Causes of the Cold War


Causes of the Cold War 1 Beliefs The Soviet Union was a Communist country, which put the needs of the state ahead of personal human rights and was ruled by a dictator. The USA was a capitalist democracy which valued freedom and feared Communism. Source A One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression. The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio; fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms. A speech by President Truman of the US (1947) Listen also to President Truman's Inaugural Address in 1949 when he talked about the difference between democracy and Communism.	Links: Why did the USA and USSR become rivals 1945-1949? - Historiography. History Learning - list Why did the allies of WWII become the enemies of the Cold War - debate on the Education Forum (VERY hard) - BBC debate-podcast on the start of the Cold War - Giles Hill's podcast on the origins of the Cold War Describe the events 1945-48 which plunged Britain and the USA into a Cold War with the USSR. East v West - a simple view Capitalism v Communism - America v Russia: 1977 textbook account. Spidergram: • Ideological differences Living in a Communist country - debate on the Education Forum (hard) Communism: a Russian joke In a Soviet classroom, a little boy is asked to define capitalism. 'The oppression of man by man', he says. 'Good', says the teacher, 'and what is communism?' The little boy replies: 'The opposite'.
2 Aims Stalin wanted huge reparations from Germany, and a ‘buffer’ of friendly states to protect the USSR from being invaded again. Britain and the USA wanted to protect democracy, and help Germany to recover. They were worried that large areas of eastern Europe were falling under Soviet control. 3 Resentment about History The Soviet Union could not forget that in 1918 Britain and the USA had tried to destroy the Russian Revolution. Stalin also thought that they had not given him enough help in the Second World War. Britain and the USA could not forget that Stalin had signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Germany in 1939.	Extra: 1. For each of causes 1-3, explain how it might have caused relations between the USA and the USSR to become tense.
4 Events Neither side trusted each other. Every action they took made them hate each other more:	Nine Events which caused the Cold War · Yalta Conference (Feb 1945) · Potsdam Conference (Jul 1945) · Salami tactics (1945–48) · Fulton Speech (Mar 1946) · Greece (Feb 1947) · Truman Doctrine (Mar 1947) · Marshall Plan (Jun 1947) · Cominform (Oct 1947) · Czechoslovakia (Feb 1948)
So who was to blame for the Cold War? Russian historians blamed Churchill (the British Prime Minister) and Truman (the American president, 1945–1953). They said Truman and Churchill wanted to destroy the USSR, which was just defending itself. At first, western writers blamed Russia. They said Stalin was trying to build up a Soviet empire. Later, however, some western historians blamed America. They said Truman had not understood how much Russia had suffered in the Second World War. Later still, historians think BOTH sides were to blame – that there were hatreds on both sides. Most recently, historians agree that the Cold War was primarily a clash of beliefs - Communism versus Capitalism. [nb you can find out about this in more detail by reading this article.]	Source B It is useless to try to discover who made the first move to break the alliance. It is impossible to trace the first ‘broken promise’. Written by the historian Isaac Deutscher, Stalin (1969). Extra: 2. Working in twos, one pupil plays the part of a Russian historian, the other a western writer of the 1950s. Talk about causes 1–4, the ‘Russian historian’ arguing that the Cold War was America’s fault, and the ‘western writer’ saying that it was Russia’s.