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Factors Determining Soviet Foreign Policy - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Stalin portrayed the Western powers, particularly France, as warmongers eager to attack the Soviet Union. The nationalization was portrayed as a security concern.
      - Any influence of capitalism may have been detrimental to the USSR, as the view of capitalism being evil propagated by Stalin may wain within the population
      - During the early 1930s, Stalin for all intents and purposes followed an "isolationist" policy in foreign affairs. but this was situational
        
        Stalin opted for "collective security" with Britain and France and went so far as to join the League of Nations because of the fear of war on two fronts (Japan in the east and the capitalist Europe on the west)
        
        The fear also stemmed from their past experiences with these countries. Western europe supported the anti communist white army in the civil war of 1917.
        
        The imperialist japan was also seen as a threat, especially because of their recent history of war (1905). The fear increased in the 1930s, during the Manchurian crisis, as the USSR may have believed that Japan was willing to use unorthodox methods to attain more land.
        
        Despite labelling themselves as non interventionalist, they still intervened in the revolution in Germany, as well as the Spanish civil war.
- - - - In the immediate aftermath of the October 1917 Revolution, ideological considerations played a key role in the foreign policy of the Bolshevik government. Its most important foreign policy aim at this stage was to promote a worldwide revolution. Lenin maintained that, if a Communist government could be successfully established in Russia, an economically backward country, it should encourage the outbreak of Communist uprisings in more advanced Capitalist countries
      - Economic factors also influenced Soviet foreign policy in the period 1917-1924. For example, Lenin’s decision to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, in spite of its extremely harsh terms, was partly due to the serious financial predicament in which Soviet Russia found itself. It also takes in the Peace Land Economy
      - However, Soviet Russia’s trade agreements with Britain and Germany in the early 1920s were not solely motivated by economic considerations but also aimed to secure international recognition. After all, Soviet Russia was diplomatically isolated in 1920-1921, having been excluded from the Paris peace talks and refused admission to the League of Nations
      - Security considerations also exerted an important influence on the foreign policy of Soviet Russia, especially in the period up to 1922. As the only Communist regime in Europe, surrounded by ideologically hostile states, the Bolsheviks were understandably concerned about the survival of the new regime.