...Cold War Ideology and Policies In this paper I am going to describe how the Cold War ideology that crystallized after WWII changed wartime alliances that had existed during the war and how American Cold War policies and practices influenced international relations from the late 1940’s to the mid 1950’s. During WWII the United States and the Soviet Union were allies. Most of Europe was destroyed or in ruins which left the United States and the Soviet Union as the two reigning superpowers and also mortal enemies. Since the defeat of Germany and Japan that left no superpower in Europe or Asia to stop the Soviet Army. With no superpower in Europe or Asia the United States was afraid of the Soviet Union to start dominating with its communist beliefs. Stalin recognized that with Germany and Japan defeated that the borders on the east and west were secure from invasion which led Stalin to advance the interests of the Soviet State and his own regime. In 1947 Great Britain announced that it would no longer support the Greece and Turkey governments. Without British aid, the communist movement was going to take over those countries. This is when Harry S. Truman decided that the United States should step up and help out. He went to Congress and asked for $400 million in military and economic aid. This later became known as the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine many have helped Greece and Turkey but it also left Western Europe in the “dark”. Without any aid from the United States this...
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... BERNATH LECTURE The New International History of the Cold War: Three (Possible) Paradigms* The Cold War is not what it once was. Not only has the conflict itself been written about in the past tense for more than a decade, but historians’ certainties about the character of the conflict have also begun to blur. The concerns brought on by trends of the past decade – such trifles as globalization, weapons proliferation, and ethnic warfare – have made even old strategy buffs question the degree to which the Cold War ought to be put at the center of the history of the late twentieth century. In this article I will try to show how some people within our field are attempting to meet such queries by reconceptualizing the Cold War as part of contemporary international history. My emphasis will be on issues connecting the Cold War – defined as a political conflict between two power blocs – and some areas of investigation that in my opinion hold much promise for reformulating our views of that conflict, blithely summed up as ideology, technology, and the Third World. I have called this lecture “Three (Possible) Paradigms” not just to avoid making too presumptuous an impression on the audience but also to indicate that my use of the term “paradigm” is slightly different from the one most people have taken over from Thomas Kuhn’s work on scientific revolutions. In the history of science, a paradigm has come to mean a comprehensive explanation, a kind of scientific “level”...
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...reforms; later reaction * policies of Alexander III (1881-94) and Nicholas II (1895-1917): backwardness and attempts at modernization nature of tsardom growth of opposition movements * significance of the Russo Japanese water: 1906 revolutions; Stolypin and the duma; the impact of the first world war (1914-18) on Russia * 1917 Revolutions: February/ March revolutions; provisional government and Dual power (soviets): October/November Bolshevik Revolution; Lenin and Trotsky * Lenin’s Russia (1917-24): consolidation of new soviet state; civil war; War communism; NEP; terror and coercion; Foreign relations * * Gorbachev and His aims/Policies (glasnost And perestroika) and (1931-1991) consequences of the soviet state * consequences of Gorbachev’s policies for Eastern European; reform movements: Poland- the role of solidarity; Czechoslovakia- the velvet revolution; fall of the Berlin wall * china: Mao (1935-1976) Conditions that produced authoritarian and single party states * emergence of leaders: aims, ideology, support * methods of force and legal used to establish authoritarian * form of government ideology establishment * nature, extent and treatment of opposition establishment * domestic policies and impact (structure and organisation of...
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...There are many different reasons for the development of the Cold War’s in 1945 – 48. This period could be argued as being the transitional period from the USSR and USA being allied powers creating a peaceful post-war Europe to two powers fighting for control over post-war Europe. The development throughout these years, on the one hand, could be seen as being a result of Soviet expansionism, as suggested clearly in sources 7 and 9. On the other hand, in line with evidence from sources 8 and 9, USA’s economic interests could have been seen as having the most impact on the development of the Cold War. A further argument could be to suggest that it was in fact due to ideological differences, which is backed by evidence from all three sources. Overall, the development of the Cold War from 1945 – 48 owed more to the USA’s economic interests than any other factor. There is evidence in all three sources of ideology coming in to play during the development of the Cold War. “Russia wanted friendly governments on its western borders” is a clear statement that Soviet ideology of creating “buffer” states to protect them from “future attacks from the west” had a part to play in the development of the Cold War. Source 8 supports this by contributing the capitalist ideology of the US which was to use Marshall Aid (1948) to “bring economic recovery to western Europe”. The relevance of this to development of the Cold War is clarified in source 9, which explains that Stalin did not accept Marshall...
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...Cold War Ideology and Policies March 27, 2012 University of Phoenix Cold War Ideology and Policies When World War II ended, many of the “powerhouse” countries found themselves weakened as a result of the war. Their loss of power was felt by both, their economy and their military. The countries that experienced such a loss in power included France, Germany, and Great Britain. The United States and the Soviet Union were two countries that did not see a loss in power. Of course, the United States was the stronger of the two countries. “Many people thought that the Soviet Union's communist ways could very easily rub-off onto other countries, if in fact Joseph Stalin made the effort for this outcast form of government to spread. The United States also thought this and knew that with Europe's war torn powers, no one except for the United States would be able to stand up and possibly block Stalin from spreading these anti-democracy ideals. The communist ideology had definitely separated the two countries for good”, (Davis, 2010). International relations were greatly affected by the policies and practices of the American cold war. As a result of these policies, Israel captured recognition and the United States gave $400 million dollars to the improvement of Turkey’s and Greece’s economic and military status. Also, thanks to George Marshall, chief of staff in the United States Army, and his “Marshall Plan” billions of American dollars were poured into the...
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...Although factors such as ideology differences and traditional power rivalry played a part in the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-53, superpower misjudgments account largely to this as well. As Source 7 suggests, mistrust between the US and the Soviet created a vicious cycle which could not be broken after 1945. It states that the US "misread" the Soviet security policy in eastern Europe and saw it as "Soviet expansionism". This, in turn, led the Soviets to misjudge the US policies as "aggressive capitalist expansionism". During the years after WW2, Stalin enforced policies to ensure national security, by establishing a 'buffer' zone. As the USSR had already been invaded twice before through these countries, it can be said that Stalin was only trying to ensure national security. However, US misread the situation as Soviet "expansionism", which in turn led the Soviets to misjudge the US policies as "dollar imperialism", showing that these misjudgments were creating a vicious cycle which could not be broken. Source 8 also supports this view as it suggests that the road to Cold War was "strewn with miscalculations". However, in face value, Source 8 blames the Soviet Union for being responsible. It states that Stalin "overreacted" to any threat in Germany and Eastern Europe and goes on to add that he "triggered" the Berlin Blockade Crisis as well. The Source only describes Stalin's reactions to the situation, thus failing blaming the USSR and failing to bring the...
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...The Cold War marked a period of hostility between superpowers: that of the USA (and by extension, the West) and the USSR and the East. This hostility began after the Second World War, despite the supposed camaraderie between the two superpowers during the war as allies against Hitler and Fascism. Whether the schism between the superpowers was caused by their differing ideologies (the capitalist West and the communist East) or a clash between national interests and strong personalities is a matter for debate. Winston Churchill could be said to have helped cause the Cold War because of his ideological differences with Stalin. His 1946 ‘Iron Curtain’ speech certainly caused tension: it unveiled to the world Stalin’s increasing “Soviet sphere” and “increasing measure of control from Moscow”, strongly showing his disapproval of Stalin’s swooping over Eastern Europe and inferring his strongly anti-communist stance. However, this speech was given in 1946, and Churchill was no longer the Prime Minister; that role had passed to Clement Attlee, inferring that he felt he was only able to make such a blunt statement of his views once he was out of power. Conversely, when he was in high office, Churchill was able to work well with Stalin – he called him “Uncle Joe”, inferring they were more than just cordial allies working purely against Stalin. In fact, the Iron Curtain speech could be seen as hypocritical as Churchill made an agreement with Stalin which allowed him to have 75% of influence...
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...How far do you agree that the origins of the Cold War in 1945-6 owed much to ideological differences and little to personalities and conflicting national interests? There is a significant and complex argument into which aspects were the most important in the origins and sowing the seeds that led to the Cold War in the years 1945 and 1946. It is widely perceived that the variances in philosophy was the focal reason, because America and the Soviet Union had virtually polar opposite understandings on how their country should be run and consequently capitalist and communist countries could not co-exist lacking any strain. Nonetheless, it is similarly claimed that the traits of the leaders of the three countries are a substantial influence to the Cold war conflict; Roosevelt and Truman of the United States, Stalin of the USSR and Churchill of the United Kingdom. This is because the attitudes of the three regularly clashed. It is furthermore disputed that national interests of the separate nations throughout and post-World War II formed strains among the countries of the USA and the USSR, since they both saw the others objectives as a danger to their individual national security. To assist the Cold War from occurring, it is said Winston Churchill is the crucial individual due to his ideological differences with Stalin. Churchill’s 1946 ‘Iron Curtain’ speech certainly caused tension: it unveiled to the world Stalin’s increasing “Soviet sphere” and “increasing measure of control...
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...The development of the cold war between the USA and the Soviet Union between 1945-53 was primarily due to traditional great power rivalry The USA and the Soviet Union worked together to defeat Hitler in WW2. Towards the end of the war relationships between them began to break down, although in 1945 there remained possibility of continued cooperation. By 1947, this prospect had disappeared and tensions between the two powers continued to increase for the rest of this period. Some historians, including those belonging to the economic revisionist school of thought, argue that traditional great power rivalry was primarily responsible for this development. This is defined as developing power through trade in order to achieve financial dominance. Undoubtedly, this factor was a major contributor to cold war tensions, however other factors such as ideology, individuals and WW2- many of which are invariably linked to economic influence- also played a large part. Great power rivalry can be seen as the main cause of increased cold war tensions between 1945 and 1953 as both powers sought to increase their relationships with other countries to obtain economic dominance. America, although benefitting economically from the war, feared the possibility of a recession, both as demand for arms fell and poverty in Europe threatened an insufficient international demand for US goods. They believed free trade would prevent this from happening, as well as increasing interdependence between countries...
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...How far do you agree that the origins of the Cold War in 1945 and 1946 owed much to the ideological differences and little to personalities and conflicting national interests? The origins of the Cold War cannot be denied as being most obviously and most forefront due to the great ideological differences between the USSR’s communism and the USA’s capitalism, such as their complete opposing beliefs over nationalisation and system of government. However National interests, such as the fight over Poland and leaders personalities, such as Truman’s lack of experience in foreign policy cannot be overlooked as important reasons for growing hostilities between superpowers. The vast difference in ideologies is clearly the underlying factor which caused tensions for the superpowers of the world during the Cold War and the years 1945 to 46; however it cannot be denied that personalities of the leaders running these countries, were a contributing reason for the ever growing hostilities between them. Joseph Stalin, leader of the USSR and communist regime, was a figure known for being shrewd, manipulative and ruthless, instantly suggesting that relations with other countries, so different from his, were to be quite strained. Though he was known for these negative traits, he was also commended for his sense of practicality and his skills as an administrator, this suggesting that perhaps his ability to put aside differences, may be better than necessarily believed. It was common knowledge...
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...in Peace and Conflict > The Cold War 1945-1991 > Overview of US-Soviet relations and the Cold War The Cold War 1945-1991 Overview of US-Soviet relations and the Cold War David Mclean Charles Sturt University Principal Focus: Students investigate key features and issues in the history of the Cold War 1945 - 1991 Outcomes Students: H1.1 describe the role of key features, issues, individuals, groups and events of select twentieth-century studies (Extract from Modern History Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW 2004.) Key features and issues: • origins and development of the Cold War • influence of ideologies on the Cold War • impact of crises on changing superpower relations • the arms race • reasons for the end of the Cold War This is the transcript of a talk given at a seminar co-sponsored by the History Teachers’ Association of New South Wales and the US Information Service in Sydney on 2 September 1995. From this tutorial you will learn about: • influence of ideologies that led resulted in the division of the world into two opposed camps from 1945 • emerging differences between the superpowers Contents 1. US – Soviet relations were not synonymous with the Cold War 2. Chronology of the Cold War 3. Influence of ideologies of communism and capitalism on the Cold War 4. Soviet Objectives 5. American objectives 6. The Arms Race 7. The Third World was important for the Cold War 8. Why did the Cold War not end earlier? 9. Did the...
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...How far do you agree with the view that the origins of the Cold war in 1945 and 1946 owed much to ideological differences and little to personalities and conflicting national interests? The three allied powers had been together fighting against hitler but once the Second World War ended problems between the big three started to appear. I believe that these problems which led later on in 1945 were a cause for the leaders personalities and each nation's national interests not due to ideological differences. The personalities of each of the leaders were definitive for the cold war as we can see how some did not want o could negotiate, also national interests was one of the main causes for the Cold war as for example Russia was looking for expansion for protection and USA was looking for Communist containment. However, I do not think that ideological differences was not one of the main reasons for the cold war as if it was one of the main reasons there would have been a war before with the Russians, however, it is true that their different ideologies caused tension to rise. Firstly, ideology was not at all the main role for the cause of the cold war. I believe that it was just a simple cause for the rise of tension between Russia and the West. If different ideologies owed a lot to The Cold war I think that there would have happened a war earlier or a “hot war” would have occurred. On the other hand, we could also say that their ideological differences clashed, suspicion and...
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...accept the view of Source K that it was American foreign policy that ‘crystallized the Cold War’? The emergence of the Cold War can, to some extent be seen as a result of American Foreign policy – as it merely intensified previous tensions and distrust within the two superpowers. However, the ‘crystallization’ of the Cold War can also be seen as being due to several other factors such as the individuals’ personalities, the power vacuum that emerged at the end of WWII and the fundamental clash of ideologies all, to a certain degree, combined to cause the emergence of the Cold War, (the factors are all interlinked with one another). Firstly, it can be considered (at least to some degree) that the emergence and ‘crystallization’ of the Cold War was due to American foreign policy, as source K stresses the importance of US foreign policy as a contributory factor as America were keen to preserve their economic interests and to maintain political control – it says that ‘the US [employed] its new and awesome power’, meaning that tension would be caused inevitably, as the Soviets did not want to see the Americans gaining too much influence. An examples of foreign policies launched by the US that were designed to help the European markets (to retain the Open-door policy) is the Marshall Plan, introduced in 1947, it was a programme designed to offer financial aid to countries that were economically damaged in the second world war, and that were also deemed to be under threat or at ‘risk’...
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...Cold War Ideology and Policies Amanda Harp His135 January 27, 2012 Mary Barcroft Cold War Ideology and Policies The cold war weighed heavily on the American people in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The war was between the Soviet Union and the United States. Communism was a huge concern to the United States. After the war, was over wartime alliance changed in a remarkable way. Because of communist spies, fear of an atomic bomb had struck the hearts and minds of the American people. They worried that the threat of a nuclear war was imminent. The Russian leader was trying to rebuild the Soviet Union and thought in order to do so, he had to lay claim to other countries like Germany and Japan. He tried to strengthen communism in those countries. This made it difficult for those countries to trust the United States for anything because Stalin told of atomic weapons the US was perceived to have. In order to build trust and help aid those countries that were threatened to have an “iron Clad” with Russia, the United States had to enact different policies that would help fight communism. Truman tried to pass a policy by attacking communism but failed so another policy was enforced that would be geared towards helping the countries rebuild, stand strong and be independent. The United States was able to help West Germany become an independent state in Europe through one of these policies. Other countries were able to rebuild their economy after wartime with the United States help. The American...
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...Was the Korean War a turning point in the Civil War? The Korean War was thus a turning point in the development of the Cold War in that it marked a shift in the focal point in the development of tensions, from Europe to East Asia, with many indirect conflicts being largely confined to Europe. The Korean War was the first time that communism and capitalism were to fight against each other. It was hence a turning point in the development of the Cold War — instead of tensions developing between the two countries directly, the conflicts are now manifested through a proxy, which is Korea. This not only altered the field of rivalry between the two superpowers from Europe to Asia, but also changed the method through which the two powers conflicted. While the Cold War in Europe was "fought" mainly through all means short of direct armed confrontation, the Korean War saw the escalation of the conflict to a "hot war”. The idea of puppet states emphasized that the Korean War conflict was merely the Cold War fought on another front, with USSR and USA in control. It is also evident that the two superpowers were control in Korea. The US manipulated the United Nations (which was a first real test) so as to send a mostly American force into the region to address its strategic goals of preventing a possible domino effect and executing NSC-68. Stalin’s limited aid and lack of restraint against Kim also led to the prolonging of the war, but could also be seen as Stalin being hesitant to become...
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