The Historiography of the Origins of the Cold War Essay

As tensions continued to augment profoundly throughout the latter half of the Cold War period, they brought forth a movement from a previous bipolar conflicting course, to one of a more multipolar nature. These tensions were now not only restricted to the Soviet Union and United states, but amongst multiple other nations of the globe. It became a general consensus that a notion of ‘peace’ was sought globally, hence, the emergence of détente. The nature of this idea in the short term conveyed itself to be an act of change for the conflicting nations, however, in the long term it proved to be a blatant continuity, ultimately acting as a ‘mechanism for domestic fortification’ which prompted a more divisive tone. It became apparent that by the prime 1970’s Cold War countries were now seeking a state of relaxation in political and international tension, détente, through measures of diplomacy and negotiation. Actions, influences and treaties such as the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, the establishment of SALT 1, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 and the Shanghai Communique of 1972 evidently help reinforce that the concept of détente brought a period focused on lessening the tensions of international relations and ultimately achieve political relation for the future of the Cold War, although the success and impact of this era is abhorred by many historians who have concluded that détente didn’t activate any positive changes to the cold war, and was conclusively a failure.

In the wake of World War II, Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union delivered a largely controversial speech in the Bolshoi theater located near the center of Moscow. In Stalin’s speech, he articulated upon the idea that Communism and Capitalism could not co-exist. He claimed to the people that the Soviet Union was the only key factor in eliminating the Axis powers from the war.

At the end of WWII, two world superpowers emerged, the United States and the Soviet Union. As time went on, tensions and hostilities began to grow between the two countries. The Cold War was not a war in the traditional sense of battles, but it was a war of policies, ideals, and political influence. The United States’ ideology of capitalism heavily clashed with the Soviet Union’s ideology of communism. There are many debates about how the hostility between the two countries became so tense. Historian Anne Applebaum argues against the revisionist theory that the U.S.S.R.’s actions were a result of the U.S.’ hostile actions following WWII, thus beginning the Cold War. Another historian by the name of William Appleman Williams holds a viewpoint that challenged Applebaum’s as he believes that the U.S.’

Right after the Japanese surrendered to the Allies, and after Hitler's Nazi regime had been defeated, there was a struggle between the U.S. (and democratic allies of the U.S.) and the Soviet Union for power and influence in the post-WWII world. This struggle was called the Cold War, and it entailed many events and a great deal of tension between the forces of communism and those of democracy. American diplomat George Kennan explained that the Soviet Union was "…a political force committed fanatically to the belief that with the U.S. there can be no permanent Vivendi [agreement between parties that disagree]…" (History.com). President Harry Truman said that it "…must be the policy of the United States…to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation…by outside pressures" (History.com). This paper reports the responses and conceptions three different individuals to questions about the Cold War.

February 11th 1945 in Crimea, a meeting between the three top tier leaders of the Allies that took down the Third Reich ended with an agreement to divide what is left of Germany after World War Two. The Western half to be under control by the United States of America, Great Britain and France while the East half, including half of Berlin, belonging to the Soviet Union. This separation between two super powers is now known as the precursor to the cold war, a war with no tanks, planes, or solders. This would be an atomic waiting game, a deadly gamble, and the two sides calling each other’s bluff with entire nations at stakes. Stakes so high it influenced the creation of the Doomsday Clock, which projects world tensions by having the minute hand slowly reaching to the faithful 12 signaling the end of time. The Soviet Union represented the center of all evil and was took the lives of millions throughout its history through its leaders harsh and irrational rule. So to America the expansion of the evil red plague lofting through the air of Eastern Europe and Asia was unacceptable and was seen to some as the next attempt of taking over the world. So it’s clear that the cause for these tensions between the United States and Soviet Unions was the Soviet’s expansion throughout Eastern Europe and Asia, because of America’s ideology surrounding the “Domino Effect”, the idea that once country becomes communist then the surrounding countries will also become communist. For These

To an extent, the sources analysed present differing approaches regarding the Cold War as a historical phenomenon. Yet it is clear that these different approaches are, to a large extent, affected by the fact that these sources were written at different points of history. For instance, Seton-Watson argues that “the future of the Grand Alliance was in doubt even before the war in Europe was over.” To support this claim, Seton-Watson notes that political and ideological tensions between the superpowers had existed prior to World War II. This suggests that the Cold War was an inevitable phenomenon due to the inherent belligerence and mistrust that characterised international relations between the superpowers. Yet on the other hand, Spellman argues

Adequate answers to how-possible and what-questions [i.e., the questions central to the insider’s story] must satisfy different truth conditions than answers to causal questions. As with the latter, the answers to constitutive questions must support a counterfactual claim of necessity, namely that in the absence of the structures to which we are appealing the properties in question would not exist. But the kind of necessity required here is conceptual or logical, not causal or natural. The relationship between the factors constituting the social kind 'Cold War' and a Cold War is one of identity, in the sense that those factors define what a Cold War is, not one of causal determination. And this in turn means that the answers to constitutive

George Kennan believed that the initial cause of the Cold War was Russia’s fear of powerful opponents that can invade Russia. As a result, Russia was not willing to compromise and prefer the complete neutralization of a threat. While there are some ideological aspects, much of this was historical since Russia had suffered severe losses in the 2nd World War and does not want a repeat of the Nazi invasion of the USSR. George believed that a “hot war” is not inevitable since he thought that the solution to this conflict was to “approach calmly and with a good heart.” (Spielvogel 869). On the other hand, Nikolai believed that the main goal of the Americans is world domination. In his eyes, the US is the aggressor since it placed

When it comes to the Cold War, there are many theories as to who caused it: The Soviet Union or the United States? The clashing amongst the two super powers which resulted in the Cold War started in 1947 and ended in 1991.The Cold War was a war where there was no direct combat. The cold is described as a frigid relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States. The three theories of The Cold War origins that exist are; The Orthodox Explanations of the Origins of the Cold war, The Revisionist Explanations of the Cold War, and the Post-Revisionist theory. The reason why the Cold War started was because of diverging ideologies. In the American Foreign Policy Since World War II, Steven W. Hook and John Spinier

what was known as the Cold War. The start of Cold War can be simply

Dating back to the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, the Orthodox school coined by Daniel Yergin, interprets that the Cold War is a result of the Soviet Union’s hostile, “expansionist power in the ‘Riga Axiom’, in an attempt to become an absolute authority over the rest of the world”. This was perceived as a threat to the western democratic world, particularly in conjunction with Stalin’s transformative policies regarding Russia’s technological, industrial and military manufacturing industries. This was regarded as a rising threat within the western world, particularly in conjunction with USSR plans to expansion in Eastern European countries such as Poland and Ukraine. This was regarded as an aggressive move on the international stage, particularly from a communist country. This orthodox view of Soviet aggression also called for theories to emerge such as the infamous domino theory, causing rising tensions and fear throughout the west. The orthodox school of thought essentially blamed the USSR for the outbreak of the Cold War and was regarded to be a very popular explanation by many historians and Cold War scholars until the later years of the war.

Naturally, these phenomenon led to a sort of paradox—the Soviet Union could not be left out of postwar arrangements, for to do so would be an injustice comparable to the treatment of Imperial Germany at the Paris Peace Conference. However, there were still political and ideological barriers to cooperation with the Soviet Union, evidenced especially by Soviet behavior in Iran in 1946. For the purposes of this essay, I will assume that the nature and complexity of this paradox informed two different approaches to dealing with the Soviet

The Cold War started in the aftermath of WWII. With the common enemy of Nazism defeated, the alliance which had formed between the liberal democratic capitalist power of the United States and the Communist power of the Soviet union seemed tenuous, at best. Even before the war’s end, the two superpowers along with the United Kingdom held the immensely controversial Yalta Conference in order to negotiate the post-war organization of Europe: that is. which European territory would fall under Western control, and which would follow under Soviet control. Less than a year after the war’s end, George F. Kennan’s infamous Long Telegram to U.S. President Harry S. Truman advised that the Soviets saw themselves at perpetual war with the outside, capitalist

In 1941 when Hitler invaded Russia, Roosevelt the President of USA sent weapons to Russia. It is only because of the friendship between Roosevelt and Stalin, the governor of the Soviet Union. But after the defeat of Germany, Stalin wanted to put the Communist belief in Poland, Bulgaria and Rumania. at that time England and America suspected Stalin’s act. Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England in his ‘Fulton Speech’ on 5 March 1946 said that Soviet Russia was “covered by an Iron Curtain” which led Stalin to think. As a result, suspicion became wider between Soviet Russia and western countries. And then, the Cold War was born.

The Cold War is one of the most noteworthy confrontations in history. It was a state of political tension and military rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, and countries aligned with each, following WWII to 1991 that stopped short of full-scale war (The American Heritage Dictionary, p.361). The origin was and still is a major field of Cold War historiography. Questions include: did Stalin pursue postwar security or did he seek to dominate Europe? Was it an ideological clash, or a race for power and material interests? Was the Cold War inevitable or avoidable, given the historical circumstances?