Who was to blame for The Cold War? The Cold War happened over a long period time, unraveling and developing after the horrors of the Second World War. Throughout the course of the years that have followed the Cold War, mixed opinions of who is to blame for the war have arisen. It was believed, before the 1960s, that Stalin and his Communist ideologies brought the war to the attention of the world. Soon after, various evaluations of the war dictated that USA and the “western” supporters (i.e.
The Cold War Between 1945 and 1989, the Soviet Union was in conflict with the United States of America, although the conflict never came to open warfare. Even though both sides wanted to undermine and destroy each other, if it came to open warfare both countries would have been destroyed by the use of their nuclear weapons. The USA “battled for non-communist, capitalist regimes” whereas the USSR was very much a communist dictatorship, however they had one thing in common; both sides believed that they held the key to the future happiness of the human race. There were many causes to the Cold War, although the Potsdam Conference in 1945 was the most influential. In February 1945, the Yalta Conference was held.
From 1917 to 1980, their relationship shifts from good relationship to bad relationship that almost led to nuclear war, which was fallowed again with a good relationship that led to arms control and détente, then to an intensified relationship until the end of the cold war. IA. It is important to know the background that strained the relationship of the Americans and the Soviets by understanding the period 1917 to 1945. It is not at this span of time that the nuclear arms race started but rather this period marked the beginning of the ideological clash between the Americans and the Soviets. The overthrowing of the Tsarist Empire in 1917 led to the creation of the Soviet Union, marking the expansion of communism in Europe.
How far was the nuclear arms race a threat to world peace 1949-1963? The period of 1949 to 1963 saw increasing developments in nuclear technology by the Soviet Union and the Americans. The word ‘race’ meant that both superpowers aimed to match each other and gain the upper hand in terms of nuclear missile technology. Nuclear arms were seen as a form of scare tactic against the opposition as they both felt threatened by each other’s ideological capabilities. It was also used as a defence mechanism in case of future attack.
Fear of the other country laying influence of their ideology, as a means to gain power, tensions rose. These tensions were fueled by the truman doctrine, which requested 400 million from congress to help combat communism in greece and turkey. The purpose of the Truman doctrine was to provide American economic and military assistance to any nation threatened by communism. The US feared the encroaching soviet strength, which perpetually launched them into an arms race with the U.S.S.R. The Soviets broke the US nuclear monopoly, and that struck fear into all americans, there is now someone just as dangerous as you are.
Soviet and US relations changed dramatically between 1945 and 1947, there were many reasons to explain why and how this happened. Firstly, one reason was the end of WW2. During the Second World War, America and the USSR were members of the Grand Alliance in order to oppose Hitler, but when this war finished there was nothing to bring the Communists and Capitalists together. Therefore, the two countries went from allies to progressing enemies after Germany was defeated. This developed until a confrontation, from Western and Eastern Europe, in a nuclear arms race.
It significantly highlighted the true conflict involving the US and the USSR, and more importantly the ongoing battle between two opposing ideologies- capitalism and communism. The Korean War began with the communist North’s invasion of South Korea only years after the neighboring China ended its civil conflict and embraced a new Communist Regime under Mao Zedong. Whilst in the West communism had already been threatening to “swallow up” Europe seen through Stalin’s role in Czecoslovakinan Crisis; his disregard for the Yalta-Potsdam Agreements and the mobilized Red Army troops scattered over Eastern Europe. Consequently, the US where experiencing the beginnings of “anti-communist hysteria” due to the domino-effect Communist had had in Asia seen through the Sino-Soviet Pact (1950, and the possible threat of world-communism. In this sense, the Korean War is highly significant because it displayed the new terms of post-World War Two conflict and how difficult it would be to fight a contained War due to the snowballing effect of communism around the world.
There were a number of significant factors that affected the relations between the USA and Soviet Union, and caused it to change in the years 1943 to 1947. These factors included the change in leaders which caused relationships between the superpowers to be shaken, the atomic bomb that caused distrust between the leaders, a theoretical iron curtain that divided Western and Eastern Europe, and the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan that was made to encourage Europe into recovery. The first reason as to why relations between the USA and Soviet Union changed in the years 1943-47 was because of the change in leaders. In February 1945 the leaders were, Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt. However by July 1945 at the Potsdam Conference the leaders changed to become, Attlee, Truman and Stalin.
From the down fall of World War II, a major mid-life crisis; you could call it, began with an eye opening development of a relationship between the Soviet Union and America. It was compressed as American citizens were in fear of communist attack and the fear of Russia’s fear of America’s atomic bomb. This began the Cold War. It then trailed off to many different minor military tension and uncertainty, leading to the Berlin Blockade, Berlin Wall, The Iron Curtain, Bay of Pigs and one of the most famous, ‘The Cuban Missile Crisis’. The following paragraphs summarizes up an essay relating and analyzing the events that took place between 1945 and 1962 period and how it affected the world’s views on Europe and the publics view.
However, you shouldn't make the assumption that devotion to ideology was all that was behind Cold War animosity; countries tend to be more complaint trading partners with countries that share their political systems and both Stalin and the Cold War Era presidents in the US knew this. The tension eventually built, but no one wanted to go to actual war again after the colossal massacre of WWII, hence the term Cold War. 2. Describe and explain the ideological differences between the United Stated and the Soviet Union. In 1917, Russia became a communist country with an agenda of converting the world to communism.