TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > History > Origins of the Cold War
What was the Cold War?
The Cold War was the state of hostility between the two major spheres of influence, USSR and USA, that included arms races, space races, and conflicting ideologies, whereby a 'hot war' can not be risked in fear of a nuclear war.
Liberalism vs Marxist-Leninism
Liberalism- a capitalist society
- encouraging free-market and private ownership --> government intervention is bad
- free trade endorse efficiency and economic growth
- democracy = freedom of speech, expression, assembly (multi-party system)
- Religion: in the US, there is a strong Christian evangelical tradition
- view communist control of people's lives as dictatorial
Marxist-Leninism- a communist society based on the idea of "dictatorship of the proletariat", i.e. run by workers
- operates under centrally-planned economy, views US "opendoor policy" as "dollar imperialism"
- communism = freedom from capitalist influence, everyone is equal, a single-party state represents the interest of the masses, thereby democratic
- Religion: "Religion is the opium of the mass" - Karl Marx....communists are therefore athiests
- view Western democracies as those controlled by the capitalists
Basic Factors concerning Causes- Differences in ideology
- Difference of economic methods
- Difference in political methods
- Difference in their definitions of "democracy"
Tensions between the West and USSR before WW2
- 1918 - the new Bolshevik Regime under Lenin believed in "World Revolution"
- The Soviet Reds (Lenin) had to constantly fight civil wars against the Western-backed Whites.
- The civil wars were followed by an economic embargo which lasted until 1933 (when Hitler came into power)
- France and Britain were busy recovering from WW1 and did nothing to prevent Hitler's expansion in the 1930s
- Being left in the dark, Stalin was forced to turn to Hitler for support; signing the Non Aggression Pact in August 1939
- This pact would be made obsolete when the Nazis attacked Russia in 1941
Tensions during WW2
- The Non Agression Pact 1939 between Germany and USSR worried the USA
- The question of the Second Front in Europe: Stalin asked for help in fighting with Germany in 1941, the West did not help him until 1944 (Stalin believed they wanted Hitler and himself to weaken each other)
- The Atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were dropped by the US without consulting her allies
Wartime Conferences
Yalta, Feb 1945
- POLAND : was "moved" 300km West. Stalin signed The Declaration of Liberated Europe, promising free elections in Eastern Europe.
- JAPAN: Stalin promised to declare war on Japan after the war had ended in Europe
- UN: The Allies would attempt to organize collective security, this time with the USSR present.
- GERMANY: should be divided into 4 zones of occupation (American, British, Russian, French); the West were determined to give the French something (Stalin believes it is to make his share smaller). Berlin was also divided into East/West zones.
Yalta is generally considered a successful conference, leaders left it more or less content
Potsdam, July 1945
- JAPAN: Stalin wanted to take part in Japan's defeat (benefits), but Truman wanted Japanese quick surrender so that Russia would get nothing out of it; he had the atomic bomb and was prepared to use it.
- GERMANY: Zone divisions were confirmed; there were disagreements over reparations, Russians had to take what was left of the Eastern (less developed) zones.
- EASTERN EUROPE: Western leaders declared that Stalin did not follow The Declaration of Liberated Europe
- VIETNAM and KOREA: the West wanted to liberate all areas under Japanese occupation, mainly Indochina and Korea.
- Potsdam is generally considered a failure, it was filled with disputes and unresolved conflicts, and the US and British leaders had switched to Truman and Attlee, respectively
Conditions after WW2
- Remaining two superpowers with opposing ideology
- The fall of the Reich meant a power vacuum in the Centre of Europe
- The fall of Japan meant a power vacuum in Asia
- The USSR suffered greatly from the war, 25million killed, 1700 cities ruined, 70% industry 60% transports destroyed.
- The USA is experiencing economic boom and is also a nuclear monopoly (intimidates the USSR)
- The Red Army had liberated most of Eastern Europe from Germany; EE is now more or less a Soviet sphere of influence
Historiography
Orthodox View - Stalin and Marxist-Leninism was responsible
- Stalin was a ruthless dictator
- He actually signed a Non-Aggression Pact with Hitler (1939)
- To the Americans, Communist expansion was unacceptable
- Stalin did not follow The Declaration of Liberated Europe
- The states which were supposed to be independent became Soviet satellite states
Revisionist View - The US were responsible
- The US didn't realize the USSR was effectively trashed and that they themselves were in great shape
- Economic boom and nuclear monopoly
- The US were expansionists themselves by trying to create "dollar imperialism"
- Marshall-Plan and Truman Doctrine which allowed them to intervene anywhere
- Stalin's creation of buffer states and establishing control in EE were purely defensive
- Stalin could not risk another invasion of his country, which would most likely come from the US
Post Revisionist View - Mutual misunderstanding, over-reactions due to fear
- The US did not understand the USSR's need for security
- The USSR didn't realize how their reaction scared the west
- Different ideologies meant neither understood how the other worked
The "Realpolitik" School - pragmatism; ideology was not the issue
- The Cold War was purely a bid for power
- It is up to who's benefiting, and the opposition is the scapegoat
- Marshall-Plan free-market would benefit the US economy; Eastern bloc will benefit the USSR
- Stalin wasn't ideological to begin with, he believed in "socialism in one country"
- The US would often support anyone who share its enemy: Hitler's rise, Tito in Yugoslavia.
