Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Analyse the role of Germany in the origin and development of the Cold War (1945 - 1979).

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

"Analyse the role of Germany in the origin and development of the Cold War (1945 - 1979)" The Cold War started in 1945 and it was between the USSR (Eastern Europe) and the USA (Western Europe). However it involved other countries as well, and one of them, probably the most involved, was Germany. Some years before the Cold War, Germany was responsible for suspicions between USA and the USSR. In 1939 they signed the Nazi-soviet pact, and this created great suspicion in the USA. Later, in 1945 they had become allies to fight Hitler. However, during the second world war, when Russia wanted to create a second front and the USA delayed this for three years Russians thought they had delayed it because they wanted Germany to win, so it was mostly around Germany that tensions between both countries started building up. ...read more.

Middle

By 1947 USA and USSR did not understand each other at all. In 1948 France, Britain and USA join their German zones to form Western Germany and started receiving vast support from the Marshall plan. The USSR saw this as a threat because they were so afraid that a new attack against them could take place, just as it had happen before with the Nazis. Later in the same year they introduced a common currency in western Germany and this made the Russians so angry that they left the allied control council and started the Berlin Blockade. This was a very important event. It was a very tense time in the Cold War, and the west had to do something about it, so in 1949 USA launched the Berlin airlift and Russia had to stop the blockade. ...read more.

Conclusion

and the Cuban missile crisis (1959) and arguments over Germany started to be of lesser importance. As a conclusion I would say that the role of Germany in the origin of the cold war was important because by signing the Nazi-soviet pact with Russia, the USA felt very suspicious and this contributed to the necessary suspicion for the Cold War to start. Moreover, it had a very important role in the development of the cold war until 1950. Germany was the main reason of the disagreements, the arguments, the tension and the anger of both, USA and USSR, therefore made the Cold War more important and gave it a good reason to go on; however with the start of the Korean War Germany's role declined and Germany was no longer the center of attention of the Cold War. So its role was very important only in the early years of the Cold war, then it was not so crucial. Carla Valdiz�n Number of words: 735 ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level International History, 1945-1991 section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related AS and A Level International History, 1945-1991 essays

  1. Who was responsible for the start of the Cold war?

    Further more Churchill's speech can be seen as the beginning of the end for American-Russian relations as it became almost a diplomatic point of no return. Now he, despite being out of office had laid out his beliefs, as a powerful wartime politician people listened to what he had to say.

  2. What were the main issues relating to Germany that caused Cold War tension?

    This was an example of the diametrically opposing aims of the East and West that affected Germany in both and subsequently the Cold War. The about turn of the US and the UK on deindustrialisation, by putting much resources into transport and basic industries starting the April to June 1947,

  1. Why Was Germany At The Centre of Cold War Tensions 1945 - 1961

    as they wanted to learn from the mistakes made at the end of the previous war, however they also wanted a strong, but divided, Germany to act as a buffer against the threat of an expanding USSR. Yet the USSR wanted a weak Germany that they could drain dry of resources and reparations.

  2. Discuss the subplot to the film "The Three Kings", comment and analyse on the ...

    his cot by an American bomb, and how his wife lost her legs, is very dark, leaving only the Iraqis face illuminated by using a close-up shot. This device is used to encourage us to sympathise with the Iraqi, again reinforcing the idea that the Americans are not there to liberate Kuwait, as it is not Kuwait that needs liberating.

  1. The Cuban Missile Crisis and the blockade

    Negotiations could then be pursued as to the dismantling of the offensive weapons.xii One issue was that blockades had been usually viewed as acts of war, as it said so in the International Charter on the rules of engagement. Thus, the United States was worried that Russia might see it

  2. This graduation paper is about U.S. - Soviet relations in Cold War period. Our ...

    It is this area of misperception and misunderstanding that historians have focused on recently as most critical to the emergence of the Cold War. Presumably, neither side had a master plan of how to proceed once the war ended. Stalin's ambitions, according to recent scholarship, were ill-defined, or at least amenable to modification depending on America's posture.

  1. The Common Cold.

    Approximately 10 to 15 percent of adult colds are caused by viruses also responsible for other, more severe illnesses: adenoviruses, coxsackieviruses, echoviruses, orthomyxoviruses (including influenza A and B viruses), paramyxoviruses (including several parainfluenza viruses), respiratory syncytial virus and enteroviruses. The causes of 30 to 50 percent of adult colds, presumed to be viral, remain unidentified.

  2. The Prelude to the 1975 War and the Cairo Agreement.

    The break up of the army made the ratio worse for the Christian based parties as the result was 46,600 left wing troops against 15,000 right wing troops. The Opening Rounds, 1975 By the mid 1970s PLO conduct in Lebanon had reached incredible lows.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work