Straightforward "what were the causes of the Cold War?" question. The key is to make sure that you make your answer sharp enough to stand out from the numerous other attempts at this topic.
Think about your introduction...
- When did the Cold War start?
- How important was the period pre-WWII?
- Was the Wartime Alliance doomed to failure?
- How important were personalities? (Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt, Truman, Atlee)
- What role does historiography play in this debate?
- Arguments during the second world war and their effect on the alliance (second front, war with Japan etc.)
- Mutual suspicion
- Nature of the official ideology of the USSR: stated the inevitability of conflict with western capitalist states à contributed to suspicions from the west / not certain that Stalin was motivated by this Marxist-Leninist ideology
- Liberal-democratic system of the West was not well understood by Stalin: the allies were unable to commit themselves ‘on the spot´ but had to refer to their parliament or congress, this was evidence for Stalin of lack of faith.
- Conflict between fundamental aims of Stalin and Roosevelt:
- Roosevelt had idealistic aims (‘four freedoms´: f. from want, f. of speech, f. of religious belief and f. from fear)
- Stalin had more concrete aims (regaining of Russian territory lost in WWI, control over Eastern Europe)
- Tendency to interpret the actions of the other in the light of their own priorities.
- Incompatability of the allies' attitudes towards the post-war shape of Europe
- Nature of Stalin´s regime: dictatorship of USSR was only justified if external forces threatened the security of USSR, therefore to prevent the danger of being overthrown from within, Stalin had to have external enemies.
- Death of Roosevelt: Stalin had a great deal of respect for him. Truman was far less of an internationalist + far less willing to extent goodwill to the USSR.
- The bipolar nature of international relations: USSR and USA were the only real powers in the immediate post-WWII period and as representatives of rival social systems they were forced into confrontation.
- The atomic bomb- intensified Soviet-American distrust
Hi Sir, I didnt really read the question properly and so havent really referred to the origin of the east west rivalry. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteBeginning of the cold war
INTRO:
The cold war was a period of high tension between the two main post war superpowers; America and the Soviet Union. It lasted between 1945 and 1989 and causes of which have been debated ever since.
PARAGRAPH 1: ORTHODOX- THE USSR TO BLAME
• Refusal of the USSR to allow free elections despite agreeing to them at Yalta
E.g. Czechoslovakia
• Salami tactics to remove democratically chosen government and replace it with a communist government
E.g. Poland
• Red Army remained in occupied nations to enforce communist governments
• Soviet reaction to US policy- making it a clear East/ West divide
E.g. Comecon, Cominform, Moletov Plan, Two Camps Doctrine
• Czech coup- shows USSRs aim to create soviet sphere
• Berlin blockade- unnecessarily increased tensions
PARAGRAPH: REVISIONIST- THE USA TO BLAME
• Dollar diplomacy- establishing a European empire by economic domination and dependence Containment of communism was for self-interest rather than fear
E.g. The Truman Doctrine, The Marshall Plan
• Stalin did need security, suffered badly during WWII and was desperate to stop another war in the USSR.
Shown by his desire to keep Germany weak
• The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shows US aggression as they had air and naval supremacy and had all but won the war. Also shows US aim to intimidate the USSR, into giving them concessions.
• Roosevelt and Churchill met Stalin’s demands at Tehran and Yalta but when Roosevelt was replaced by Truman he went back on the decisions already decided on. Unnecessarily raised tensions.
PARAGRAPH 3: POST REVISIONIST- NEITHER USA NOR USSR CAN BE HELD SOLELY RESPONSIBLE
E.g. John Lewis Gaddis
• Both super powers overestimated the power and strengths of the others
• USSR failed to understand USA’s motives for Marshall Aid and the Truman Doctrine, and the USA refused to believe that the USSR was seeking security.
• Ideology blinded both nations of the true reasons for each other’s actions.
CONCLUSION
The cold war was to escalate following these events to the point where nuclear war seemed to be a very real possibility, making the question as to why the cold war began itself hugely important. To conclude both the USA and the USSR had some role in the start of the cold war, however similar to the view of post-cold war historians I feel that the USSR is mostly to blame. The post war historians have taken evidence from documents which have been released since the collapse of the Soviet Union, showing Stalin’s policies drew the hostilities of the west during events such as the Berlin blockade and the failure to remove the Red army from occupied nations. On top of this it seems that if Stalin was removed from the situation it seems unlikely that the cold war would have taken place.
Hen
ReplyDeleteHere are a few thoughts on the essay plan:
Intro- probably best to identify what the different opinions were (ie the key to the debate is apportioning blame). It is also worth raising the key issue which is "was the Cold War inevitable?" this last point addresses the point of development, and allows you to measure the importance of events post-1945 with those pre-1945.
The body of the essay can then develop from this.
Both the orthodox and the revisionist views argue for the inevitable, citing the clash between the different ideologies.
The events which support the "inevitable" argument include:
1. Russian Civil War
2. Soviet actions 1939-1941 (Poland, Finland, Pact of Steel) which suggest that Stalin was driven by expansionist goals.)
3. Stalin's desire for an eastern european "empire"
4. US desire to play a part in a post-war world which they (rather than GB or France) would dominate.
Note: whether it was anybody's "fault" isn't important, the key is that the clash had to happen given US and Soviet policy.
The "not inevitable" argument requires a bit of counter-factualism, for example, what if Roosevelt had survived as he was far more tolerant of the USSR than Truman was. The argument also requires an analysis of why the USA and USSR misinterpreted each other's actions.
To take this on further, could events have been avoided?
Have a go at developing your introduction, and your handling of the period 1917-1945. You need to be able to explain the long-term and the immediate causes of the war. The question of whether the war was avoidable will definitely come into this as will issues such as the role of individuals and the importance of specific events (nuclear bomb, Marshall Plan, Berlin etc).
Have a go at the other "origins" question if you like