Historical Investigation
Lauren Hooper
10/19/2014
Word Count: 1998
In what ways did Soviet actions (1945-1948) lead to the Cold War?
Word Count: 1859
A. Plan of Investigation
This investigation assesses the change of Russian- American relations from the end of WWII in 1945 to the Berlin Airlift in 1948. In order to evaluate the Soviet’s actions, important events are assessed in reference to the political changes leading up to the Berlin Airlift. This is important because it shows the events to setting the tone for the beginning of the Cold War. Articles are mostly used to evaluate these events and the significance of them. Two other sources in this essay are Truman authored by David McCullough and The 1940’s: Decade of Triumph and Trouble compiled by Cabell Phillips. These sources were chosen because they are comprehensive in discussing the Yalta Conference all the way to the Berlin Airlift. These two sources are evaluated for their origins, purposes, values, and limitations.
B. Summary of Evidence Prior to the Yalta Conference, US and Russian relationships were peaceful, but strained due to Stalin wanting the US to attack Germany from the western front, and America and Great Britain not wanting to due to the fact that there would be high casualty rates and they ‘felt unprepared’ (The Allies Second Front in World War II, Dr.Pauwels). Afterwards President Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at the Yalta conference. By the end of the meeting Roosevelt
The United States from the Cold War and into the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) continues to face challenges in translating military might into political desires due to its obsession with raising an army, electing politicians and assembling a diplomatic corp that continue to gravitate towards State-to-State engagements that if not rectified could lead to substantial delays in fighting terrorism and non-terrorist adversaries or worse total failure of the United States Military’s ability to properly carry out it’s politicians objectives due to being blindsided.
This investigation will explore the question: To what extent did the Berlin Airlift of 1948–1949 affect US-Soviet relations during the course of the Cold War? The years of 1948 and 1949 will be focused in this investigation, but some pre- 1948 and post- 1949 will be used as support.
In 1945, one major war ended and another began. After World War II, the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union were involved in what became known as the Cold War, which was a period of mutual fear and distrust. The war was given the name "cold" because the two sides never actually came into direct armed conflict; it was a war of words and ideologies rather than a shooting war (Crawford, 2009, p. 6). The Soviet Union and the United States came out from World War II as the new world superpowers, and despite their common victory with the defeat of their enemies, their primary bond was broken. There were deep-rooted ideological, economic, and political differences between the United States and the Soviet Union prior to the Second World War. Their differences, most notably their political systems and their visions of a postwar Europe, were intensified as a result of their mutual suspicions and during and after the Second World War drove the allied nations into an ideological conflict that lasted for 45 years.
The Cold War was a state of economic, diplomatic, and ideological discord among nations without armed conflict. The Cold War was between the United States and the USSR because these were the two major powers after WWII. Basically, the Cold War was a series of proxy wars that had taken place back in time involving surrounding countries. One of the main causes for Cold War was that the Soviet Union was spreading communism and the United States didn’t like that so they were trying to contain communism. However, in the end they failed. Many events took place in other countries. In Korea, Vietnam, Latin America, and China, communism took over; however, before it did, major wars had taken place. The cold war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union worsened the condition of countries involved. The Cold War broke countries into two parts that turned against each other, the United States and the Soviet Union used these countries to fight their war and caused a big disturbance to daily life, and the Communist States fought the Non-Communist States; however, the end results of these wars only caused more damage in these countries.
As World War II came to its end, agreements among the winning powers began to dissolve. The U.S., Great Britain, and the Soviet Union…had very different views politically, socially, and economically. World War II, which was considered a “hot” war, was followed by the cold war. This war was a conflict primarily between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that persevered throughout much of the postwar period. The ideological differences were mutual distrust. As US was a capitalist country, Americans feared communism and the nuclear arms race were the major
After World War II, there was peace and prosperity in America and many other parts of the world. However, for the Koreans, it was the beginning of a never ending split. When Japan fell, Korea was suddenly free, and hoped to finally become a unified state. However, the United States and the Soviet Union had different ideas. The Soviets wanted to have Korea under communist control and the United States wanted to establish a democracy. Additionally, the United States believed that containment, a foreign policy used to prevent the spread of communism, was extremely important. The Cold War is a term used to describe the relationship between America and the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1980. Neither side actually ever fought the other, as the end result would have been catastrophic. However, they did fight for their beliefs by using others who fought for their beliefs on their behalf.
America’s tension with the Soviet Union grew stronger during World War II, but it was clear that this alliance would be short lived and following it would be the race between Democracy and communism. The countries represented the extremes in social ideology; American Capitalism with monetary pursuit and rugged individualism, and the USSR’s Communist preaching redistribution of wealth under temporary totalitarian rule (that never left power). The tension had been building up since the Russian Revolution with America not recognizing the Bolshevik Government until 1933, and was brought to its tipping point during WWII as the USSR had been denied its, proper second front, its development of atomic weapons, and ultimately the denial of reconstruction loan while Britain’s was approved. Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill met at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. They made strategic plans to defeat Germany and began discussing crucial postwar issues. All this build up caused Stalin to pursue his own goals instead, as was demonstrated when the war was over when Soviets refused to recognize Poland’s conservative in exile and instead instituted a communist government as it had been continuously doing in Eastern Europe. With the European Allies exhausted of their resources. It fell upon America and F.D.R’s successor, Harry Truman, to engage the USSR and its spreading communism, beginning the Cold War. However as America for the majority of its existence had remained an isolationist
After the end of World War II, there had been an emergence of two world superpowers the United States and the Soviet Union who would be drawn into a Cold War that was a silent battle that raged on from 1945 to 1991. Which had started when the Soviet Union’s leader, Joseph Stalin, had started the spread of communism throughout Europe and Asia. At the time the majority of the world was either democratic or independent while only a handful of countries were communist; however all were powerful countries such as the Soviet Union and China. Which meant communism can spread adamantly, and rampantly. It had first started in Eastern Europe such as in Greece, Turkey, and Poland. So to counteract these overtakes, the United Nations, especially the United States had responded vehemently against the rule, with the use of containment in the form of policies, treaties, and responsive actions. Throughout the Cold War, they had managed to contain communist hotspots, and strongholds, in Berlin, Korea, and Cuba.
The Cold War was an economic, ideological, geopolitical war for supremacy between the United States and the Soviet Union. Both nations would emerge from World War II as superpowers. A superpower is a nation that can control others through the power that it exerts. The problem with having two superpowers is that when they do not cooperate you create an unstable world of competition through economics and ideology. The debate on when the Cold War began continues to this day; some say the war began as early as 1917 during the Bolshevik Revolution. I do believe this revolution is significant, but I do not believe that the revolution can be the start, but more the framework for the ideological struggle that would take place after World War 2. The Cold War did not simply “start” instead the conflict began with a series of events that would make the war inevitable. These events would be the beginning of half a century of ideological, economic, and geopolitical conflict. By analyzing the beginning of the Cold War, how the Cold War stayed cold, and how the war ended, we can effectively understand how the cold war and the fragmentations left by this war have impacted foreign policy and the world in contemporary society.
The Cold War was a state of political rivalry and tension existing between the Soviet Union and Western allies. This war is categorized by distrust, espionage, the storing of weapons, and a race to develop technologies. The struggle for global supremacy lasted for more than forty years. Cold War was the name given to the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States that was developed after World War 2. The Cold War existed to manage international affairs for many years. Many big crises happened, like the Berlin Wall, Hungary, Vietnam and the Cuban Missile crisis. The major worrying problem was the rapid growth in weapons of mass destruction. It was a combination of different beliefs and ideas of communism against capitalism. Each group had their own religious beliefs and they created the basis of power struggle abusing of expansions opportunities worldwide.
One of the most controversial topics among historians is the origins of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR). The war began in 1947 right after the end of World War II and lasted until 1991. This war was more of a time period of competition among powers, than an actual war, which lasted 44 years. They faced problems of ideologies of free-market capitalistic America versing communistic Russia, geopolitics, and an economic struggle between two former World War II allies. Historians have long argued and taken many different sides on who started the Cold War. These views have been categorized into: realism/traditionalism, revisionism, and post-revisionism. Nevertheless the rivalry between the two superpowers was tense. To understand the underlying problems between the USSR and the United States, it is crucial to go back into history and reflect on pre World War II.
There are many theories and opinions of how the cold war started. Some believe that the cold war was the result of the belligerence of Joseph Stalin and the insecurity it caused in the United States and the West. Others believe the primary responsibility for the cold war derives from the hardline policies of the United States. (Viewpoints Article: the Soviet Union Start the Cold War) I believe The Cold War was triggered by the theory of two superpower countries in a race for dominance in the world of nuclear arms. The nuclear arms race triggering the Cold War was due to the ignorance and arrogance of USSR (soviet union) and its display of nuclear capabilities and the willingness to deploying such tragic and drastic measures upon the world.
The Cold War was a succession of savage battles fought between the USA and the USSR during the end of World War II. These two prevailing countries never faced each other directly, therefore it was a war fought by proxy. Both the USA and the USSR had conflict between their two ideologies and ways of life, the USA assumed capitalism and democracy was the optimal way of living, while the USSR concluded communism was the more suitable choice. Each country believed their system or ideology was superior to the other. During the Second World War, the two countries faced a common enemy, Hitler. Therefore, the two countries had to collaborate to defeat the enemy and had to set their differences aside, however, as soon as this war finished, the
“Every war is fought three times. First comes the political discussion over whether to start or enter it. Then comes the question of how to fight it. And, finally, there is consideration of what lessons should be learned from it.” -Richard N. Haass. The Cold War was the third major conflict of the 20th century, 1947-1991, and followed just these rules. All three phases can be identified, and all three triggered intense debate. The Cold War was located in the countries of the US, the Soviet Union, Vietnam, Cuba, Greece, and Korea. Throughout this period, the rivalry between the two superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union, unfolded in multiple arenas: military coalitions; ideology, psychology, and espionage; sports; military, industrial, and technological developments, including the space race; costly defense spending; a massive conventional and nuclear Arms race; and many proxy wars. The clash of Capitalist and Communist ideologies between the United States and the Soviet Union was the main cause of the Cold War. Two main lessons that can be learned from the Cold War include: to respect other countries ' ideologies (agree to disagree) and don 't bring nuclear weapons into war conflicts. These lessons can support the claim/thesis in many ways.
The Cold War was an ideological war between the two world superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, beginning after the Second World War. After the war, Germany was left defeated, while Britain and France were left drained and exhausted. Although, the United States and the Soviet Union were drained, they held considerable power, and both soon rose to superpower. The two became rivals through mutual distrust, and constantly competed for power. The Soviet Union wanted to spread Communism in Eastern Europe and the United States wanted to keep the peace. In 1946, an "iron curtain" separated Europe and Europe was divided into a West (western democracies and the United States) and East (Soviet Union and Soviet occupied territory).