Assess the role of the ideological differences between the US and USSR in the beginning of the Cold War
In its entirety, the Cold War was an ideological schism between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. that lacked any physical combat. This ideological division can be traced back to the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, but these differences were mollified after World War I with American isolationism and also were smoothed over with the onset of World War II. Once World War II came to an end, the European powers and the United States met to speak about the future of Europe. It soon became clear that an ideological divide between the Soviets and the U.S. existed, setting the basis for all other origins of Cold War – making the inherent ideological difference play quite a significant role in the grand scheme of the events leading up to the Cold War.
There was only one occurrence where it was evident that, on the surface, the ideological difference could be overcome in the hope of protection against opposition; this happened at Yalta. The U.S.S.R and the United States were able to put their ideological differences aside to ensure the safety of Europe – which meant that Germany would be divided into four zones to be looked after. The Allied forces also easily agreed to put all of the Nazi criminals to trial, and allowed the U.S.S.R to become a part of the United Nations. However, even though on the surface everything seemed “hunky-dory” the ideological differences superseded this spirit of camaraderie because it was too deeply rooted in both sides’ minds. There was, therefore, a tension over what kind of government should be placed in Eastern Europe. The original intentions were that free election holding, democratic and self-governing countries would arise out of all of the land that was enraptured by Hitler. This would show that the cooperation of the contrasting ideologies was only possible through a common enemy. However, there was something intrinsically wrong with this for the U.S.S.R. – the government did not want to offer democratic ideals and support western beliefs because these ideals contrasted with everything that the U.S.S.R. believed in – a planned and centralized economy, and a nation where people were subordinate to the government. The inherent difference between the roles of the individual due to the ideological difference laid the foundation for the schism.
