To what extent were ideological differences the cause of the Cold War from 1941 to 1949?

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Sarah Humphreys

To what extent were ideological differences the cause of the Cold War from 1941 to 1949?

By 1945, the foundations for the Cold War were firmly in place. The two superpowers of the USA and the USSR had emerged as the representatives of two strongly opposed ideologies; communism and capitalism. This means of conflict had existed since 1917 and continued to stand at the forefront of disputes between the USA and the USSR long into the immensely tense years of the Cold War. To a great extent these foundations of the ideological battle between the two super powers was a major cause of the Cold War, however despite the existence of this factor, the Cold War was not yet inevitable. It was the post-revisionist interpretation of the policies and attitudes of both the USA and the USSR that developed during and after 1945 that led to the finality of the severe deterioration in relations. Therefore to a certain extent the ideological differences were the underlying cause of the Cold War, however other factors such as the growing lack of trust, American Imperialism and the Russian threat were also incredibly influential in the cause of the Cold War.

        The ideological differences between the USA and the USSR had existed since 1917, when the Bolshevik revolution and the Wilsonian Liberalism of 1918 laid down the rudiments of the polarised political, social and economic principles. The USSR’s desire for communism was prominent as an issue in international relations when the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in October 1917. The Bolshevik revolution gave Lenin and his Red Army the opportunity to illustrate communist ideals by putting them into practice. Lenin called for a state-owned economy; an economy in which all industries and agriculture are owned by the government on behalf of the people, and a one-party state; a political system in which there is only one political party to represent the people – the communists – and elections were contested between individual members of this party. In contrast to this, in January 1918, the US president Woodrow Wilson issued his Fourteen Points based on the ideals of democracy and capitalism. He promoted the principles of self-determination, open markets and collective security. The differing ideologies were already set in place. Wilson and Lenin highlighted their countries policies and how each country should maintain their superior set of principles. The importance of a country’s ideology can be witnessed here as already, years before the outbreak of the Cold War, the policies of capitalism and the policies of communism stand in direct contrast to each other.

This friction between communist Russia and capitalist America stemmed into the 1930s, gradually becoming increasingly apparent and significant as the basis of an ideological battle.  Both sides ideology had been left extremely vulnerable due to the economic devastation of the Great Depression and the famine of the 1930s. Although the Russian propaganda of Stalin’s Five Year Plans had rapidly increased industrial output, Soviet Russia was witnessing suffering on a huge scale as millions of peasants were being brutally murdered due to their opposition to collectivisation. In the USA in 1929 the Wall Street Stock Market had crashed triggering a crisis in capitalism. Factories closed down from the lack of product demand and unemployment figures soared. Both the USSR and the USA were under intense pressure, leaving them all the more susceptible to the other’s probably more appealing ideology. The people of Russia were becoming  tired of communism and the people of America were becoming tired of capitalism, each blaming their country’s ideology for the destruction and devastation that they were subject to. Everyone wanted a change for the better and the governments of each country were desperate to restrict this desire for political, social and economic modification.

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The framework for this ideological conflict which was in place by 1917 became ever-increasingly evident after 1945. The polarisation of communism and capitalism became more and more heightened between the USA and USSR, leaving them joined only by their aim of overthrowing Hitler at the end of the Second World War. George F. Kennan, Deputy Chief of Mission in the US Embassy in Moscow, analysed and summarised the growing hostility between the USSR and the USA; “There can be no possible middle ground or compromise between the two…The two systems cannot even exist in the same world.”  Kennan highlights ...

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