Tony Judt argues that Stalin ruled with ‘uncompromising rigidity and confrontational tactics’, this is somewhat supported by source 8 as it highlights that the ‘personality of Stalin’ was a significant internal factor in the USSR. Stalin’s persistent drive to achieve security by creating a buffer zone meant that agreements between the two powers were difficult. However, his policy on Poland, 1945, and the Stalinisation of Eastern Europe, 1945-48, reflected a genuine desire to protect the USSR from any future Western attack. Stalin was also ‘uncompromising’ over the reparations for Germany, he was determined to strip the Soviet zone of raw materials, and this worsened relations with the West at
In 1947, Stalin established Conform. This was a plan to organize activities of Communist parties in Europe to control capitalist ideas and spread communism hence, strengthen the Soviet’s power. Then two years later, another one of Stalin’s foreign policy, Comecon was set up to coordinate the economy of Eastern Europe. Although these methods were seen by the West, Stalin’s action to secure the Soviet Union’s power, these actions were self-defensive policies against US’s policies, the Truman Doctrine and the
The U.S. and Russia both wanted to expand their territory. They wanted their own people in government s in the devastated countries in Europe. Both wanted their policy in that country only. I believe that the stubbornness of these two superpowers kept adding more and more tension which led to the Cold War bring inevitable. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ].
Communism in the Cold War "The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want, they spread and grow in the evil soil of the poverty and strife. They reach their full growth when the hope of a people for a better life has died. We must keep that hope alive." as said by Harry S. Truman on march 12, 1947 in The Truman Doctrine. While Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy all had the same same Cold War intention of ending communism, their ways of achieving their goal were different.The Cold War was an angry dispute between the United States and the Soviet Union about whether we should spread or contain communism (Ayres 817).
The split opinion in terms of ideology between the two nations can be dated to 1917 during the Bolshevik regime in which the West intervened (Gann, L.H., & Duignan, P. 1996). Within his work, ‘America Faces Russia’, Bailey, (1950) like other traditionalist accounts, would suggest that the blame for the Cold War lies with the Soviet Union and its desire to spread further into Eastern Europe. Furthermore, they argue that the beginning of the Truman term in office witnessed the shift in US diplomatic policies in response to the threat of communism. The combination of these two factors is convincing when claiming the inevitability of the war from the traditionalist perspective. However, the traditionalist school of thought challenges this notion with the view that Stalin’s personality, in addition to his communist ideology would lead to the
Another distinct event where their difference in ideology was clearly shown was during the Yalta Conference where the party declined strictly to have their say accepted about the liberal of the Eastern Europe. Stalin strictly insisted for Eastern Europe to be under USSR as they had given them aid as defeating Germany inwards her land but USA insist for them to have a free election and thus this results in the two superpowers to have a tension between them. Stalin’s continuation taking up action such as the Salami
Russia had control over the Eastern part, and had placed a wall after a mass migration from East to West Germany occurred. USA intervened and wanted to help the non-communists of Germany. They aided financially and militarily. This also added to the conflicts (being one of the major between them), and added to the tension between them, nearly causing an actual war. The Cold war was one of the most tense wars, with many close calls.
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.
Ideologically, Lenin embodied the spirit of US-Russian antagonism in his claim that “as long as capitalism and socialism exist we can not live in peace.” The glaring disparities between these two ideologies inevitably spilled over into international conflict. Stalin saw the US as an imperialist power bent on world domination whilst the Soviet were seen as determined to destory US capitalism. It could be assured in this post war world that a claim to territory would allow the manifestation of deiffering ideologies in politics and economy. After the defeat of Germany, whilst Stalin maintained that it was reasonable to establish a buffer zone around Russia within which “governments whose relations to the Soviet Union are loyal” he also admitted that “whoever occupies a territory also imposes on it his own social system.” The consequences of the Yalta conference, at which Poland was declared under Soviet control, would soon be felt by the west. Stalin had steadily begun tightening Communist politcal control in Eastern Europe, nationalising industries and tying the economies of satellite states to that of the Soviet.
At the same time, the Soviets, who believed that capitalism exploited the masses, saw the United States as the oppressor. Despite deep-seated mistrust and hostility between the Soviet Union and Western democracies such as the United States, an alliance was forged among them in the 1940s to fight a common enemy, Nazi Germany, which had invaded Russia in June 1941. Although the Allies eventually