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The Cold War is a complex event in which assigning blame to only one party is not advisable. All parties involved share equal responsibility for the Cold War. In my essay, I will demonstrate this viewpoint. Western historians have three distinct perspectives on the Cold War: Traditionalists, Revisionists, and Post-Revisionists. Each group has their own interpretation of who should be blamed for the Cold War. Traditionalists argue that fault lies with the Soviet Union, while Revisionists place blame on the United States.
On the other hand, Post-Revisionists assert that both the USA and the Soviets are responsible. To summarize,
The Cold War lasted from the mid-1940s until the early 1990s and was characterized by conflict, tension, and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as their allies. This rivalry manifested in various ways such as military alliances, ideology, psychology, espionage, technological advancements (including the space race), expensive defense spending, and a significant arms race involving both conventional and nuclear weapons.
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Proxy wars among allied nations were also a key aspect of this struggle. Despite having been former allies against Nazi Germany during World War II, the U.S. and Soviet Union had differing perspectives on rebuilding the postwar world even before the war's end.
The Cold War had global implications beyond Europe, spanning several decades. The primary objective of the United States was to contain communism and establish alliances in Western Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Despite potential conflicts like the Berlin Blockade (1948-1949), Korean War (1950-1953), Vietnam War (1959-1975), Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), and Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989), none materialized.
Periods of reduced tension occurred as both sides pursued détente, but a lingering sense of mistrust persisted due to the fear of nuclear annihilation deterring direct military confrontations.
The fundamental distrust between the Soviet Union and the USA led to the inevitable breakdown of their wartime alliance. While the USSR operated under a Communist system, the West adopted a Capitalist system. Communists prioritized the well-being of society over individual rights, resulting in rapid industrial growth but a lower standard of living compared to the USA. The USSR was governed by a one-party dictatorship, with all candidates being members of the communist party. Many communists strongly opposed Western Capitalist policies. In contrast, Capitalists believed that individual freedom was more important than equality. The USA, being the wealthiest country in the world, had privately owned businesses and property, with a mix of rich and poor citizens. Government officials were elected democratically. Many Capitalists vehemently disagreed with Communist ideology. Both countries believed they were right and the other was wrong, which aligns with the Post Revisionist perspective. The USSR viewed the West as hostile due to events such as the deployment of troops by USA, Britain, and France in support of their opponents in 1919, and Stalin's perception of Western support for Hitler after Britain and France rejected an Anti-Hitler alliance in 1938.
The USSR accused Britain of practicing appeasement as a secret strategy to aid Hitler. In 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, prompting the USA, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union to form an alliance and fight together. Stalin urged his allies to initiate a second front but they were not ready until June 1944 (known as D-Day). Stalin suspected that these countries purposely delayed launching the front in order to allow Germany to weaken the Soviet Union first. Despite being on the Soviet border, they were excluded from the Munich conference because other nations knew that Stalin would never accept Hitler's terms.
The Yalta Conference took place in February 1945 and involved discussions on the post-World War 2 organization of Europe. Attendees included Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Decisions made at the conference encompassed various aspects such as establishing democratic governments through free elections in Eastern European countries that had been liberated from Nazi control. Additionally, a United Nations Organization was agreed upon to ensure peace. Germany was divided into occupation zones controlled by Britain, the USA, the Soviet Union, and France respectively, with Berlin also being partitioned similarly. It was further determined that once Germany was defeated, the Soviets would engage in war against Japan. Stalin argued for retaining territories acquired through the Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939 in Poland and proposed expanding Poland westward into Eastern Germany to create a buffer zone between Germany and the Soviet Union due to previous attacks by Germany on the Soviet Union within the past three decades. Furthermore, he sought a pro-Soviet government in Poland.
The Yalta Conference seemed successful at first, reaching agreements on post-war plans. However, some agreements were not upheld and the London Poles had little say in their government. Stalin installed a pro-communist government in Poland, contradicting Churchill and Roosevelt's intentions. Yalta highlighted the difficulties in reaching agreements among the Allies. Another conference took place in July 1945 in Potsdam, Germany, revealing the strained relationship between the east and west. By then, Soviet troops had liberated Eastern Europe from Nazi control, but instead of holding free democratic elections as planned at Yalta, they remained in these countries. Significant changes occurred in the past five months, leading to major shifts in relationships between country leaders. Notably, America had successfully tested the Atomic Bomb.
Churchill's loss in the general election resulted in Atlee becoming the new British leader. Additionally, President Roosevelt's death led to Truman being appointed as President. It is important to note that Stalin's Armies had occupied a significant portion of Eastern Europe.
Agreements reached were that Germany would be divided, reparations would be given to the Allies, the Nazis would be prohibited and their leaders would face trial as War Criminals. Germans occupying Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia would be returned to Germany. Additionally, Poland's Eastern border would be relocated to the rivers Oder and Neisse. On the other hand, there were disagreements.
The disagreement between the East and West arose from differing views on Germany, reparations, Soviet policies in Eastern Europe, and the Soviet occupation of Japan. Stalin believed Germany should suffer, while Britain and the USA disagreed. This disagreement created tension between the two alliances, leading to their inevitable falling out.
In March 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous Fulton Speech explaining the establishment of an iron curtain dividing East and West Europe due to Soviet policies. In Western Europe there was freedom, but in the East the Soviets had taken control. This created a clear distinction between West and East.
Stalin accused Churchill of trying to provoke a war against the Soviets. From 1945 to 1948, the Soviets ensured that every Eastern European country had a communist government sympathetic to them. Stalin justified this as creating a buffer zone between themselves and the Western World. However, the USA saw it as an expansionist strategy by the Soviets to dominate globally.
The USA aimed to stop communism's spread and supported Truman's efforts to limit Soviet influence in Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, with Soviet troops still present in those countries, Truman had limited options available.
Upon learning that Britain couldn't afford to maintain troops in Greece and Turkey anymore, Truman provided financial assistance for their continued presence there.
He also provided financial support to both governments, a policy known as containment - the effort to prevent the spread of communism. On 12 March 1947, Truman officially announced this policy, which became known as the "Truman Doctrine." Along with the Truman Doctrine, came the Marshall Plan, which aimed to combat Communist influence. General George Marshall proposed the idea of providing financial aid to any country at risk of Soviet Union takeover in order to halt the spread of communism. The aid money served as a bond between the recipient country and the USA, establishing a dependency on the USA and necessitating consideration of Western ideas. Stalin, however, was not easily deceived and prohibited any communist nations from receiving Marshall Aid, thus not aligning with US ideals. Meanwhile, European countries were eager to establish this dependency and between 1948 and 1952, the USA allocated $13 billion to sixteen different countries.
Stalin's refusal to allow communist countries to receive Marshall Aid had a significant impact on Germany after World War 2. Despite Germany's economy being in ruins, the western powers focused on rebuilding industries and restoring the economy without seeking to restore Germany's military power. The western part of Germany was excluded from the Marshall Plan due to Stalin's refusal to allow aid in the Soviet zone. Ernest Bevin, the British Foreign Secretary, expressed astonishment at the plan's generosity. On one hand, the Marshall Plan demonstrated extreme generosity from the USA but it was also driven by American self-interest. The Americans were determined to prevent another global economic crisis like that of the 1930s. However, some taxpayers in the United States questioned whether they had to contribute such a large sum of money towards helping other countries.
Nevertheless, both Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan were perceived as excessively generous acts. In response, Soviets established two institutions: The Communist Information Bureau aimed at strengthening relationships between communist nations and Council for Mutual Economic Aid which served as a rival to Marshall Plan.
Berlin, similar to Germany, was partitioned into zones. On June 24, 1948, Stalin blocked West Berlin by cutting off road and rail connections. To overcome this blockade, the Allies would need to use tanks to forcefully break through the barriers. Stalin believed that such an action would be seen as an act of war and doubted that the Allies would go to such extremes. Instead, he thought they were more likely to give up their zones and concede control of Berlin to the Soviets. To sustain West Berlin, supplies were airlifted to three air bases in the region in a mission known as "The Berlin Airlift." This gave Stalin additional choices; if he wanted to interrupt the supplies, he would have to shoot down planes even though they posed no threat to the Soviet Union. This would clearly make him appear as the aggressor. As a precautionary measure, B-29 Bombers were stationed in Britain so that the Soviets could be targeted with Atomic Bombs if necessary.
In an effort to demonstrate the failure of Stalin's blockade of West Berlin, the three western allies collectively completed 275,000 trips to the city and delivered over 2,000,000 tons of supplies. This success led Stalin to end the blockade on 12 May 1949. However, this decision had unintended consequences as it prompted the Allies to strengthen their control over Germany and increase their opposition against the Soviet Union.
One direct challenge posed to the Soviet Union was the establishment of NATO, a defensive military alliance comprising European powers along with the USA and Canada. Despite possessing nuclear weapons, when NATO expanded in 1955 to include West Germany, it compelled the Soviet Union to establish its own military alliance known as the Warsaw Pact. Consequently, these two alliances were formed as a result.
NATO, which included the United States, Britain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal initially formed. Greece and Turkey later joined in 1952 followed by West Germany in 1955. The Warsaw Pact was composed of the Soviet Union along with Albania, Bulgaria Czechoslovakia East Germany Hungary Poland Romania. The establishment of NATO and the Warsaw Pact bolstered the influence of these two dominant nations. In conclusion:
There are several factors that indicate the Americans and Allies should take responsibility. The Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine, driven by self-interest, resulted in the imposition of Western ideas on the recipient nations of Marshall Aid. Consequently, the USA wielded influence over these countries' governance. America's demonstration of strength and power through Atomic diplomacy aggravated Stalin, who saw it as a threat to the USSR. In response, he instructed his scientists to create a Soviet atomic bomb as a defensive measure. Winston Churchill's Fulton Speech created the perception in the East that the West harbored a desire for war. The USA betrayed Britain by informing the Soviets that the "iron curtain" had no relevance to them. In 1977, historians T.G. Paterson, J.G. Clifford, and K.J. Hagan argued, "The post-war period seemed an ideal opportunity to implement America's concept of 'Peace and Prosperity.' Another crucial aspect was the urgent needs of the American Economy..." These historians' viewpoint suggests that in 1977, they believed the USA acted selfishly, prioritizing their own interests and power gains without considering others.
The Cold War escalated due to faults on the Russian side, particularly their expansion into Eastern Europe. This action worsened the Cold War and led to the implementation of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. Stalin's disregard for agreements made at Yalta angered other leaders who saw his actions as selfish. Additionally, Stalin initiated the Berlin Blockade in an attempt to remove Western influence from Eastern Berlin. A.M. Schlesinger (1967) states that "The Cold War was the brave and essential response of free men to Communist aggression," suggesting that the Soviets were in the wrong while the USA aimed to prevent further USSR advancement.
In thhe late 1980s, summit conferences between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and United States President Ronald Reagan, along with Gorbachev's introduction of reform programs such as perestroika and glasnost, brought an end to the Cold War. Consequently, the Soviet Union relinquished control over Eastern Europe and dissolved in 1991.
Responsibility for the Cold War: A Shared Blame Perspective. (2016, May 07). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/which-country-was-to-blame-for-the-cold-war-essay
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