...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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...The Marshall Plan was significant as it initiated an economic divide in Europe, by triggering a response from USSR. However, it was not the primary cause as political and military rivalry also contributed to the division of Europe. The introduction of the Marshall Plan by the Americans signified the move from the second stage of the recognition of incompatibility between the two superpowers to the final stage of initiation of action, and hence was significant in showing how the change in relations from co-operation to rivalry eventually led the the separation of Europe into two spheres of influence. Another factor that played a major role in the separation of Europe was the difference in security aims of the Americans and Soviets. Military rivalry, ultimately, is to be primarily blamed for the complete separation of Europe as the arms race that broke out contributed to the severing of friendly and diplomatic ties between the Soviet Union and United States of America. Politically, containment also led to the division of Europe. It influenced American foreign policy towards USSR in a long run. Its objective was to contain the power influence of USSR. One example is the implement of Truman doctrine which clearly showed USA’s political commitment to take over seemingly democratic countries and intervene parts of the world that would fall into Communism. Another example is the Berlin Blockade which was seen by the west as evidence of USSR aggression. And USA response...
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...The Division of Europe The Origins of the Cold War The Soviet Union and the United States began to quarrel as soon as the threat of Germany disappeared and hostility between the Eastern and Western superpowers was a logical outgrowth of military developments, wartime agreements, and long-standing differences The Americans and British had made military victory their highest priority and avoided discussion of Stalin’s war aims and shape of the eventual peace settlement The United States and Britain did not try to take advantage of the Soviet Union’s position in 1942, because they feared that bargaining would encourage Stalin to consider making separate peace with Hitler (focused on unconditional surrender) The conference that Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill held in the Iranian capital of Teheran in November 1943 proved of crucial importance in...
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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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...During the Second World War, the USSR and the USA, the two great nations in the 1940s united each other to defeat their common enemy, Nazi Germany. Their alliance was however ‘unnatural’ as both countries had conflicting ideologies, capitalism vs. communism and both wanted to spread their power and control in the world. Their incompatible ideologies from the start together with their troubled relationship since 1918 when the west intervened on the Russian civil war on behalf of the White Army, created an uneasy alliance in 1941 that that was most certainly ‘bound to fall apart’ when the common enemy was defeated in 1945. In order to come to a conclusion on the extent to which “An unnatural alliance that was bound to fall apart after the defeat of the common enemy” explains the origin of the cold war the essay will be divided into four parts: the opposed ideologies, events from 1919 to 1945, the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, and events subsequent to the conferences until 1949. The Bolsheviks seized power in 1917 leading to the establishment of the world’s first socialist state whose guiding ideas were those of communism. For the leaders of the western countries these ideas threatened the very basis of their societies, economically and politically, as they followed an ideology of Capitalism. For the USSR, capitalism which revolves around private enterprise was seen as creating divisions between rich and poor and thus the communists believed that all goods should be taken over...
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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 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? (TOTAL 40 MARKS) Use sources 7 and 8 to your own knowledge The origins of the Cold War in 1945 and 1946 were due to a number of factors, and whether it was mainly due to ideological differences or personalities and conflicting national interests is still a major debate. However, after analysis of Sources 7 and 8, I do not agree that the origins of the Cold War was mainly caused by ideological differences, but instead owed to the equal yet unfortunate combination of the three factors. The personal differences between the leaders are clearly reflected in Source 8, where Stalin was repeatedly described have “demons of suspicion” and “demons of insecurity”. This was a nod to his paranoid personality, which has definitely contributed on a major scale to the mistrust between the two leaders. This is evident in the way Stalin suspected “FDR was scheming behind his back” despite Roosevelt being “the only President whom Stalin accepted as a partner”, which emphasises the potential of greater suspicion and mistrust with Truman since he doesn’t see them as “equals”. This paranoia was emphasised by the “atomic bombardment of Japan” which doesn’t just conflict with the Russian national interest of expanding into Manchuria and entering the Japanese war, (which is a great issue on its own), but also causes...
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...is a lot of debate of which factor played the largest role in initiating the Cold War during the period of 1945-50. Mostly sources 7 and 9 argue that various ideological differences between the two superpowers were responsible for the origins of the Cold War; while sources 8 and also 9 differ and state that it could have been down to other factors, such as conflicting personalities of the leaders and general national interests. On the one hand source 7 supports the argument that it was political ideological differences that caused the Cold War, arguing that the USSR was seen as a “unique and unbending armed ideology threatening to expand” which resulted in an “ideological crusade” between the two superpowers. Source 9 provides support, stating one of USA’s capitalist strategies was “containment” of communism to ensure successful free markets could be established. It is easy to see how the conflicting ideologies between the two countries – USA supporting free market capitalism and a liberal democracy, while USSR had a controlled economy and a one party state. This evidence clearly shows that the two superpowers were essentially on the opposite sides of the spectrum to each other and were constantly trying to hinder one another, which would cause a rise in tension between them. However the interpretation that the political ideological disagreement is entirely responsible for the beginning of the Cold War can be considered too simplistic. As Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 did a lot...
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...The outbreak of the Cold war could be blamed on one of the three without a doubt. Ideologies differed heavily, and, Stalin, according to Truman, wanted to create a ‘sphere of influence’; ‘expanding Communism’. The traditional, or orthodox, view of the Cold War is that it started because of Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe after WWII. The orthodox view places blame for the Cold War firmly on the Soviets, and claims that the mutual buildup of arms, the espionage, and all the other stuff was just the West responding to the Soviets enlarging their area of influence and exercising influence on the governments behind the Iron Curtain. However, Stalin stated precisely that his desire was to create security for the Soviet Union, based on previous invasions from the West, especially from Germany, who crippled the country twice. It was merely a case of USA versus the Soviet Union, and Britain playing more of a supporting role for the US. The ideologies in conflict were Communism versus Capitalism/democracy, again between the two huge superpowers. Nonetheless, it could also be argued that personalities had been the prime cause. Before Truman became president and Attlee Prime Minister, Churchill and Roosevelt were in post. They were considerably easy with Stalin, and were willing to make ‘arrangements’ to meet his needs. And by many this was considered dangerous for Western countries as the threat of communism was potential. Thus, Truman became president and was much tougher in his approach...
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...Start of the Cold War: 1945-1947 Reading and Note Taking Assignment Resources: 840-847 in American Journey textbook. Directions: The above reading assignment will be done in class and you will need to review and study these readings outside of class. Note taking with our history readings will continue, and this semester, in your history notebook, you will be working with making Cornell notes that we learned and practiced last semester. This is to help prepare you for note taking skills that will be expected next year in high school. Below is the template for you to complete. Key Points Cold War Origins: (Note: This is the title of Section 1. Everything in this section is going to be about Cold War Origins, which means how and why the Cold War started.) Wartime Diplomacy, Pg 842(Note: This is the Heading Title in American Journey, and it is in blue, but it will not be organized in the same way for every textbook. The Heading Titles introduce you to the next important idea in the Section. Think of the Heading Titles as “yellows” in your paragraph writing.)Soviet Expansion in Europe, Pp. 843 | Details on the important idea for the three intro paragraphs go here (5 W’s): 1. Feb, 1945, Big Three (Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin) met at Yalta. Yalta agreement: Soviet Union entered war against Japan and, in return. got land in Asia. 2. Roosevelt and Churchill feared spread of communism. Soviet Union controlling Eastern Europe. Allies...
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...must bear the greatest responsibility for the Cold War. In my opinion, Stalin cannot be the only one responsible for the origins of the Cold War. As we know, Joseph Stalin was an evil dictator, propelled by an evil Communist ideology to attempt world domination. But also it is important to mention that the Cold War was also the result of the suspicion and rivalry between Truman and Stalin. Also, the Cold War was caused by the social climate and tension in Europe at the end of World War II and by the increasing power struggles between the Soviet Union and the United States. Economic separation between the Soviets and the west also heightened tensions, along with the threat of nuclear war. Moreover the contradictory agreements Roosevelt negotiated with Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Yalta in 1945 failed to establish a successful framework for peaceful postwar cooperation between the Soviet Union and the West. In the article, “The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War”, Martin J. Sherwin mentions that instead of promoting American post war aims, war time atomic energy policies made them more difficult to achieve. American’s aggressive efforts to contain Soviet influence, to intimidate the Soviets with the atomic bomb and to pursue American economic interest around the globe were also responsible for starting the old War as well as economic interest around the globe were responsible for the Cold War. We can conclude that Stalin’s...
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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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...McKibben, David A. International Politics, ODU 07 Dec 2015 What Started the Cold War? The Cold War had a profound effect on American policy and international politics, which still holds true today. There are many reasons as to what may have started the Cold war as it existed between the United States of America and Russia; however, there were major events that contributed the bulk of the impetus behind the stalemate between the two superpowers for nearly fifty years. The origins of the Cold War can be traced all the way back to the failed League of Nations in the post-World War I atmosphere. The League of Nations lack of capability to martially enforce the restructuring of Europe after the war, as well as its cold shoulder to the disheveled state of Eastern Europe was the ultimate catalyst to the start of the Cold War. The League of Nations was primarily an intergovernmental organization composed of the Allied powers after World War I, founded January 10, 1920 (Wikipedia 2015). The main objective behind the League was to restructure Europe after World War I in an attempt to create a more stable world climate. Ideals such as cooperation among the world powers when it came to economics and territorial disputes were among the foremost concern of the League. The League of Nations ultimately proved to be unsuccessful in its attempt to create a more stable political climate, as many of the partnering nations were hesitant to comply with the regulations and sanctions set forth...
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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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...The Fall of the Berlin Wall The Fall of the Berlin Wall is book on a popular symbol of communist oppression during the Cold War, that of the Berlin Wall erected in Eastern Germany in 1961. From the politics that motivated it construction to its eventual destruction, author William F. Buckley Jr. gives the readers a comprehensive overview of the history of the Berlin Wall, as well as the origins and end of the Cold War between Western and Eastern Powers. Author Buckley displays several strengths throughout this book. A particular strength that a reader may find is that this book is well researched and offers a detailed chronological account of the events that would lead to the wall being constructed to keep East Berliners from escaping to West Berlin. The book highlights and explains steps that would lead to the wall construction such as post World War II Russia imposing its form of government on its designated sectors of occupancy, or Walter Ulbricht’s, the ruler of Eastern Germany’s and a devoted communists desire to prevent any further...
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