How far do you agree that the development of the Cold War between 1945 and 1953 was primarily due to ideological divisions? Explain your answer, using the evidence of Source 1, 2 and 3 and your own knowledge of the issues related to this controversy. (40 marks)

   Source 1 also supports the view that ideological divisions were to blame, to some extent, as it talks about Leninist ideological being one of the major factors. It says that these Leninist ideas meant that post-war collaboration was impossible because of conflicting ideas and beliefs as the West came to believe that Russia would only be satisfied if they controlled the whole of Eastern Europe. However, as well as this view, source 1 briefly mentions Stalin’s ‘mad’ personality as another important factor but doesn’t go into any detail but to say that this also meant that collaboration between the countries was impossible.

    Source 2 also talks about Stalin’s personality. It holds the view that Stalin’s mistakes and his tendency to think irrationally and make things worse by piling them up caused more tensions and thus the Cold War developed. It states that Stalin acted without thinking and ‘had he been the head of a responsible government’ he would have been sacked. However, because he wasn’t he merely ‘cut his losses and proceed[ed] with more blunders’. It uses examples such as the Berlin Airlift and the Korean War.  It is known that Stalin had an impulsive personality and the examples in source 2 highlight this. The Berlin Airlift didn’t give Stalin an advantage in the slightest but merely raised tensions and gained more support for the Allied countries and America as they managed to sort the ‘mess’ out. Instead of spreading his influence and communism he’d hoped to do by forcing the Allies and America out of the rest of Berlin and Germany, Stalin only managed to anger people and create more of a need to do something as he also highlighted the fact that he was willing to let innocent people suffer if it meant he might have a chance to fulfil his aims. However, he didn’t learn from this and although he wasn’t directly involved in the Korean War, he still showed his support and provided materials for the North Koreans and China. When this was unsuccessful, it showed, once again, Stalin’s willingness to let war happen when it didn’t need to and also showed the strength of America and their willingness to help anyone in need.

   However, ideological differences is still a bigger factor as it is because of these differences that these problems, especially the Korean War, developed in the first place. Had it not been for the different aims and beliefs of Capitalism and Communism then it is unlikely that the Korean War would have started and tensions would be a lot less, with the leaders being able to communicate openly and come to agreements and compromises.

   Another factor that hasn’t been mentioned in the sources but, from my own knowledge, is important when looking at both sides of the argument, is that many people say Stalin was just reacting to American policies and wanting to improve his country because he felt threatened and intimidated by Truman. When Marshall Aid was introduced, countries where Stalin had influence weren’t allowed the aid, this may have lead Stalin to think that Truman was trying to weaken and provoke him to gain power over him. This lead to a deterioration in the, already weak, relationship between Stalin and Truman and Stalin set up his own aid, Comecon which was then viewed by Truman as a way to unit Communist parties. This therefore links to the lack of communication skills between the leaders which lead to a lot of misunderstandings and misjudgements which lead to further problems. This is seen in the Long Telegram where misunderstandings of Stalin’s motives and actions led to America preparing for battle and Stalin becoming increasingly suspicious. All this suspicion would have lead to growing worries about war and was an on-going cycle.

   In conclusion, ideological divisions was definitely the driving force behind the development of the Cold War because had this issue not been present, then collaboration between the leaders would have been reached easier and compromises and agreements would have been made, leading to less tensions and everyone knowing what was happening. However other factors were also important because not every clash between America and Russia was down to ideological differences, some were purely, it seemed provocation etc, for example the Berlin Blockade didn’t directly involve different ideologies but rather Stalin’s want to earn land and also policies that caused tensions such as Marshall Aid, that was only put in place to help countries that needed it but was viewed differently by Stalin. Although these other factors do play a part, I do agree that the development of the Cold War between 1945 and 1953 was primarily due to ideological divisions.