Reasons for the Cold War Flashcards
explain how the arms race was a reason for the cold war
The arms race was when both superpowers began to develop and stockpile nuclear weapons. As a result each country felt more and more threatened as they both had the ability to start a nuclear war. It also caused more competitions between the two countries
explain how ideological differences caused the cold war
The USA believed in capitalism whereas the Soviet Union followed communism. These were very contrasting ideologies which caused tension between the countries
explain how alliance systems caused the cold war
The USA created NATO so that all the countries in this alliance system could join together to defend themselves against possible attacks from the soviet union, for all the countries involved in the treaty. The USSR saw NATO as an ‘aggressive alliance’ they felt threatened by it, and created The Warsaw pact in in response.
explain how the Korean war caused the cold war
When Korea split the Soviet Union supported the north side as they were communists whereas the USA supported the south side as they were capitalist. This made tensions between the USA and the Soviet Union worse as they both wanted their ideology to spread to the other side of Korea but this was not possible due to one another.
explain how the atomic bomb caused the cold war
Truman kept the creation of the atom bomb a secret from Stalin and only told him of its testing after the Potsdam conference. Stalin was angered by this, and a lack of trust began to form between the two superpowers.
explain how aid systems caused the cold war
In order to help smaller countries after WW2, both the USA and Soviet Union set up aid systems, to help the struggling countries of Europe recover after the war. which began to rival each other. The USA set up Marshall Aid and expected countries who accepted the system to also accept capitalism. The Soviet Union established Comecon, and wanted countries to also take up communism.
