Should we blame USSR for the Cold War?
As Nikita Khrushchev once said: “If you don’t like us, don’t accept our invitations and don’t invite us to come to see you. Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you.” Complete and utter tension. Humanity faced a critical point in History when the Soviet Union and the United States created a conflict that threatened the destruction of the whole planet. This was known as the Cold War. But the question remains, who was actually responsible for this? The three big issues generated by the Soviet Union, which were essential to initiate the Cold War were: the Stalin attitude during Yalta Conference, the Stalin takeover of Eastern Europe, and the USSR actions at the Potsdam Conference.
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As the History webpage once said: ”While a number of important agreements were reached at the conference, tensions over European issues—particularly the fate of Poland—foreshadowed the crumbling of the Grand Alliance that had developed between the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union during World War II...”. They agreed on five things of six involved. One of them included that Stalin could create a “sphere of influence” through all the Eastern Europe. But, as always, Stalin wishes more power and he wanted to extend the Soviet Union's territory, by obtaining a part of Poland's land. The big three disagree on this term, however Stalin controlled all Eastern Europe, including Poland, so there was nothing Churchill and Roosevelt can do. By the way, at that moment USA needed USSR for defeating Japan and entering into a bigger conflict with Stalin would not make things better.(See annex 1, figure …show more content…
The Soviet Union, sent Stalin, while in this time Great Britain sent the new Prime Minister Clement Atlee and The United States sent the Vice-President Harry Truman. In three months things had changed drastically. President Truman was more anti-communism than Roosevelt and was very concerned of Stalin actions in eastern Europe. He believed that Stalin wished to take over the complete Europe. So in this conference things went really dreadful. First, Stalin wanted to cripple Germany for prevent future threats, but Truman said no. Then, Stalin was looking for compensation from Germany for the 20 millions Russians murdered, and again Truman refused. Lastly, as Truman was noticed of the imposition of communism in eastern Europe, he began acting drastically against Stalin. This conference ended without agreements and with the time Stalin will achieved the domination of eastern Europe. Later in 1946 Winston Churchill will said this lines: “From Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended, Behind that line all the states of central and eastern Europe. The Communist parties have been raised to power far beyond their numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control. This is certainly not the liberated Europe we fought to build. Nor is it one which allows permanent peace”.(See annex 2, figure
Following World War Two tensions was developing between the communist East represented by the Soviet Union and the capitalist West which was comprised of Britain, France and the United States. This tension, which was mostly between the United States and the Soviet Union, who had emerged as the two power states following the World War Two, was a result of both ideological differences as well as the decisions made at three key conferences during World War Two; The Tehran Conference of 1943, The Yalta Conference in the early months of 1945, and the Potsdam conference following the fall of Germany in July 1945. The Soviet Union disagreed with some of the decisions made at the conferences, most notably, the division of Germany and Berlin. The decisions made at these conferences, as well as the ideological differences between the two superpowers would further increase tensions between the East and West, as well as having a significant impact on the development of the Early Crisis and the Cold War.
The Potsdam Conference occurred from July 17th to August 2nd, 1945. The conference took place between US president Harry Truman, Soviet’s Joseph Stain, and England’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The major goal of the Potsdam meeting was what would happen with Germany postwar. They wanted to be able to ensure the “eventual reconstruction of Germany’s democracy and peace.” At that time, the Soviet Union occupied a lot of the Eastern part of Germany and wanted a “unified, but unarmed Germany.” However, President Truman did not trust Stalin’s motives. In addition, Truman had found out that they had tested their atomic bomb and it was ready to be used in battle. Truman seeing the immense advantage the US had from a military standpoint knew he had leverage.
The foreign and domestic policies during the Cold War lead to both the separation of world powers and the fear of political and social systems throughout the world. After World War 2 had ended, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union heighted. The agreements made at the Yalta Conference between Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt , were not being followed by the Soviets. The Soviet Union kept the land they reconquered in Eastern Europe and did not enforce a democratic government in those countries, as they promised. Instead, the Soviet Union decided to continue spreading communism in their reconquered lands. The United States’ feared the spread of communism and attempted to do anything in its power to stop it. Before the United
President Harry Truman came into office right at the end of World War II, after the death of President Franklin Roosevelt. Almost immediately after becoming president, Truman learned of the Manhattan Project, and had to decide whether or not to use the atomic bomb. With the advice of James Byrnes, Secretary of State, Truman decided to drop two atomic bombs on Japan, in part to demonstrate America’s power to the world and gain a political advantage in Europe (Offner 294). After World War II ended, there were negotiations about Germany, and it was decided that Germany would be split into two halves; the western half would be controlled by the United States and its allies, while the eastern half would be controlled by the Soviet Union. This situation led to increased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union because of the two nations’ different political and economic systems. The Soviet Union began to view the United States as a threat to communism, and the United States began to view the Soviet Union as a threat to democracy. On March 12, 1947, Truman gave a speech in which he argued that the United States should support nations trying to resist Soviet imperialism. Truman and his advisors created a foreign policy that consisted of giving reconstruction aid to Europe, and preventing Russian expansionism. These foreign policy decisions, as well as his involvement in the usage of the atomic bomb, raises the question of whether or not the Cold War can be blamed on Truman.
Roosevelt's Responsibility for the Cold War Certainly Roosevelt’s naive attempt to foster diplomacy with his World War II ally allowed Stalin to quickly secure the Eastern front of Russia placing the nation in a position of power in Europe. However in the context of the post-war period this policy of appeasement and gratuitous diplomacy during the Yalta conference was not significant in starting the Cold War because it produced no immediate results that would have triggered such a dispute. Truman on the other hand, created an ideological discord between communism and capitalism that was unprecedented at the time and pursued this policy with great ardor during the Potsdam conference and during the closing stages of World War II. It is a fallacious to assume that Roosevelt’s naïve foreign policy with the U.S.S.R was significantly responsible for the Cold War when it was clearly Truman’s belligerent approach to foreign affairs that ignited the conflict.
There have been many attempts to explain the origins of the Cold War that developed between the capitalist West and the communist East after the Second World War. Indeed, there is great disagreement in explaining the source for the Cold War; some explanations draw on events pre-1945; some draw only on issues of ideology; others look to economics; security concerns dominate some arguments; personalities are seen as the root cause for some historians. So wide is the range of the historiography of the origins of the Cold War that is has been said "the Cold War has also spawned a war among historians, a controversy over how the Cold War got started, whether or not it was inevitable, and (above all) who bears the main responsibility for starting it" (Hammond 4). There are three main schools of thought in the historiography: the traditional view, known alternatively as the orthodox or liberal view, which finds fault lying mostly with the Russians and deems security concerns to be the root cause of the Cold War; the revisionist view, which argues that it is, in fact, the United States and the West to blame for the Cold War and not the Russians, and cites economic open-door interests for spawning the Cold War; finally, the post-revisionist view which finds fault with both sides in the conflict and points to issues raised both by the traditionalists as well as the revisionists for combining to cause the Cold War. While strong arguments are made by historians writing from the traditionalist school, as well as those writing from the revisionist school, I claim that the viewpoint of the post-revisionists is the most accurate in describing the origins of the Cold War.
Stalin did not trust the West, Britain and USA. because he remembered they had invaded Russia in 1919 and had ignored Stalin's appeal for a second front. Stalin was convinced they wanted the USSR to destroy itself when fighting Germany. At the end of the war, the Allies met at Yalta and later Potsdam.... ...
War. Humans have thrived from war for as long as we can remember. The United States has been fighting wars ever since we found the new country in North America that we now call the United States. We fought against our selves for the freedom of others. We fought in several world wars. We have always fought. But in the late 1940's “war” changed forever. This was well known as the Cold War. Why was this so different? “ The world had never experienced anything like it. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States was a half century of military build-up, political maneuvering for international support (Hanes, Sharon M., and Richard C. Hanes).” This means that the world has always seen war as either hand to hand combat or gun to gun combat. With soldiers and foot patrols, but this was basically an arms race. Who was to blame for this struggle? I believe that the Cold War was caused by both nations.
War is an idea that has existed since the dawn of humanity, and with every war there are goals and motives, the Cold War is no different. The turmoil of the first World War in set the global stage for the future of relations between the United States, Russia, Britain and other countries. As the Russian civil war grew fiercer, allied forces, including U.S. forces, laid foot on Russian soil, at which point things took a turn for the worst. The Cold War was a war of competition, in every sense of the word; and although both the United States and the Soviet Union were teetering-tottering on the brink of war for many years after the first World War, ultimately the United States is to blame for initiation of the Cold War, as the United States adjusted
Outline of Essay About the Origins of the Cold War OUTLINE: Introduction- 1. Definition of ‘Cold War’ and the Powers involved 2. Perceived definition of ‘start of Cold War’ 3. Iron Curtain Speech, Truman Doctrine and Berlin Blockade as significant events that caused strife between both powers, but which triggering off the start of the Cold War Body- 1. Iron Curtain Speech (1946) - A warning of Soviet influence beyond the acknowledged Eastern Europe - Churchill’s belief that the idea of a balance in power does not appeal to the Soviets - Wants Western democracies to stand together in prevention of further
At the end of WWII, the Soviet Union had sustained tremendous casualties and the country was almost destroyed. In order for Russia to be able to protect itself in the future, it would need to be surrounded by countries that would be loyal to Soviet Russia. The countries would serve as a buffer zone to stop possible future invading armies. The Soviet takeover of Poland was a defensive tactic to protect Russia, not to try and convert Europe to communism like America assumed.
...nent as well as which of these factors was of most importance. At the end of the day, the Cold War was not a proud moment for the countries involved especially for European nations. The lesson that can learned today by this battle between capitalism and communism is that in the end capitalism will prevail. All of these nations that were once a part of the Soviet empire have now adopted some form of capitalism. Even the former Soviets have implemented their version of capitalism (though it seems Russia is trying to bring the old ways back into the fold). Today and in the future, the Cold War will be looked at as a war of superpowers trying to control the way the world runs their government. People say we are headed into another Cold War. If that is the case, this incarnation will not have the geopolitical, social and economic relationships of the original.
Since 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell and Eastern European Communism came to an end, many of those who have lived through or bore witness to communism published their experiences to the public through media. These personal accounts tell, for the most part, of repressive and manipulative governments that constantly abused their power. Since the original goal for communism was equality, the East German government clearly corrupted the hopes that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels had for the future of the Eastern European government and society.
The Yalta Conference was held in February 1945, while World War II was still going on. The President of the USA Franklin D. Roosevelt, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met at Yalta to discuss the dynamics of Europe after the end of World War Two. It was held before there was any mention of the Cold War or rivalry between the USSR and the USA. The Yalta Conference was preceded by the Tehran Conference in 1943 and the Potsdam Conference in July 1945 concluded the wartime conferences. Each representative had an agenda; Churchill wanted democratic governments in Eastern Europe, Roosevelt desired Soviet assistance against the Japanese in the East and Soviet membership in the UN, and Stalin wanted a sphere of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe, to act as a buffer zone against further attack, which would become the basis of the Iron Cu...
The Yalta Conference was one of the most important events in history, let alone, this century. It took place from February 4 to February 11, 1945, at Yalta, Crimea, a port/resort. The three main individuals at this meeting were Churchill of Great Britain, Roosevelt of the United States and Stalin of the U.S.S.R, known back then, and now known as Russia. This meeting was to discuss the post war effects.