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
Cold War and middle East
Rene' Barajas 04/24/08 Period 7 3. To what extent was the cold war a conflict between two irreconcilable ideologies? The Cold War was a conflict between the Communist nations led by the Soviet Union and the democratic nations led by the United States in the 1940's up until 1990, the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was a hotly contested period filled with conflict, tension, and competition. It was a team of fear, pride, and nationalism. American children were taught to hide under their desks in case of the "Big One." Children in the Soviet Union were taught to work hard and to value Mother Russia over everything. This time period could have resulted in disaster, even a WWIII, but it did not. The cold war was due largely in part to a conflict in irreconcilable ideologies, those of capitalism and communism. Capitalism was the belief in a free market, every man for himself. Communism was a stark contrast, every man is equal and they all work for the state. These conflicting ideologies were the basis for the mistrust, disdain, and competition that was the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union represent two opposing systems of government. In the United States, the government is elected by free elections. The people can form political parties to voice their political opinions. They also possess the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. In the Soviet
Was the Cold War Inevitable?
Elias Chamoun 20th century topics R5 - Richardson 2/18/2004 WAS THE COLD WAR INEVITABLE? With the end of WWII, the Soviet Union and the United States confronted each other for dominance over a pile of, exhausted and chaotic countries. The historical magnitude and consequences of the Second World War were destined to cast the Soviet Union and US in the fatal role of antagonists with no third state powerful enough to balance and relieve the acute security dilemma (China was not as powerful as the US or USSR). The enormous destruction wrought upon the Soviet Union by the German war machine in WWII was bound to produce a quest for maximum security needs. The Soviets lost nearly 9 million soldiers and more than 27 million civilians; nearly 1,710 cities and settlements, 70,000 towns and villages, and over 6 million buildings of all kinds were devastated.1 The government of any nation suffering such staggering losses would be bound to seek to take measures against any such catastrophe ever occurring again. The Soviet Union engaged in a supreme wartime effort to conquer as much of the vital borderlands as possible. As long as this effort also served the common purpose of defeating the Axis, its implications for the future were passed over in silence or veiled with some ambiguous and face-saving formula by Roosevelt and Churchill. But as victory drew near, the necessity for
When did the Cold War begin?
When did the Cold War begin? Plan of the investigation. Section A The Cold War was a period of conflict between America and the USSR. This was caused by a number of factors including social and economic differences. Their two political systems of capitalism and communism were at complete opposites of the political scale. This conflict never became a 'hot war' but continued through many non-confrontation means such as propaganda and the funding of opposing sides in external conflicts. Because there was never 'hot war' the question of when the Cold War began has been a point of debate. The more orthodox historians such as Arthur M Schlesinger have the view that the Cold War started after the end of the Second World War and was started by the USSR. Others have said that it was the conflict between America and Russian communists in the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. Others have said that it may have been foreign forces intervention in the Russian civil war. Others agree that it was mid way through the Second World War when American forces became more pro active. In this investigation I will try to determine when exactly the Cold War started. Much of the research for this will be from two sources. Firstly the orthodox view of the traditionalist Arthur M Schlesinger jr's book "Origins of the Cold War" and secondly America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945 - 1996 by Walter Lafeber
Post-Cold War Realities
Post-Cold War Realities INTRODUCTION: THE ANTI-AMERICAN ALLIANCE In June 1995, the Speaker of the Majlis (parliament) told the visiting Deputy Chairman of the Russian Duma, Alexander Vengerovsky, that the two strategic states of Iran and Russia should form an alliance to limit the expansion of U.S. hegemony in the region.[1] This proposal effectively sums up the entire history of the Russian-Islamic Republic ‘strategic partnership’—anti-Americanism. During the final decade of the Cold War, mutual loathing for the United States held together a relationship of slightly less suspicion and disdain for each other. As the protracted conflict between Moscow and Washington began to thaw, so did relations with Tehran. Subsequently, in the face of intruding U.S. presence in the greater Middle East, the benefits of cooperation in the obstruction of Western influence became increasingly evident and useful. Both share an aversion to a unipolar world in which the United States wields unchallenged primacy, controlling the United Nations, dictating supplier unions, and deciding who receives advanced arms, technology, and industry. As a result, they have found common ground to further their own political, economic, and hegemonic aspirations. For Iran, Russia provides distinct opportunities to advance its goals of conventional and nuclear military buildup; extension of
The End of the Cold War.
Kunal Shah Mr. Muratore; MYP World History; Period 5 9 May 2010 Word Count: 1367 The Cold War's Conclusion On Christmas Day 1991, at 7:35 p.m., the Soviet flag flying over the Kremlin was lowered and replaced by the new Russian Federation flag. The USSR officially ceased to exist on December 31, 1991. The fall of the Soviet Union signified the end of the Cold War (Nye 2). Obviously, this was a huge moment in our world's history; a 44-year-old tension between two of the most powerful countries in the world, which almost brought us to a combative war, was destroyed. But how did something that seemed so improbable one decade previously occur so peacefully? The reform by Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan's coercion as well as reform, and the failures in the Soviet Union and its fall were factors that led to the end of the Cold War. First, we must analyze the decisions of Mikhail Gorbachev, who dissolved the Soviet Union and ended the Cold War. Gorbachev as a leader contributed by bringing Western ideals to Soviet Russia, ultimately thawing the conflict between the USSR and the United States and ending communism in Russia (Hogan 12). When he came to power, Gorbachev did not want to bring down the Soviet Union; he wanted to reform it while maintaining Communism (Gaddis 67). However his reforms not only made his relationship with the United States better, but his decisions
Why did the Cold War end?
Why did the Cold War end? The Cold War took many twists and turns during the time it went on for, but the ending took many mad twists on both sides. Détente saw the two superpowers meet and discuss peacefully for the first time in years, especially after the hostility of the Cuban Missile Crisis. After Détente, things really took a good turn as neither side wanted a nuclear war, and Cuba came close! The end of the Cold War is broken in to three main sections. The failure of Communism is obviously a main part as it is one of the Superpowers. After the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was made out that the USSR had backed down, and Khrushchev resigned. After Khrushchev followed a series of terrible leaders. This really affected the end of the Cold War, as the Communism side couldn't function with an incompetent leader. Although treaties were signed, many things contributed to the fall of Communism. The whole idea Communism was based on meant the Communist economy was neglected, this meant that they had no means of support, especially when the USA stopped trading with them. The USSR finally decided that they did not have the technological ability to keep up with the USA, and when Reagan announced his laser defence system, the USSR decided to just give up trying and spend the little money on saving themselves from poverty. This shows that the USSR were low on money, showing a not-so
The Origins of the Cold War.
The Origins of the Cold War are widely regarded to lie most directly within the immediate post-Second World War relations between the superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union in the years 1945 - 1947, leading to the developed Cold War that endured until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Both the superpowers contrasted in their views, and their political regimes were totally different. Some historians look back to Lenin's seizure of power in Russia (the Bolshevik Revolution of late 1917) as forming the more extended origins of the Cold War; others, such as Walter LaFeber, go back to the 1890s, when the U.S. and Tsarist Russia became political and economic rivals in Manchuria. From 1933 to 1940 the United States and the Soviet Union had a sort of detente, but relations were not friendly. After the USSR and Germany became belligerents in 1941, Roosevelt made a personal commitment to help the Soviets (Congress never voted any sort of alliance). The wartime cooperation was never friendly, and it became increasingly strained by February 1945 at the Yalta Conference, as it became increasingly clear that Stalin intended to spread communism to Russia's neighbouring countries (of which he succeded and of which lead to the birth of Cominform) and then, to spread communism throughout Western Europe. [edit] Escalation and Crisis Two opposing geopolitical blocs had
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
The End of the Cold War and the Emergence of the Post-Cold War World
The End of the Cold War and the Emergence of the Post-Cold War World Group Report In the summer of 1991, just for a week's time, the existence of a Union, made up of fifteen Socialist Republics, remained only a fact in the history books. This dissolution, however, was not a singular event. The following report will attempt to examine the explicit and implicit causes of Soviet's Union break-up, as well as the confusion and disorder it caused, mainly by clarifying the issues surrounding it. The critical discussion provided will also present a useful insight in the formation of the emerged new World after the Cold War, referred to by historians, as the 'Post-Cold War' world, chiefly taking into consideration Gorbachev's 'novoie myslenie' and the concepts of glasnost and perestroika, plus their fundamental impact on Eastern Europe and even on present-day Russian political system (Bisley, 2004, p.75). By virtue of the long lasted era of stagnation and communist ideological values under Brezhnev's government, at the end of the 1980s, the Soviet state was evidently bleak. Moreover, the ever increasing interference of the party, in practically every aspect of people's life, was becoming to a greater extent detrimental for the effectiveness of the state in the course of the years. As a result, by the time Gorbachev acquired the post of General Secretary in 1985, he had a great
