Causes of the Cold War - Coursework Example

THE COLD WAR Your name Date of submission The cold war stemmed from the events of the Second World War. The Second World War witnessed the collaboration of the Soviet Union and the United States of America to fight against Japan and Germany. The presidents of the Soviet Union, the Great Britain and the United States of America met at the Yalta conference in Crimea in 1945. The then powerful leader of the Soviet Union was extremely influential hence the Roosevelt courted his help to defeat Japan. Unfortunately, the amiable partnership between the Soviet Union and the United States deteriorated. The relationship was sour for about fifty years. This period marked the Cold War. This paper seeks to discuss the causes and the end to the Cold War. Causes of the Cold War The Cold war is a war that pitted the Soviet Union and the United States. The two allies during the Second World War developed enormous hostility between them. The Second World war was won by the Soviet Union and the United States of America as they defeated Adolf Hitler’s Nazi forces (Chomsky 1994, 93). The genesis of the hostility commenced from the 1940’s until 1991, when the Soviet Union crumbled. The cold war did not involve physical fights but a war of threats between the two super powers for global superiority. They warned of nuclear attacks and even engaged in proxy wars. This was noted in Vietnam and Angola. As a result of this rivalry, the foreign policies were tailored to command and sustain their global influence. During this period, both the United States and the Soviet Union reached out to attract and retain strategic allies in case of an attack. The intense relationship was seen as competition between capitalism by America and The Soviets communism. The Cold War was characterized by massive technological advancements in war fare, nuclear production and military development. There was uncertainty of the cold war degenerating into a physical war hence the two countries were preparing for the ultimate eventuality. There is intense debate as who triggered the Cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States of America. Some people believe that it was the Soviet Union who dishonored the agreements with the United States. The Soviet imposed totalitarian rule on their territories isolating the people of Eastern Europe hence provoking the United States. Another school of thought believes that the United States was responsible for the Cold war. The United States hunger for superiority and nuclear arsenals played against marginalizing the Soviets influence. These sow suspicion between the two superpowers and stimulated the cold war. The suspicion led to an emergence meeting between Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin in Tehran. They met to discuss Poland which lied between Germany and the Soviet Union. The political situation in Poland was quite complex. It had two factions that wanted to assume leadership in Poland; a communist faction and an anticommunist faction. The three allies could not agree over what faction to lead Poland after the Second World War. Churchill and Roosevelt supported the people’s choice for government while Josef thought the communist faction should take over power. The Soviet Union considered Poland to be strategic for their security. This was supported by the fact that Germany attacked the Soviet Union through Poland in 1914 two times (Acharya 1993, 73). The severity of the security situation was compounded by millions of the Soviet Union Citizens who died in during the attack. Stalin argued that a communist led Poland could advance Soviet’s security concerns but the other two leaders held to their suggestion. Another conference was assembled at Yalta, Tehran, to deliberate on a number of agreements. The three leaders successfully reached an agreement on how to resolve border disputes. Further, they concurred, on the modalities, to establish the United Nations. Lastly, the three leaders agreed on a blue print of restoring and reconstructing Japan and Germany. However, Poland still presented enormous challenges to the three leaders. After prolonged deliberations, Roosevelt and Churchill yielded to a communist led government in Poland. Consequently, Stalin signed an incomplete agreement called Declaration of Liberated Europe (Coady, and O'Keefe 2002, 217). The agreement provided that Stalin assist and support the European countries that had been freed from Nazi Germany. The selfish manner, in which the three leaders rushed through the agreements, exposed Europe into an inevitable crisis of ideologies. The signing of the Yalta agreements enabled Stalin to oversee Eastern Europe while Roosevelt and Churchill had achieved the principle of self-determination. The genesis of complications commenced when the United States President passed on in April 12, 1945. The incoming president, Harry S. Truman who was not privy to the Yalta agreements, raised objection to Stalin’s expansion of communism (Whittaker 1999, 89). The new American President vowed to block Stalin’s activities in Eastern Europe while declaring that Stalin was violating the Yalta agreements. This dispute ignited a cold war that lasted for about fifty years. The misconception of Josef Stalin’s ideologies made the Americans under Truman to treat him with suspicion. They saw him as a person with an insatiable hunger to amass power to conquer the world. Truman advocated for the cold war as a means to stop Stalin from establishing totalitarian rule across the world. This perception by the American government was the basis for their foreign policy. Another school of thought believed that Stalin only wanted to shield the Soviet Union from external aggression. They believe that his advocacy for Poland to form a buffer zone was just and credible. They argue that America’s use of atomic bombs, to scare the Soviet Union, and advance their self-interests were the cause for the cold war. The cause of the cold war, therefore, stemmed from the consequences of the Second World War. How the Cold War came to an End Poland experienced drastic events that eventually triggered the down fall of the communist government. A series of protests by labor unions since the 1970 agitating for better labor practices severed the restrictive censorship legislation. The rising influence of solidarity unions paralyzed Poland’s economy paving the way to democratic elections. However, Poland experienced economic challenges under the communist governance. This appalling state of affairs in Poland forced the ruling communist party to dissolve in January 29, 1990 (Hobsbawn 1994, 253). This was followed by democratic elections signaling the end of communism in Poland. The imminent end to the cold war started in 1980’s when the influence of the Soviet Union had stated waning. The rise of Mikhail Gorbachev to leadership in 1985 changed the Soviet Union approach to international affairs. Gorbachev was appalled and concerned about the fragile economy and the unstable financial position of the Soviet Union. He introduced a paradigm shift in Soviet Union. He introduced about two policies that would bring about the required reforms in the Soviet. The policies included glasnost and perestroika (Palmer 1992, 37). These policies had extensive effects to the Soviet system. The policy of glasnost advocated for openness and transparency. It eliminated all sought of limitations to freedom of speech by the Soviets. Gorbachev’s government reintroduced previously banned and censored broadcast stations and books. The policy of perestroika advocated for restructuring of the government. His main objective for restructuring was to eliminate unscrupulous practices and instill discipline and efficiency to governance. The economy and financial institutions were run professionally under this policy. The restructuring also included the introduction of competitive presidential elections. The reforms under Gorbachev redefined Soviets foreign policy and its expansionist principles. Consequently, the Soviet’s engagement with America flourished under the new reforms. The Soviet system was heavily diluted by the new reforms which eventually introduced democracy to the Soviet Union. Reagan and Gorbachev played an integral role in the bringing an end to the cold war. The two leaders held a summit in October 1986 at Reykjavik, Iceland where Gorbachev emphasized the need to reduce nuclear arms (Baylis, and Smith 2001, 84). This proposal came into force in December, 1987 when an Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty was endorsed in Washington. The reduction of nuclear arms race stimulated the decline of Eastern Europe that was controlled by the Soviet Union. The Iron Curtain that restricted travel unfolded progressively. For instance, the Hungarian authority removed the wired fence that had been erected on its border with the west and Austria (Hubbard 2008, 98). The Berlin was brought down thereafter in November 10, 1989 (Bennett, and Oliver 2002, 174). The Berlin Wall restricted movement of people from West Germany to East Germany and vice versa. Later on, the communist government in East Germany was heavily weakened and eventually was dissolved in March 18, 1990. By the month of September 1990, East Germany had withdrawn the Warsaw agreement. Subsequently, the withdrawal of Soviet soldiers commenced and finished in 1994. Free elections were conducted across Eastern Europe, which led, to the removal of Communist regimes. The Soviet Union disintegrated in the mid 1990’s announcing their independence. Later, the emerging uprising staged plots to remove Gorbachev from power. The Soviet Union collapsed in December 8, 1991, when the president of the Republic of Russia established a conglomeration of independent states called the Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S) (Puchala et al 2007, 58). This marked the ultimate end to the cold war that never exploded into a physical war. Conclusion The Cold War emerged after the end of the Second World War. The Second World War resulted to the emergence of two super powers; The United States of America and the Soviet Union. This two Nations disagreed of a blueprint of reconstructing Japan and Germany after the war. Their disagreement stemmed from a power struggle that would continue for fifty years. This struggle for superiority involved the two countries threatening each other over a nuclear assault. However, the war of words never escalated into physical war although both countries were prepared for a physical confrontation. This war of words is the Cold war that ended in 1991when the Soviet Union crumbled. Bibliography Acharya, Amitav. Third World Conflicts and International Order after the Cold War Canberra: Peace Research Centre, 1993. Baylis, John and Smith Steve. The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Bennett, LeRoy, A., and Oliver, James K. International organizations: principles and issues, Upper Saddle River. NJ : Prentice Hall, 2002. Chomsky, Noam. World Orders, Old and New. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. Coady, Tony and O'Keefe, Michael. Terrorism and Justice: Moral Argument in a Threatened World. Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2002. Hobsbawn, Eric. The Age of Extremes: A Short History of the Twentieth Century 1914-1991. London: Abacus, 1994. Hubbard, Christopher. An Australian introduction to international relations, Frenchs Forest. N.S.W.: Pearson Education Australia, 2008. Palmer, Alan. The Penguin Dictionary of Twentieth-century History. London: Penguin, 1992. Puchala, Donald et al, United Nations politics: international organization in a divided world, Upper Saddle River. N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Whittaker, David J. Conflict and Reconciliation in the Contemporary World. London: Routledge, 1999. Read More