Army troops scattered over Eastern Europe. Consequently, the US where experiencing the beginnings of “anti-communist hysteria” due to the domino-effect Communist had had in Asia seen through the Sino-Soviet Pact (1950, and the possible threat of world-communism. In this sense, the Korean War is highly significant because it displayed the new terms of post-World War Two conflict and how difficult it would be to fight a contained War due to the snowballing effect of communism around the world.
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.
Why Did LBJ Continue U.S. Involvement in South Vietnam? Cold War Considerations: China & South East Asia The rise of China as a superpower had made the world appear an even more threatening place to the USA in terms of the spread of communism. After the Americans had fought the Chinese in Korea and South East Asia seemed to offer ample opportunities for the spread of Communism in what was known as “The Domino Effect”. When Vietnam appeared to be on the verge of collapse. Laos was threatened by Communist insurgents and Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia had renounced aid from the US and demanded neutrality in any further conflicts.
There were a combination of reasons as to why relations between the USA and the USSR grew worse by 1948, but the underlying cause were the ideological differences between the two superpowers; USA (capitalism) and the USSR (communism). Once Germany was defeated, the joint aim of the allies was achieved and they were no longer forced to cooperate in an, “Marriage of Convenience”. From then on, the relationship between the USA and the USSR worsened. One main reason as to how the relationship between the Soviet Union and the USA grew worse was because of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. At the Yalta conference, Roosevelt’s death in 1945 brought an end to any superficial unity that still existed at the end of 1943 and Stalin had promised free elections in the countries of Eastern Europe.
How far do you agree with the view that the cold war spread to Asia in the years 1949-1953 because of Stalin’s desire to spread the influence of the USSR? Just as source P and source R argue, Stalin did play a role in furthering the spread of communism in Asia which in turn caused tensions to rise and the cold war spreading. However to simply assign blame to Stalin’s desire to spread the influence of the USSR is a very limited view which does not take into account Stalin’s reluctance to be involved in many Asian affairs. Indeed as source Q states, the USA’s foreign policies had contributed a great deal to the array of misconception that caused cold war situations to escalate. Sources O and R on the other hand show that superpower involvement was inevitable and which power struck first was a mystery but what is certain is as sources P, R and Q state, which is that Kim Il Sung’s drive for an invasion of south Korea and the pressure that came from the newly formed communist china caused an unavoidable mounting of tensions which caused the cold war to spread to Asia.
To help counter that threat Truman started secretly sending money as well as supplies to help back the French forces against Ho Chi Minh's forces (Schomp The Vietnam War 5). This led Ho to seek help from China and the Soviet Union, which made Ho favorable towards communism (Schomp The Vietnam War 5). Although the United States was not directly involved in the war until 1955, they did still indirectly play a role in the move against Ho Chi Minh's forces. In an attempt to regain control, France left the French educated, strongly anti-communist Bao Dai in control of the region ("Vietnam War"). This enraged Ho Chi Minh, and his forces immediately rose up seizing the northern city of Hanoi, creating the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ("Vietnam War").