To What Extent was the Cold war Caused by Ideological Differences?

When trying to figure out the factors that lead to the cause of the Cold War, it is best to look at other factors as well. It is best to look at both the Soviet Union and the USSR's policies and plan. For example, the United States held true to their idea of Capitalism while also being cautious of Soviet Communism. When Europe was in desperate need to rebuild after World War II, The United States made monumental moves to prevent the spread of Communism as seen with the passing of the Marshall Plan which had been a reaction to the coup in Czechoslovakia. The Marshall plan was designed to give immediate economic help to Europe. There was a confliction of deciding whether or not to allow the Soviets to join the plan or to exclude them. This aspect was solved by setting down strict criteria to qualify for American economic aid. This incident allowed the United States to investigate the financial records of applicant countries. However, the USSR would never tolerate this condition. The United States wanted to invite the USSR to join the Marshall Plan. The aim of the Marshall Plan was to revive European working economies so that political and social stability could ensue, and the other aim of the Marshall Plan was to safeguard the future of the U.S. economy. The Soviet reaction the the Marshall Plan was not very well. The Soviets rejected the Marshall Plan. The Soviets saw this as a prime example of American ¨dollar imperialism.¨ In other words, the Soviets

John Lewis Gaddis, is a leading American Historian of the Cold War. He is the Professor of history at Yale University. He is already the author of six books on the same subject. The Cold War: A New History, however, has been written on a less cosmic level. He has distilled a life time of research into this short but comprehensive book. He has given new avenues to old controversies in worldly and stylish, yet direct and plain-spoken manner. The book offers a lot of summaries to intricate historical issues and provides new avenues of thinking about conflict which arose out of pre-emption and ended in the hope for the world.

In this paper I will discuss what actions and thoughts added up to cause the cold war. The cold war lasted from September 1, 1945 to about December 25, 1991. That is about forty-five years, which is an extremely long time. The cold war was a global competition basically between two sides, the Free World, which was led by the United States of America, and the Communist World led by the Soviet Union. The struggle took place through indirect military conflict, and direct competition in the areas of economics, diplomacy, culture, space exploration, and political theory. It also involved nuclear stand offs, espionage, and global competition for other nations. The cold war has established the framework for most

For nearly fifty years, the world lived in fear as two super-power nations quietly battled for power, respect and popularity of their respective political views. The Cold War arose out of the ashes of the failed alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union in World War II. Many different factors could be linked to the actual cause of the Cold War, however many agree that the political future of Eastern Europe was the major spark that ignited the battle between Communist Russia and Capitalist America1. The American fear of the spread of communism and their ambition to penetrate the "Iron Curtain" only added fuel to the fire that had been burning for some time already. Although the

The orthodox view of the Cold War elucidates its inevitability due to the great ideological differences that existed between the Soviet Union and United States. On the other hand, the revisionists argued that it happened due to the actions that Soviets took and the consequential responses made by the United States as a result of their inflexible, single-sided interpretations of Soviet action. Yet, even with the backdrop of the early Bolshevik conflict in 1918 as well

With the end of World War II (WWII) in 1945 began the Cold War, an international conflict that lasted from 1947–1991 and plagued nations across the globe. As the post-war negotiations were deliberated by three of the strongest world powers, the United States (US), Britain, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), disagreements arose that created tension between the US and the USSR and ultimately instigated the infamous “Fifty Years War” (Crockatt 64). But was this conflict avoidable, or was the Cold War simply inevitable? In order to effectively answer to this issue, the origins and conflicts leading to the Cold War must be evaluated with reference to the post-war territorial

From any historical event, there is always different presentations of the same facts. In every subject, an author’s opinion or point of view can completely change the story. In this paper I will be focus on highlighting the most significant factors various authors have proposed led to the Cold War. There are three viewpoints on what on what were the significant factors that led to the Cold War. There is the Orthodox viewpoint, which blames Soviet expansion, the Revisionist view, stating that American imperialist capitalism led to conflict. I will pay particular attention to the eminent William A. Williams who is considered the father of Revisionist school of thinking. There is also the post Revisionist view which places the responsibility on a variety of factors both the Soviets and the United States of America. I will place emphasis on the writings of John Lewis Gaddis. All the statements have merit, but there is noticeable bias towards either the communist or capitalist factions. The key to determining truth about what were key factors that lead to the Cold War is to present information with as much balance and objectivity as possible.

There have been many attempts to explain the origins of the Cold War that developed between the capitalist West and the communist East after the Second World War. Indeed, there is great disagreement in explaining the source for the Cold War; some explanations draw on events pre-1945; some draw only on issues of ideology; others look to economics; security concerns dominate some arguments; personalities are seen as the root cause for some historians. So wide is the range of the historiography of the origins of the Cold War that is has been said "the Cold War has also spawned a war among historians, a controversy over how the Cold War got started, whether or not it was inevitable, and

Cold By: Na Lin Introduction The Cold War is the relationship between the US and the USSR after WWII.Different views were clashing. Both sides struggle for dominance. They took every chance they can get to expand in the world.It was a rivalry that was open yet restricted.George Orwell was the first person to use the term “Cold War” in an article in England in 1945.The first person to used the term in the United States was by Bernard Baruch in a speech in 1947.The Cold War had solidified by 1947-1948.Introduction cont.It was part of international affairs for years. The Cold War was a dispute over Europe’s future.Many events and confrontations happened around the world during this time such as the Cuban Missile Crisis,Vietnam,Hungary,the

The Cold War was a state of political hostility and military rivalry between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. It was characterised by threats, propaganda, power blocs, espionage and intense competition. Schlesinger defines the Cold War as “a presumably mortal antagonism, arising in the wake of the Second World War, between two rigidly hostile blocs, one led by the Soviet Union, the other by the United States.” Despite the lack of direct open warfare, this antagonism still dominated the fears of global society and the international community. However, the question remains, was rivalry and tension between the USA and the Soviet Union inevitable after the conclusion of WWII in1945? It is no surprise that the answer to such a

George H. Quester, in his article, “Origins of the Cold War: Some Clues from Public Opinion,” never really blames the United States or the Soviet Union for being the instigators that started the Cold War. Instead, he concludes that the cold war “may have been a necessary result of a global situation that drove the powers to mutual confrontation” (p. 654). Essentially, the deep-seated mistrust and completely different postwar visions of the United States and the Soviet Union made the prospects of tension between them inevitable, and resulted in both sides making predictions, and ultimately decisions, that lead to political and military (although not large in scale) troubles between both superpowers following World War II.

“The Cold War became a dominant influence on many aspects of American society for much of the second half of the twentieth century. It escalated due to antagonist values between the United States, representing capitalism and democracy, and the Soviet Union, representing communism and authoritarianism” (Tradshad, par. 1). This long lasting war had a lot of negative effects on the American people, but also helped many in a positive way of becoming free citizens. Although most people had feelings of hatred toward the Soviet Union, a sense of fear swept over the United States and many actions had to be taken to keep the enemy and their influences out. 4 done.

This essay, aims to discuss and analyse the various factors and developments of why the Soviet Union and the United States are both to blame for starting the Cold War. What is the Cold War?

The ‘Cold War’ is one of the most interesting ‘wars’ fought in world history. The sheer number of countries both directly and indirectly involved is enough to pose the question – To what extent was the Cold War a truly Global War? This essay will examine this idea. It will identify two main areas of argument, focusing on the earlier part of the conflict (1945-1963). Firstly it will examine the growing US and Soviet influence in the world post 1945. Secondly it will examine three main conflicts, the Berlin Blockade, the Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis that these two super powers were involved in. Overall this essay will argue that the Cold War was no doubt a truly global war.

The term “Cold War” refers to the second half of the 20th century, usually from the end of the World War II until 1990, when the Soviet Union collapsed. Since the 1940s and 1950s the scholars have disagreed on the topic of the origins of the Cold War. There are several groups of historians and their interpretations are very different, sometimes even contradictory. The three main schools are the orthodox, the revisionist and the realist. The classification is not completely accurate because we can find several differences in theories of scholars within the same group and often the authors reevaluated their ideas over time.