...How far do you agree with the view that the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-48 owed more to Soviet expansionism than to the USA’s economic interests? It is evident that, as Source 7 argues, the development if the Cold War in the years 1945-48 owed more to Soviet expansionism. However, it was not the main factor. The USA’s desire to boost their economy and influence in Eastern Europe, discussed in Source 8, and the need to secure the USSR’s boarders, the focus of Source 9, also l,aged s key role in the development of the Cold War. Perhaps one can argue that all three aims of both superpowers acted as catalysts and contributed to the development of the Cold War. In essence, Source 7 argues that the USSR had an “ambitious aim” of insuring Communist control in its sphere of influence. This is true in the sense that Stalin aimed to take advantage of the military situation in Europe and strengthen Soviet influence which resulted in occupying as much of Eastern Europe as possible. Following the Yalta and Potsdam conferences of 1945, Pro-Communist governments were set up in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. As well as this, the Soviet Union allowed Communist politicians to hold key positions in Coalition governments before elections were held meaning that elections could be manipulated to ensure communists controlled the levers of power. As a result of such measures, by the end of 1947 every state in Eastern Europe, except from Czechoslovakia, was controlled...
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...The American policy of Marshall Aid sparked both huge appraisal and significant opposition, and to this day it is debated whether it was purely a policy of self-interest and an imposition of America’s political and economic views on a weak and vulnerable Europe, or alternatively one of the greatest acts of altruism and generosity in modern history. It was enormously successful, ‘It was the most unambiguously and triumphantly successful of all America’s post-war policies’ , and helped to create a foundation on which Europe could become an economic power. While there were benefits to America which may have been interpreted as attempts to increase American power and inflamed opposition to the Marshall Plan, the administering of economic aid to Europe provided such a firm foundation for Europe to recover and progress that it must be said that the benefits of the Marshall Plan to Europe outweigh the apparent use of the Aid to pursue America’s interests. Sources such as the Harvard Address show us that an element of self interest was required for the Marshall Plan to be an efficient investment for America, but that the core idea of the Aid was fundamentally to help pull Europe out of the turmoil caused by the most destructive War in history, and that it was largely successful in doing so. The benefits to America both economically and politically were hugely significant. Hugh Brogan argues that ‘The health of the American economy needed a healthy Europe for mutual trade’ , by rebuilding...
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...with the view that, in the years 1945 – 1950, the Cold War developed as a result of US and Soviet security needs? Explain your answer, using sources 7, 8 and 9 and your own knowledge of the issues related to this controversy. (40 marks) | Agree | Disagree | Source 7 | * Blames the US for its need to have total control of all democratic countries and zones ‘sphere of…’ * Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan & German and Japanese ‘rehabilitation’ * Truman’s response was violent ‘hydrogen bomb…’ * SEATO – America’s ‘alliance system’ | | Source 8 | * Each side felt they had to adopt these safety measures in order to protect their security * The Russians had to help Eastern Europe and the Americans had to help the West * Each side felt the other was a threat of Communism or Capitalism – felt like they had to protect their ideologies | | Source 9 | | * The Cold War developed as a result of conflicted ideals and interests * Both powers wanted an increase in their global power * Each side had no fear of war ‘armed to the teeth’ * Each side used underhanded methods to get their way * Neither side understood the government and the people of its enemy | The view that, in the years 1945 – 1950, the Cold War developed as a result of US and Soviet security needs is partly true as both sides feared what the other would do in order to gain global power; however, some could argue that the Cold War developed as a result of conflicted ideals and ‘diametrically...
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...argued as being the transitional period from the USSR and USA being allied powers creating a peaceful post-war Europe to two powers fighting for control over post-war Europe. The development throughout these years, on the one hand, could be seen as being a result of Soviet expansionism, as suggested clearly in sources 7 and 9. On the other hand, in line with evidence from sources 8 and 9, USA’s economic interests could have been seen as having the most impact on the development of the Cold War. A further argument could be to suggest that it was in fact due to ideological differences, which is backed by evidence from all three sources. Overall, the development of the Cold War from 1945 – 48 owed more to the USA’s economic interests than any other factor. There is evidence in all three sources of ideology coming in to play during the development of the Cold War. “Russia wanted friendly governments on its western borders” is a clear statement that Soviet ideology of creating “buffer” states to protect them from “future attacks from the west” had a part to play in the development of the Cold War. Source 8 supports this by contributing the capitalist ideology of the US which was to use Marshall Aid (1948) to “bring economic recovery to western Europe”. The relevance of this to development of the Cold War is clarified in source 9, which explains that Stalin did not accept Marshall Aid as “The political dangers were too great”. Although this does point towards ideology being an important...
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...How did the Cold War develop between 1944-53? 1947 – Truman Doctrine (March) Marshall Plan (June) 1948 – Communist regime established in Czechoslovakia (Feb) Berlin blockade begins (June) US relationship with Europe after WWII: * Truman was under pressure to adopt a more hard-line approach towards communism following Kennan’s Telegram and Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech and the threat of communist takeover in Greece. * No suggestion that the US envisaged any long-term military or political entanglement in Europe beyond the time it took to establish political and economic reconstruction there. * Each side regarded the other as a threat to national security and being expansionist and a global strategic threat. * By September 1946 the emergence of the Cold War was seemingly irreversible. Why Truman introduced his Doctrine (first step containment?) * Keep the SU from aiding the Greek communist movement * Protect democracy and freedom in response to Soviet aggression and ideological expansionism in Eastern Europe * Demonise SU and Communism * Threaten and provoke USSR * Truman wanted a Cold War because that would justify the US’s role as a defender of the freedom and function as world power * Develop the US’s global economic power – if the US is protector, other sates would be militarily and economically dependent of the US – close trade relations. Truman emphasised in his doctrine the differences between Capitalism...
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...agree with the view that the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-49 was mainly due to ‘Stalin’s own errors’? I disagree with the statement - sources 7, 8 and 9 all suggest that the Cold War had many contributing factors, although it was ultimately the USA’s own economic and national interests to blame, rather than Stalin’s errors, as a result of acts and policies such as the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine in 1947. Both providing evidence to support this view are sources 8 and 9, with source 7 giving the impression that it was the errors of Stalin that contributed most. In addition to these two factors, conflicting ideologies also played a small role in provoking the Cold War, as shown in source 8. Despite this, it was fundamentally the economic and national interests of the USA that was mainly to blame for the start of the Cold War in 1945 and its development through to 1949. Europe was destroyed physically and economically after the Second World War. America saw this as a chance to become a world hegemony, as well as economically advancing the nation - source 9 proves this, saying, “The liberal capitalist US economy needed ever-increasing trade and investment opportunities”, as well as “The Marshall Plan was designed to implant an informal American Empire in Europe”. This shows that the USA not only used Europe’s fragile situation after WW2 to prosper itself, but more importantly increase its world influence, aiming to produce some sort of Empire of its own....
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...1120-102 | The Cold War | Professor Gray | | Davante Henderson | 4/30/2015 | | Davante Henderson Professor Gray HIST 1120-102 30 April 2015 The Cold War “We have to get tough with the Russians. They don’t know how to behave. They are like bulls in a china shop. They are only 25 years old. We are over 100 and the British are centuries older. We have got to teach them how to behave.”-Harry Truman, 33rd President of the United States. The Cold War was a period of East-West competition, tension, and conflict short of full-scale war, characterized by mutual perceptions of hostile intention between military-political alliances or blocs. The U.S. struggle to contain Soviet communism worldwide resulted in what came to be known as the "Cold War". Although full-scale war between the U.S. and Soviet Union did not occur, two major wars, (Korea and Vietnam), and many smaller conflicts occurred between 1946 and 1991 over the battle between democracy and communism. The Cold war was a product of many social and political reasons, a few but not limited to: The portioning of North Korea and Germany, the Marshal Plan, the Berlin Blockage and NATO. I’ll begin my explanation with the Yalta Conference, held in Yalta in February 1945 where Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill planned the final stages of World War II and agreed to the territorial division of Europe. “At Yalta, Roosevelt and Churchill discussed with Stalin the conditions under which the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan...
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...you agree with the view that the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-8 owed more to Soviet expansionism than to USA’s economic interests? My opinion is that the development of the Cold War was due to Soviet expansionism rather than the USA’s economic interests in the years 1945-48. The Sources all present to some extent the idea that Soviet expansionism was to blame. Source 7 argues Soviet expansionism as the most important factor as it claims that the USSR were ‘seeking to expand its influence into Western Europe’ and so causing Western Attitudes to increasingly worsen. However there is still evidence in the sources to support the view that the USA’s economic interests owed more to the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-48. For example in source 8 it suggests that the USA wanted a war with the USSR to help its economy, emphasising the impact of Truman’s ‘military industrial complex’ on aggressive foreign policy which played a huge role in the development of the Cold War. Furthermore it can be argued that it was the misunderstanding and confusion, caused by fear and suspicion, between the two nations which owed more to the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-8. Soviet Expansionism played a huge role in the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-8. Evidence to support this view is found in source 7 which claims that although in 1945 the West had accepted the Soviet’s influence in Eastern Europe; the West became suspicious of the USSR’s...
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...How far was the USSR responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War 1945-1949? To a certain extent, the USSR’s responsibility of the Cold War cannot be underestimated as their policies following the Second World War may have been seen as aggressive by USA. The forceful take-over of Eastern Europe through the Red Army occupations, especially in distinctive cases such as Poland and Czechoslovakia, can be seen as being far from the “liberation” over which the two war-time allies had agreed, while the rigging of elections did not conform to the Yalta agreement of the organisation of free ones. Stalin responded to the Americans’ policies of containment by creating his own agencies, therefore creating even more hostility between the two superpowers, while also refusing the existence of anything but Soviet puppet states in Eastern Europe. However, the event which cemented the outbreak of the Cold War was Stalin imposing the Berlin Blockade, taking direct action towards weakening the Americans’ position. One may see that Stalin’s blockade resulted in the official creation of two separate German states, one of the most significant events of the Cold War. On the other hand, revisionists point out that the USSR was taking defensive measures to protect itself from anything that could have caused as much damage as the Second World War, while the Americans, who were superior economically, adopted provocative policies. They challenged the patience of the Russians by hiding crucial events from...
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...financial aid to countries such as Turkey and Greece to combat Communism. The Truman Doctrine would ultimately be the basis of United States strategy during the Cold War. Turkey & Greece On March 12, 1947, President Truman introduced the doctrine that was destined to bear his name. In the body of his doctrine he described the struggle between Communism and the free world. 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. (Truman, 1947. p.178). Using the doctrine as a prerequisite for intervention into nations that were under Communist threat, the United States became involved in Greece and Turkey. Since the end of World War II, Great Britain had taken the role of providing economic support to both Greece and Turkey. After a few years Britain came to the conclusion that they could no longer support the two nations and requested that the United States provide support. Due to Soviet influence sweeping into the nations the United States agreed to provide military and economic support to the two...
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...Which of the external factors was most important in the Communist take over of Czechoslovakia in 1948? World Count: 3100 By Tomas Topolanek IB Extended Essay Subject: History School: International School of Prague Supervisor: Lawrence Hrubes Date: 17 September 2011 Session: 2012 Candidate Number: 000889-046 Abstract: The year 1948 was an essential period of time for the Czechoslovak history and its future. From the foundation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Czechoslovakia was still under worldwide influence of world powers such as Soviet Union, United Kingdom or United States. In order to answer the question, “Which of the external factors was most important in the Communist take over of Czechoslovakia in 1948?” Firstly I wanted to focus my essay only on how were the Communist reliable of takeover Czechoslovakia in 1948. After investigation it was discovered that the Czechoslovak history from year 1948 was mostly affected only by the external factors. A number of secondary sources are used including textbooks and biographies; both online and print, one of the secondary source was in Czech language. The scope of the investigation is focused on years from 1938 to the final takeover in 1948. Several external examples are used, why external factors were mostly important in Communist take over. Two very significant important factors what happened were the conference in Yalta, and the Czechoslovak-Soviet Treaty of Alliance signed by Czechoslovak president...
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...During the years 1945-1948, the development of the Cold war seemed to have been catalysed by various factors. The Second World War created a power vacuum in Europe into which the USA and the USSR were both drawn; large areas of Europe were left without meaningful government or administration. Subsequently much of Europe was left devastated and was in desperate need of reconstruction. The USA and the USSR were to provide the inspiration for alternative methods of recovering Europe, the USA aimed to invest billions into Europe hopefully mending the economy and to prevent the temptation of communism which seemed very attractive to those countries whose economy were in ruins. Moreover by doing this, the American economy also benefitted as countries who accepted the financial aid would have to open up there economy to American capitalist interests. On the other hand the Soviets were looking to expand Soviet territory and create a sphere of influence, whether this was to create a buffer zone for the USSR or to spread communism, it developed the Cold War as America felt threatened. Many historians have differing views on the matter which is evident in sources 7, 8 and 9, all of which feature modern historians posing some very different arguments. Some historians, as stated in the question believe that the expansion of the Cold War within 1945-48 was due to Soviet Expansionism whereas others believed it was because of USA’s economic interests. Either way, it seems most likely that both...
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...Section B – How far do you agree with the view that the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-8 owed more to Soviet expansionism than to Usa’s economic interests? I do agree with the view that the development of the Cold War owed more to soviet expansionism than USA’s economic interests in the years 1945-48. All three of the sources show evidence that soviet expansionism played a huge role in the development of the Cold War. Source 7 especially emphasises Soviet expansionism as the most important factor claiming the USSR were “seeking to expand its influence into Western Europe” causing Western Attitudes to harden. However there is evidence in the sources to support the view that the USA’s economic interests owed more to the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-48. Such as in source 8 which claims the USA wanted a war with the USSR to help its economy, emphasising the impact of the Military Industrial Complex on aggressive foreign policy which played a huge role in the development of the Cold War. Furthermore it can be argued that it was the misunderstanding and confusion between the two nations which owed more to the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-8. Soviet Expansionism played a huge role in the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-8. Evidence to support this view is found in source 7 which claims that although in 1945 the West accepted the Soviet’s influence in Eastern Europe, the West became suspicious of the USSR’s intentions, fearing...
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...for self-destruction had reached in World War II with an estimation of 55,000,000 people had died, 27,000,000 in the Soviet Union alone (most of the dead were civilians). In the first years after World War II there were three main issues: the influence of Soviet Union in Eastern Europe, the political struggle for Western Europe and the role of United States in the world.In this moment a new powers (Western allies and Soviet Union) established new spheres of influence. 11 February 1945 – Yalta Peace Conference – a meeting between the tree big countries (United States, Soviet Union and United Kingdom) speaking about the future of Europe. The main concerns were: Polish questions, future of Germany and the condition of the entry of Soviet Union into war with Japan. Each president decide to arrive to Yalta for different reasons: Roosevelt decide to create United Nations, Churchill feared the growing of power of the Soviet Union in Europe and Stalin was intent on protecting Soviet Union against another German invasions. Roosevelt attained his goal and in addition Stalin accepted the American proposal on the use of the veto in the Security Council. All men agreed to move the Polish boundary western to the 1919 Curzon Line and to restore Western Byelorussia and the Western Ukraine to the Soviet Union. 2 August 1945 - Postdam Peace Conference - Trumann, Stalin and Churchill met to reach a new accord on postwar Germany and the Pacific war. They confirmed a decision to divide Germany...
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...communist ways on countries in Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria, Poland and Czechoslovakia. This doctrine promised to support any country who was anti-communist. In the same way, the Marshall Plan was launched in 1947 offering financial aid to any country who needed it. Theoretically, this did not exclude Eastern Europe but it was assumed that it didn’t apply to them as they were not capitalist. These two events did contribute to the development of the cold war as it was one of the first times that the west had directly taken action against the East and their ideology and actions. In addition to this, in 1947 the soviets responded by starting Comintern which was a unity of all communist governments – allowing the Soviet Union to gain more control over their sphere of influence. This was soon followed in 1949 by Comecon, which rivalled the Marshall plan in that it too offered economic help to the eastern European countries who were now suffering from poverty after the war – although this was much less effective than the Marshall Plan. Therefore, these events did play a significant role in the development of the Cold War as it made the two nations rival each other for power, ideology and economies. Source G primarily supports this idea that the events contributed to the development of the Cold War. It directly compares the communist ways versus the more democratic west. It puts emphasis on the negative aspects of Eastern Europe’s government such as their “terror and oppression”...
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