Origins of the Cold War 1945-1960 - Research Paper Example

Name Tutor Course Date Cold War 1945-1960 Introduction Cold War was the conflict that existed between Communist nations that was championed by Soviet Union and democratic nations championed by United States. It was fought through propaganda, diplomatic haggling, economic war and in certain occasions military clashes. It was fought in each and every place which also included neutral states and other independent nations that were in outer space, Africa and Asia. The aforementioned States were further referred to as client states. It led to a number of occurrences such as Cuban Missile Crisis, Hungary, Vietnam, growth of weapons of mass destruction and Berlin Wall. The war took place since the two super powers of that time were so distrustful of one another and as such had beliefs that were diametrically opposite of each other. Events that led to the Cold War The War was as a result of political, economic and ideological differences that existed between the Soviet Union and the United States before World War two. Their differences got worse as a result of their suspicions of each other after Second World War. Ideological Differences The Soviet Union and the United States represent two systems of government that oppose each other. The United States government is chosen by free elections. The citizens of the States also have the right of forming political parties, voicing political opinions; they have the right of assembly and of the press. On the other hand the government of the Soviet Union is made by Communist Party. The people of the Soviet Union have no right in forming political parties. They have no right of assembly, of press and of speech. The Americans run their country as a democracy while that of the Soviet Union is run as a dictatorship. Lastly, the Americans are capitalists who believe in survival for the fittest and in term were apprehensive of communism while the Russians are communists who believe in everyone helping everyone which ultimately put the needs of the state ahead of individual human rights (Murray). The above systems of government are therefore diametrically opposed. It is also thought the super powers resented each other due to the stands that they had initially taken. The United States and Britain resented the Soviet Union for signing a pact with Germany in 1939 (Nazi Soviet Pact). On the other hand; the Soviet Union resented the United States and Britain for attempting to stop the Russian Revolution in 1918. Economic The United States had an interest of encouraging free trade in the world while the Soviet Union was interested in shielding off herself from international commerce. Russia was apprehensive that Western trading involved Russia’s risk being available to western influences which eroded the totalitarian regime’s strength. Their differences resulted to a lot of ill feeling between the Soviet Union and the United States. Power rivalry The end of World War two resulted in the decline of Europe and as such power was spread between the United States and the Soviet Union. This was due to the fight for domination and as such conflicts were inevitable (Larkin). Other causes of the Cold War Immediate conflict took place between the United States and the Soviet Union during peace-time conferences. Their conflict was further aggravated after the declaration of the Truman Doctrine and the launching of Marshall Plan that took place in 1947. Prolonged Russian Control in Europe The Soviet Union had extended her authority in Europe before the end of world war two. By 1944, the Red Army had already controlled and liberated a huge section of Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union got hold of the Curzon Line in 1945 during the Yalta Conference and as such had her Poland boundary line and the control of a part of Germany’s eastern zone. By May of 1945, the Soviet Union had consolidated power over Eastern Europe. The Red Army started by influencing post war elections. They scared the voters and altered the voting lists as they wished (Murray). Although non-communists were able to gain a number of votes, a large portion of votes were channeled to communists. The coalition of governments was created immediately after war and was largely dominated by communists. The two vital ministries; Military and Defense were constantly under communist power. Stalin was not contented with the communist power in Eastern Europe. He championed communists to take part in the post-war elections that were being carried out in Western Europe. By 1946, the Italian and French Communists became the strongest parties in Italy and France. The United States Reactions The State’s resisted Russia’s expansion in Europe from May of 1945. The resistance started in May since the United States had a new president who was of a different opinion than Roosevelt. The incumbent president did not believe the Communists. He believed that the communists would not put up democratic governments that transcend Eastern Europe. He was under the impression that the Communists would further infringe their influence to Western Europe hence a policy of robust resistance was put up against the Russian expansion (Larkin). The United States further resisted the communist expansion since it was the only country with an atomic bomb which it made use of before Potsdam Conference. The United States thought that it had to resist the Communists because it was not impressed by the Russian’s non-co-operative attitude which was noticed in the Postdam Conference. Russia has geared towards the exertion of heavy German reparations. Russia accused Britons of keeping a reactionary monarchy that existed in Greece and also for the support of an Italian Fascist regime that existed in Trieste. Stalin further hampered Truman’s proposal that was about the Internationalization of principal waterways (BBC Active). Deplorable relations between the Soviet Union and the United States The poor relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were shown in two small incidents that took place during the year. Land-Lease was terminated abruptly by the United States as a consequence of the Russian request of economic aid and for post-war reconstruction that was ignored by the United State’s government. During World War two, the U.S availed a lot of war material to its Allied Nations via the programme of lend and lease. By the time the lend and lease initiative was finally stopped, the Soviet Union which was war ravaged could not get American material support to aid her economic post-war reconstruction. The deplorable relations that existed between the West and East were shown in Churchill’s speech. This further magnified Soviet’s aggressive designs that were put up in Europe. Lack of Consensus in Conferences There was lack of consensus among the super powers in the following conferences; Tehran, Potsdam and Yalta that stipulated the principles to be adhered to after the World War. The Yalta conferences took place in 1945 during the World War. The allies were in agreement to do the following; divide Germany into 4 sections which would ultimately be occupied by the USA, Britain, USSR and France after the end of the war, try the Nazi war criminals, start a Polish Provisional Government that stood for national unity that pledged to holding unfettered and free elections immediately, start a commission that looks into reparation and aid freed Europe people to start democratic, self governing nations that help them in the maintenance of law and order, commencement of governments, propagate emergency relief measures and also hold elections. The negotiations ultimately went in favor of Stalin (Murray). It is thought that the chips favored Stalin since his help was needed to fight Japan. As a result of the negotiations Stalin promised to join the United Nations and also fight Japan on condition that it would be allowed to occupy Manchuria and North Korea. The conference resulted in the Britons and Americans feeling that they ended up getting a raw deal as they gave the Russians too much. Potsdam (1945) The Potsdam conference was held after World War two. The following factors indicated that the Potsdam conference was not feasible; the relations between the superpowers were deplorable since the Yalta conference. Stalin had arrested non-communist Polish representatives. The move instigated the planning of operation unthinkable in which they planned to attack Russia. The incumbent United States’ president Roosevelt had passed on and was succeeded by Truman who was more trigger happy than Roosevelt was and as such was not shy of employing strident measures (BBC Active). The Americans had succeeded in the creation of their first atomic bomb. The bomb gave the Americans a big military advantage over all the players in the conference. It further implied that the United States did not need Russia’s help in Japan. The States’ main aim during the conference was to determine when the Russian’s would enter the war. The arguments emerged at the conference and the following agreements were reached; the setting up of four occupation zones in Germany. The laws, government and Nazi parties were to be abolished. German education was to be governed completely so as to eliminate militarist and Nazi doctrines and as such ensure the successful development of a number of democratic ideas that ensure that the Nazis are brought to trial (Larkin). Recognition of Polish Provisional Government that facilitated National Unity and as such ensure that unfettered and free elections are held. Lastly, the Russians were permitted to obtain reparations from Soviet Zone and also acquire 10% of any industrial equipment from Western Zones as form of reparations. Britain and America were also permitted to obtain reparations from their individual zones when they deemed fit. However, the allies of the conference had vehemently disagreed about the following; the details of German division, the quantity of reparations to be paid by the Germans and Russian influence of the Eastern Europe countries. Hiroshima and Nagasaki By May of 1945, the Japanese were evidently losing the war and as a result requested for peace. Their peace request was declined and as such they were forced to surrender unconditionally. The Japanese were as such subjected to an atomic bomb referred to as ‘little boy’ that was dropped in Hiroshima (BBC Active). The temperature in the core of the bomb was around 50 times hotter than the sun’s surface was thought to be. Winds blew from the bomb’s centre at a speed of 500 mph and as such a radius of two miles was flattened. The mushroom clouds rose to around 50,000 feet. A death of 117,000 people was estimated. Another bomb was subsequently dropped at Nagasaki three days later which prompted the surrender of the Japanese. The bomb was dropped for a number of reasons which were; to end the world war two before the Soviet Union’s participation and as such prevent them from claiming part of the Pacific as promised during the Yalta conference. The bomb was dropped as a show off to the Soviets and as a form of persuasion for them to ease their grip on the eastern section of Europe (Zhukov). The dropping of the bomb caused the cold war since it resulted in the change of Stalin’s attitude. The atomic bomb alienated Stalin because he was peeved that the United States did not let him on their having an atomic bomb. The United States was vague about their obtaining an atomic bomb and as such the Russians felt cheated when the bomb was used. “After the bomb was dropped, Stalin was furious. The place Russia had earned as a world power by its victory in the war had been snatched away. "Hiroshima has shaken the whole world," he is said to have told Kurchatov. "The balance has been destroyed (McMillan)." It was argued that Stalin had prior knowledge of the United States building an atomic bomb and as such was annoyed that he was beaten in the race of developing a lethal weapon (Zhukov). It was further speculated that Stalin deemed the dropping of the bomb as warning that was more directed to it than Japan. Stalin thought was of the impression that the United States were intimidating them while on the other hand killing the Japanese who had initially surrendered. It is thought that Stalin took the position of playing “hard ball” and as such instructed his diplomats to assume a tougher position in the opposition of the West. His stand led to his “Bolshoi speech” in which he accused the United States of making use of its atomic bomb upper hand for imperialism. As such in this manner the atomic bomb resulted into the Cold War. References BBC Active (2010). The Origins of the Cold War. Retrieved April 15th 2011 from http://www.johndclare.net/cold_warA1.htm. Larkin, PJ (1965). European History for Certificate Classes: A student example revision book. McGraw-Hill. Murray, D (1999). To What Extent was the Cold War a Struggle between Irreconcilable Ideologies? New York Press. McMillan, P (2004). Science and Secrecy. Review in the New York Times of David Holloway’s book: Stalin and the Bomb. Zhukov, GK (1971). The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov. http://www.funfront.net/hist/europe/coldwar.htm Read More