How far do you agree that the Cold War broke out in Europe because the USA and the USSR disagreed fundamentally about how they should treat the shattered European economy?

How far do you agree that the Cold War broke out in Europe because the USA and the USSR disagreed fundamentally about how they should treat the shattered European economy? Subsequent to the Second World War in 1945, the European economy was in tatters as much of the infrastructure had been laid to waste and industrial centres destroyed. As such, the two main victors of the war, the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), declared their commitment to postwar unity and mutual cooperation in improving global conditions. 1 Yet, in less than two years, a fervent rivalry between the two nations led to a breaking up of accord, concerning mutual blaming, the division of Europe, as well as the difference in political ideologies. The Cold War broke out in Europe in 1947, signifying a sharp and unexpected deterioration in postwar relations between the USA and USSR. Yet all through this period, the rivalry between the two superpowers was played out in numerous areas: military coalitions; ideology, military, industrial, and technological developments. Europe was split in half, with Western Europe supporting the USA, and Eastern Europe being an ally of the USSR. So, was the disagreement on how to deal with the shattered European economy between the USA and USSR the sole reason for the Cold War? I would agree with this statement only to a small

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Why Did The USA Become Increasingly Involved In The Vietnam War?

Why Did The USA Become Increasingly Involved In The Vietnam War? The Vietnam War was a prolonged and unsuccessful attempt by South Vietnam and the United States to prevent the Communists of North Vietnam from uniting South Vietnam with North Vietnam under their leadership. The Vietnam War was probably the longest war in which the Americans fought in and the only war in which they were defeated. This essay will discover the facts and reasons for why America became involved in the Vietnam War from the Second World War up to sending the first troops up to Vietnam in 1965. At the end of the Second World War Americans were still concerned about the spread of Communism and were still offering military aid and economic aid to any country requiring defense for themselves over Communist countries. The USA was still a great believer in the Domino Theory. This was the belief that if one country fell to Communism the rest would follow. America had also been so concerned about communism due to the fact that countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania had communist governments. Following the surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945 near the close of World War II, the uneasy wartime alliance between the United States and Great Britain on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other began to unravel. By 1948 the Soviets had installed left-wing governments in the countries of Eastern

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World War One Sources Question

World War One Sources Question a) The main aim of the Schlieffen Plan was to win a war over France so that Germany could become the most powerful country in Europe. However if, as the Germans thought, France's ally Russia would come to help the French then the Germans would have to split up their army as Russia bordered Germany on one side and France the other therefore Germany would have to fight a war on two fronts. The Germans therefore thought up a plan that would enable them to fight only one country at a time. The plan was that Russia would take six to ten weeks to mobilise their army, after they had heard about the war, as Russia's railways and roads were quite backward and it would take time to assemble all their men from all over the country. This would give the Germans enough time to defeat France. The problem was how to defeat France in just six weeks when the French already had troops along the French/German border and behind the troops were heavily fortified towns. The Germans needed to launch a surprise attack on France if they were going to achieve their objective of winning a war over France. However, the French had not put up any defences on the French/Belgian border as Belgium was a neutral country and the French would not expect an attack from there. Part of the Schlieffen Plan, therefore, was to attack through Belgium and the Germans hoped that the

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To what extent was the alliance system responsible for the outbreak of World War One in 1914

To what extent was the alliance system responsible for the outbreak of World War One in 1914? In the Treaty of Versailles after World War One, the Triple Entente immediately placed blame on Germany's aggression and scheming tactics for the outbreak of war. However, over time, the causes behind the war began to become more obviously complex. One of the most commonly citied reasons is the alliance system. Prior to the war, the countries of Europe had formed complex alliances and, with their empirical statuses, this apparently created a chain that a single trigger (the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand) would set into inevitable motion. But how important was the pre-1914 alliance system in causing World War One? Firstly, we must come to understand exactly what the alliance system comprised of. Indeed, many of these 'alliances' were not really alliances at all, but mutual agreements in relation to trade or colonial territories. One of the most prominent and important alliances was that of Russia to Serbia. Russia had promised to protect the Serbian people and their rights. Austria-Hungary had control over areas where Balkan people were prominent, conflicting Russian policy and ultimately leading to war. Another vital alliance was that of Austria-Hungary and Germany. In July, 1914, Germany had given a Carte Blanche to Austria-Hungary, promising unconditional support in

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How far do you agree that Lenins leadership was the main reason why the Bolsheviks were able to seize power?

How far do you agree that Lenin's leadership was the main reason why the Bolsheviks were able to seize power? The Bolsheviks were able to successfully seize power for many reasons. Firstly the weakness of the provisional government made it easy to take power, secondly Trotsky's careful planning made sure the take-over was executed with great efficiency and finally the return of Lenin did help to build support and encourage the Bolsheviks to seize power. The First main reason the Bolsheviks were able to seize power was the failure the Provisional Government brought on itself. It had failed miserably in solving Russia's problems. The government was unsuccessful in combating the problem of having two governments it simply undermined its own power by doing nothing to stop the Soviets, it continued to fight a war the country could not afford and that was not supported by its people and a war in which in the end Russia did badly in, plus there was a massive lack of control over the countryside and so peasants seized control of land again proving the lack of authority the provisional government held. Ultimately all of these problems and the lack of authority was a huge factor in the downfall of the Provisional Government, you could argue that the government would have been overthrown without Lenin's leadership of the Bolsheviks as it was already widely unpopular and failing

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To what extent was America's policy of containment successful? Use Korea, Cuba and Vietnam in your investigation.

To what extent was America's policy of containment successful? Use Korea, Cuba and Vietnam in your investigation. American policy of containment refers to the foreign policy strategy of the US in the early years of the Cold war. The policy was to defeat the Soviet Union by preventing it from expanding the territories under its Communist control or otherwise extending its influence. This, naturally, resulted in strained relations and rivalry between the two superpowers. Despite the many difficulties, American policy of containment during the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War did manage to contain the expansion of Communism to a certain extent. The containment of communism in Korea was successful. The Korean War, which started on June 25, 1950 and ended with a cease fire on July 27, 1953, was a civil war between North Korea and South Korea. This Cold War era fighting is considered to have been a proxy war between the United States and its Western democratic allies, and the Communist powers (Soviet Union and People's Republic of China). North Korea was supported by Communist China and the Soviet Union, and South Korea was supported by the United States and its Western allies. Communist North Korea sought to spread its influence and control to the South. In October 1950, hostility spilled over into open warfare. North Korean troops overwhelmed the South

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Russell Baker's Growing Up

Russell Baker's Growing Up Autobiographical works tell a story of their authors by compiling antic dotes and accolades. Most autobiographies are that of famous authors or other celebrities and provide a synopsis of life according to them. Russell Baker's autobiography, Growing Up, achieves all these things as well, but, it does more than just tell of his life. As American citizens, history is a big part of our identity not only as Americans, but as individuals. Russell Baker lived through a depression, a world war, Utopia, a sexual revolution, and a lost cause conflict, among other things. If one were to study either the Great Depression or the Second World War, Russell Baker's autobiography would prove to be a valuable resource. Baker's autobiography provides a screen through which readers can view historical events in American history through one boy's eyes. As a newspaper columnist, Russell Baker has the ability to recall newsworthy events and tell of them in a professional, telling fashion. Early on in the book, Russell discusses his career as a magazine salesman and a newspaper delivery boy. It is hard to believe that Baker does not believe in some way these careers he had as a young boy did not shape his character. These two careers also provided him with a chance to read about events before anyone else did and thus recall these moments in time with a more focused

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Does the film 'The Battle of The Somme' provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches?

Does the film 'The Battle of The Somme' provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches? The film 'The Battle of The Somme' was released in London on the 10th of August 1916, it was a famous documentary that was filmed by Geoffrey Malins and J.B. McDowell. They were one of the first groups of cameramen to film the British soldiers on the Battlefields of the Western Front. They helped the government to produce a video, to show people that War wasn't as bad as it seemed. It was however a silent film and so captions had to be use to explain what the next section of the film was going to show. The film gave us an insight into what the life of a soldier would be like. Many historians have argued over whether this video is an accurate and reliable source of information and hopefully this will be resolved. The film however may not be reliable and trustworthy because the shots may have been fixed and set-up, they were also the opinions of only one person, so if they felt that everything was great, this would then show in what they took pictures of. The government could also have only selected the views that they wanted for the film so they may have left out the gory bits and pictures showing the British Forces suffering. The way that the film portrays Equipment and Supplies can be supported by many of the sources, the sources suggest

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How effectively had Japan modernized itself by 1914?

How effectively had Japan modernized itself by 1914? -- Introduction Not until the 1800's did Tokugawa realize how powerless they were. Since the early 1600's, Japan completely isolated itself from the Western countries. Due to the anti-Christianity attitudes of the Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan prohibited itself from any contact with the Western countries, and trade was mostly done with the Dutch and Chinese. For the next 200 years, although the Japanese made contact with its trade partners, and gained information about some of the current developments, the western countries were far more advanced. Japanese fiefs such as Satsuma and Choshu noticed this when Commodore Matthew C. Perry finally succeeded in breaking down the wall of Japan's seclusion in 1864. -- What was the impact of Perry's missions on Japan? Dissatisfied about the fact that American "ship-wrecked sailors" were treated very badly by the Japanese, the United States sent Perry to negotiate a treaty with Japan. In 1853, Perry arrived in large, intimidating ships to display their strength and frightened the Japanese. Perry was then able to discuss his desire for a treaty for the shipwrecked sailors. Unable to make decisions for themselves, Tokugawa exposed their weakness by having to ask the imperial leaders whether they supported the American Treaty. A year later, the actual Treaty of Kanagawa was signed. Under

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The collapse of the USSR was caused by internal problems and had nothing to do with the Cold War. Assess this view.

“The collapse of the USSR was caused by internal problems and had nothing to do with the Cold War”. Assess this view. In 1991, after over half a century of communist rule, the USSR ceased to exist as a political entity after many years of decline. This statement asserts that the cause for this cessation was only due to the effects caused by issues, policies and the framework within the USSR itself, and had absolutely no relation with regards to the external problem of the Cold War - defined by Ann Lane as a state of tension, conflict, hostility and competition which characterized US-USSR relations though not amounting to an actual war; this subscribes to the Soviet Initiative school of thought. However, this statement is unfair insofar that the collapse of the USSR was not only the result of trouble within its territorial boundaries, but rather a combination of factors both internal and external, including the foundational weakness of the Soviet economic system coupled with the long term pressure brought forth by the US policy of containment, the Reagan Doctrine as a catalyst, the turning point in USSR’s history with Gorbachev’s reforms and finally the immediate effect of the August 1991 coup d’etat that characterized the USSR’s decline. As such, this essay espouses that it was an amalgamation of both factors both within and outside the USSR that served as a

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