Causes of the Cold war.

CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR (Literature Review) This literature review is concerned with defining causes of the Cold War. Its main purpose is to try to depict views of various authors presented in texts such as "We Now Know" by John Lewis Gaddis (1997, Oxford University Press), "Cold War Illusions" by Danna H. Allin (1998, Palgrave MacMillan) and in "The Origins of the Cold War 1941-1949" by Martin McCauley (1995, Longman) and other internet sources and to compare different perspectives of perceiving the comparative approaches. Cold war as a term has many times been explained in a bit confusing way and its actual meaning has been misinterpreted. At first I would like to define "Cold War" before discussing what might have led to it. What can be agreed generally, that Cold War according to the definition of war, has never existed. Though there was not any battling, as it was during world wars, its influence on the post-war world era has been even greater. The question is, when Cold war began and when it ended. M. McCauley thinks it "began in 1947 and ended shortly after Cuban Missile Crisis of 962". (1995) If the Cold War was perceived as a sort of friction between socialism and capitalism, it began in October 1917 and ended with the collapse of the USSR in 1991. (McCauley, 1995) Anyway, the first impressions of upcoming Cold War could be seen

  • Word count: 853
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Causes of the Cold War

Causes of the Cold War The cold war was a direct result of many causes. The leaders of the world could not agree on very much and lead the world into the cold war. During the second world war, Britain, France, USA and the Soviet Union had all been allies, fighting against Germany. After World War Two, Britain, France and the Usa had become enemies of the Soviets. The Cold War was caused by several events. The first of the nine events was the yalta conference. The yalta conference was held on 4th February through the 11th 1945. The main discussion was the future of poland, it was decided that poland would be divided and much of the eastern sector was given to the Soviets and the western sector was given to Germany. It was also decided at Yalta that Germany would be divided into four zones: British, French, USA's, and Soviet. In turn, Berlin, Germany's capital, would also be divided into the same zones.other decisions made were that east european countries would hold free elections and the new organization that would replace the League of Nation would be the United Nations. Following the Yalta Conference was the meeting at Potsdam. At Potsdam two of the 'Big Three' were not present, as they had changed. President Roosevelt had died on April 12th 1945, and was replaced by president Harry Truman. Also, Churchill had lost the general election, and was replace by Clement

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Causes of the Cold War

Causes of the Cold War There were far reaching ideological, economic and political differences between the United States and the Soviet Union before the start of the Second World War, of which were intensified as a result shared suspicions following the Second World War. . Primary Causes Ideological: The United States and the Soviet Union represent two opposing systems of government. In the United States, the government is elected, and thus influenced by the freedom of elections. The public is able to form political parties in order to express their political positions. Americans also possess the right of assembly, of press, and the right of speech. Now, in the Soviet Union of Russia, the government is fashioned by the hands of the Communist Party. Unlike the United States, the Russian people do not have the right to form their own parties. In addition to this, they are not entitled to the right of assembly, of press, or of speech. These two systems of government are entirely opposed to each other. As a result, there was little room for any compromise whatsoever between Russia and the United States. Economics: The U.S. desired to push for free trade throughout the world; however, Russia desired to defend her own area from international commerce. The fear from the Russian perspective was that trade with the West would involve risking Russia's totalitarian regime at the

  • Word count: 1186
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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The Causes of the Cold War.

THE CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR The Cold War is the name given to the period from 1945 to 1991 when a high level of distrust existed between two superpowers, the USA and the USSR (otherwise called the Soviet Union). The cold war dominated world events because each of the two superpowers tried to influence the world in ways that suited its own interests. These interests were based on very different ideas about the organisation of society, which led to each side fearing the other. The Cold War led to a series of conflicts in different parts of the word where the two superpowers found themselves in confrontation. In some of these situations, the state of mutual fear led to a dangerous level of tension because each superpower possessed many nuclear weapons. Despite tensions reaching a significantly heightened level, the conflict never developed into a state of direct-armed war between the USA and USSR. Such a direct war would have been a "hot" war and, because this never happened the opposition of the USA and the USSR continued to be called the Cold War. The Cold War lasted for 45 years and over this time it involved conflicts in more parts of the world than WW2. In central and South America, in Africa and the middle east, real wars caused by the cold war led to the deaths of millions of people. The course of world events was shaped by the Cold War and even after it had ended, the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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The Causes of The Cold War

The Causes of The Cold War Many young historians ask themselves how did the Cold War start? I for one am wondering. But, I suppose the answer to that is quite simple, not straight foreword, but simple. The steps leading up to the Cold War are not as quite as chronological as they were in WW2, when Hitler broke the Treaty Of Versailles, however, the pieces of the puzzle do fit together, and they do make a complete picture. In 1943 and 1945 two conferences were held between President Roosevelt of USA, Prime Minister Churchill of Britain and Stalin of USSR, currently known as Russia. The first conference was held at Teheran in Persia (1943), planning to defeat Germany. The second conference was held just after the defeat of Germany at Yalta in the Crimea (1945). There, the three leaders decided to split Germany four ways, with each bit being controlled by France, Russia, USA or Britain. Before the Potsdam conference in 1945 many changes took place. For one, Roosevelt died so his vice, Harry Truman replaced him. Also Churchill lost the election back home so Attlee was voted in as Prime Minister. The Allies were growing more suspicious of each other. Stalin wanted complete control over Eastern Europe, therefore despising his approval of the free elections of Eastern Europe. Attlee and Truman suspected this. Furthermore, Stalin had the idea that because Attlee and Truman were

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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What were the causes of the Cold War?

What were the causes of the Cold War? The Cold War began soon after the Second World War ended and it lasted for 45 years. The war was called a Cold War because it was war carried out by every means possible short of The US and USSR physically fighting each other. Up to the Second World War the most dominant countries in world politics were Britain, France and Germany but by the end of the Second World War they were either in ruins or economically crippled. Two new countries, the USSR and the USA, now dominated the World. These new countries were allies, but yet they still hated each other. This was due to the difference in their ideologies; Russia believed in that Communism was the best way in which to run a country whereas America believed that Capitalism was the best way in which a country should be run. Capitalists were afraid of Communism spreading because it would mean that that there would be no industry or commerce, there would also be no divide between rich and poor as everyone would have the same amount of money, and the quality of goods would be lower as there would be no competition. Communist feared Capitalism as it meant that there would be an unfair division between rich and poor, and therefore millions would live in poverty, there would also not necessarily be any security of employment as well as this there would not necessarily be free healthcare and

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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The Long Term Causes of the Cold War

The Long Term Causes of the Cold War History of the Cold War: The Cold war really officially began after World War Two, where relations between the USA and USSR deteriorated. This seems very odd considering that the USA and USSR allied against Germany in World War Two, surely allies in war wouldn't have such bad relations so close after victory. From 1945 until the collapse of communism in Russia in 1991 there was much tension between the two powers. It is called the cold war due to their being no direct conflict between the two powers but it came very close and there were many conflicts between countries relating to the two powers. The major attacks were through mediums such as propaganda, non co-operation and economic measures. The defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 had left a power vacuum in Europe. Both USA and USSR tried to fill this gap, allowing the following events to occur: Hot points of the Cold War: * 1948 - Berlin Blockade, Blocking Allied West Berlin from West Germany. * 1956 - Hungarian Uprising, results in deaths of many who wished to leave the communist state. * 1961 - Building of the Berlin wall, officially separating east and west Berlin. * 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis - Near Nuclear Warfare. * 1968 - Czech Spring, another attempt to leave communism failing resulting in many deaths. * 1979 - Invasion of Afghanistan refuels war after period of détente.

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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The causes of the Cold War.

During the World Wars, America, Britain and Russia enjoyed a (fairly) happy working relationship. However, eventually their reason for being friends was lost and the differences between them started to affect this relationship, making it become more and more awkward. Eventually this break up ended in Cold War. One of the reasons the wartime alliance broke down was deep-seated resentment between the countries from before the war. This meant that the powers already had 'bad experiences' and impressions of each other before they had to work together. In 1939 Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact: a (public) non-aggression pact (privately) agreeing to share Poland between them. Stalin had seen how weak Britain could be after watching them appease Hitler and after they (as part of the League of Nations) let Mussolini bomb Abyssinia. He saw that he could take advantage of this. Stalin's fears and suspicions grew worse when he signed an agreement with France saying that they would help if Germany invaded Russia, but he was not sure he could trust them after they failed to keep Germany out of the Rhineland. He also felt betrayed after the Western Allies failed to open up a second front because Stalin was fighting off the German forces on his own. In the Russian Civil War, the western European countries supported the Tsarists who were fighting the communists. They actively fought the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Explain and analyse the causes of The Cold War

Explain and Analyse the Causes of the Cold War. The major world powers named the international confrontation that took place between 1941 and 1991 as the Cold War. The Cold War was so named as there was no military conflict that caused an actual engagement. The United States having military victory at the end of the Second World War ensured that they would lead the European and other States. Giving them foremost position in a world context and leaving the Soviet Union with the remaining sphere of influence in the global power vacuum caused by the Second World War. The Cold War was different and unlike any other hostile international confrontation that had occurred before. It had no clear instigators or open physical hostilities and each party claimed the other was the real provoker and they clearly exclaimed that they were only defending their national security interests from the instigators hostile actions. Because of the disagreements between the parties of who started the war it led to several schools of thought and explanations. There was no clear agreement on the causes of the Cold War in the early days of the historical analysis of the confrontation. Analysis fell into a number of defined groups these are their views are: The Orthodox Historians believe the conflict originated from the Soviet Union and was caused by Russian expansionism; this also coincides with

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Short term and Long term Causes of the Cold War.

Short term and Long term Causes of the Cold War As soon as the Second World War ended, the winners started to argue with each other. In particular, a bitter conflict developed between the USA and the USSR. There were many causes of the Cold War mainly long term causes but the trigger to the Cold War was the Potsdam Conference. The roots of the Cold War are to be found in earlier history. Critics argue that the Cold War started, not in the 1940s, but in 1917, when the Russian Revolution took place and Soviet communism was born. By 1917 the USA was the richest country in the world. The two countries were both enormous and both had great natural resources. However, there was no chance of real friendship between them because the leaders of the new Soviet Union had extremely different beliefs from those of American politicians. Moreover, not only did American and Soviet leaders disagree totally. Each side was completely convinced that it was right and that other countries around the world should follow their lead. Americans believed that the answer to world problems was for other people to learn to live in an American way. The Soviet leaders were sure that their communist ideas would eventually spread to every country in the world. As a result the USA and the Soviet Union were very hostile towards each other after 1917. In 1919 the US joined Britain, France and other countries

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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