Origins of the Cold War; Summary arguments Flashcards
Summarise the four reasons for the origin of the cold war
1) long term ideological problems
2) war time disagreements
3) post war disagreements
4) personalities
What are the key points of why ideological differences & distrust were important
The differences in the aims of capitalism and communism; democracy vs dictatorship, open markets vs shared wealth
Distrust & fear;
the West didn’t trust the Soviets; saw them as brutal police state
the Soviets didn’t trust the West; were attacked by them
Give examples of long term ideological problems / results
examples;
Russian Civil war
Riga Axioms
The Purges
results;
Stalin wants buffer land
USA think USSR are expansionist
Why can ideological differences be seen as significant
It can be seen as the root of all mistrust and the leaders later personality clashes
as it caused Stalin to want security & be paranoid & the US to be fearful/intolerant of communist intentions
Why can ideological differences not be seen as significant
The old tensions are largely forgotten in the urgency of the alliance and the allies get on reasonably at Teheran.
personalities cause these tensions to rise; can be overcome (Great depression)
post war; only after the war since they have no plans they all interpret things differently and old ideological conflict is seen again
What are the key points of why War time disagreements were important?
Soviet ‘expansionism’; upsets USA
conferences; fail to plan for post war
US strategy; upsets USSR
What was soviet ‘expansionism’, what did it do
The Soviet liberations of Eastern Europe & invasions of Poland & Finland.
It triggered old US fears - West wants open trade but can’t with soviet sphere of influence. Upset the UK; want democratic Poland / empire
It also made conferences difficult as it forced concessions as the presence of the Red Army meant the West could do little & was forced to acknowledge the Soviet zone despite reservations
What was US strategy & what did it do
they kept delaying the Western front which made Stalin paranoid they were trying to weaken Russia
What were the conferences & what did they do?
Atlantic charter, Casablanca, Tehran, Percentages agreement, Yalta
Didn’t come up with a plan - meant post war future was uncertain & up for change
Why are War Time disagreements significant
They exacerbated old tensions & led to post war problems
Why can War Time disagreements be seen as un significant
the personalities & long term conflict cause the war time disagreements over US strategy & liberation
Post war time problems themselves actually create the uncertainty
What are the key points of why post War disagreements were important?
1) failure to plan future
2) nuclear
What are the consequences of Potsdam & why are they a cause of the origins of the Cold WAr
Economic rivalry; US want to mantain domination of world market but USSR want to recover from war damages - tension
Polish Border; refugee crisis - causes economic issues in future leading to Bizonia
Future of Germany; borders, what would happen post occupying powers & economic & military - later conflict & tension
What are the causes of nuclear weapons & why are they a cause of the origins of the cold war
Distrust; threatened USSR with atomic bomb & both sides start to compete
Why are post war time problems significant
Cause tension
They lead to a divide between West & USSR; economic & ideological
They cause later problems which have serious impacts
They start competition; economic & nuclear
