Brozanel Act Essay

Stalin’s early promises compromised of socialism and a life free from exploitation in regards to his social policies. However, he soon realised his error and reverted to a more conservative form of rule, whereby the interest of the state was given priority. Many describe his soviet social policy during the 1930s as a ‘Great Retreat’, it was named this as his policies saw a return to earlier social policies under the Tsar and former leaders. It is debatable as to how far his actions were a retraction of previous decisions…and the areas impacted were women, family, and education. A common theme of the great retreat was the gender role in society.

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.

After Nikita Khrushchev was dismissed in 1964, the Soviets faced mounting economic crisis which pushed the new Soviet leader, Brezhnev to consider detente. The U.S.S.R found it difficult to maintain an adequate rate of growth in the industrial sector

The Cold War holds a special place in the study of international relations and its paradigms and perspectives. In this part of the course, three readings work together to provide a basis of arguments and positions on the origins of the Cold War as they relate to international relations. As George Kennan describes in the article written under the pseudonym ‘Mr. X’ in the early years of the Cold War, the Soviets were widely recognized in the western world as being fundamentally expansionist by nature, and this fundamental attribute would lead to the ultimate quest to spread communist ideology across the globe, eventually leading right up to the United States’ doorstep. Similarly, Douglas J. MacDonald lays out the viewpoints held by policymakers

The Sources of Soviet Conduct, a highly influential article written by George Keenan in 1946, states that the US must pursue afirm and consistent opposition to the Soviet Union. In Keenan's argument for this, he explores the two factors of ideology and circumstance which shaped the Soviet Union. This is used in order to explain the behaviour of the Soviet Union. Thus, the most effective method for the US to counteract this behaviour is then explained.

During the Communist regime in the former Soviet Union, life was very difficult. The people who lived within the countries controlled by the Soviet government experienced levels of oppression akin to slavery. They could not express themselves through any means and had to conform both body and soul to the views of the Communist Party. People could be arrested, imprisoned, shipped off to exile or executed often without trial. Some twenty million people died while Joseph Stalin led the USSR and for many years after his death it was still dangerous to dare criticize his regime, although some scholars put that number closer to forty million people who died. Now that the Soviet Union has broken up and Russia is its own country there is more freedom, but the people still live under the yoke of an oppressive leader who does not tolerate political or social challenges. The people do nothing to stand up to this government because they have all been scarred by the decades they lived under Stalin.

In the early phase of the Cold War, both superpowers, the US and the USSR, had to face the threat of rising tensions and rivalries between each other. They wanted to prevent the expansion of hostile ideologies and simultaneously act in favour of their own interests. Such desires, in the example of the US, resulted in the establishment and subsequent development of the policies of containment and brinkmanship. Generally, the former was operating on the principle that communist governments will eventually fall apart as long as they are prevented from expanding their influence and it was adopted by H.S. Truman’s administration in 1947. While the

Stalin like Hitler “used propaganda, censorship, and terror to force his will on the Soviet people. Government newspapers glorified work and Stalin himself. Secret police spied on citizens, and anyone who refused to praise Stalin and the state faced severe punishment, even death” (“The Soviet”, n.d.).

It presented an obvious opposition to capitalism and illustrated no interest to change or backdown from their communist ways. To project an ideal image to other countries around the world the logo of the Warsaw Pact was the perfect example of the soviets projecting an image of camaraderie and equality with the symbolic “shaking of hands”. Their image to outside forces was crucial to their expansion as shown in document 6. They state “United by the common ideal …equality, respect of territorial integrity, state independence and sovereignty, and noninterference in one another's domestic affairs.” (Soviet Statement: Friendship and Cooperation between the Soviet Union and Other Socialist States”). These statements provide a view on the soviet’s spread that symbolizes relationships with countries built on trust and equality. As the years went on these countries begun to realize the they no longer wanted to be under Soviet power and like Hungary, extracted their countries out from Soviet

As president Reagan said, “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization...open this gate... tear down this wall.” (3, Reagan)

Khrushchev had worked for Stalin for years even helping him with the Great Purges. Surprisingly after taking office Khrushchev began to introduce programs and policies aimed at

The traditional, orthodox interpretation places the responsibility of the Cold War on Stalin’s personality and on communist ideology. It claims that as long as Stalin and the authoritarian government were in power, a cold war was unavoidable. It argues that Stalin violated agreements that he had made at Yalta, imposed Soviet policy on Eastern European countries aiming at political domination and conspired to advocate communism throughout the world. As a result, United States officials were forced to respond to Soviet aggression with foreign policies such as the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. Yet revisionists argue that there was “no proof of Stalin promoting communism outside Russia” and that Stalin’s decisions were first and foremost, pro-Soviet and not of communist intentions. Up until 1947, it is evident through Marshall Plan as well as statements and interviews made by Stalin that he was still thinking of cooperation with the United States, Britain and France. Despite post-war conflicts and instability of Soviet-American relations, the USSR’s initial embrace of the Marshall Plan at its announcement expressed

The old guard of the Soviet Union was unwilling or unable to employ means to control Soviet society similar to those used by Stalin. The leadership opted to use repressive tactics against political dissidents even though the Soviet Union signed the Helsinki Accords of 1975, these accords bound signatory nations to higher standards of human rights. Dissidents were outright persecuted during this period and it included writers and activists while also outlawing religious, nationalists and human rights movements. Brezhnev used the concepts of Marxism-Leninism to reinforce the authority of the regime rather than as tools of revolution. The main goal for Brezhnev in foreign affairs, was to reestablish the Soviet as a primary communist community.

This article is about how Eastern Europeans viewed Dissidents. The Dissidents from the 1970s and 1980s were no longer popular. The Dissidents that played an important role in politics and created symbols such as Havel and Walesa were not seen as heroes but rather communists and traitors of Europe (181). Tamas describes the treatments towards the Dissidents from the citizens. That just with the mention of their names people laughed and poked fun at the Dissidents.

The historian’s belonging to this school see the Truman doctrine from 1947 as the point when the Cold War started. They put the responsibility for the Cold War on the Soviet Union and its expansionist policy. According to them, this is the reason, why Soviets broke promises from the negotiations during the World War II, especially the Yalta agreement. On the other hand, the U.S. politicians wanted to continue the cooperation between the Allies even after the defeat of the Axis. They put a lot of hope to the newly created organization – United Nations – and the principle of collective security. However, the U.S. needed to react to the Soviet aggression in Europe. They adopted the policy of containment. The orthodox scholars view this policy as necessity because without it “the Soviet Union would have become the master of all Europe, instead of only the eastern Europe” .