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Why did the cold war start? - Coggle Diagram
Why did the cold war start?
Capitalism vs Communism…Or America against Russia?
battle between ideology
Stark contrast between the 2 ideologies
USA - capitalist democracy, where individual freedom was guranteed
USSR - communist, where everyone collectively worked for the state
It was a battle of influence on the global stage, which fully establishes Bipolar politics
Ideology that the USA would be safer if other countries were not communist. Economically, for example, by having trade partners with other capitalist nations, which was vital for the growth of the capitalist economy
Hence, both the USSR and the USA saw each other as an existential threat.
Meanwhile, the USSR would be safer if other countries were communist. USSR thus felt that it was necessary to establish communist regimes in Eastern Europe as security zones, but was seen as aggression by the USA.
political battle
The US and USSR were suspicious of each other during WW2 despite being allies
‘Stalin felt that in order to get public support for the things he was doing, which were very harsh policies, he had to convince… the common people and party members that Russia was confronted with a conspiracy on the part of the major capital powers to undermine the Soviet government by espionage’- George F. Kennan
This shows that Stalin felt that he had to villify the western, capitalist powers to make people forget about the oppressive life in USSR, which seemed more of a police state, and less of a communist dream
Atomic bomb
USSR spied on the development of the atomic bomb in the U.S, which was shared with Britain. Stalin deeply resented the secrecy.
The USSR saw the development of the atomic bomb to a threat to them, especially under tense relations, which made them develop their own bomb
Truman and Stalin's relatioinship
Truman- feisty, anxious to prove himself, hiding his insecurities behind aggressive stance towards USSR
Stalin- insecure- made him unjustifiably suspicious of the USA
Believed that ‘major capital powers [wanted] to undermine the Soviet government by espionage’ (Kennan)
Spied on U.S. atomic bomb
Established communist regimes in Eastern Europe as security zones, which was seen as aggression by USA
Another piece of evidence that the mutual incomprehension and insecurities led to an escalation of conflict
Europe in 1945
Europe was split between the allied powers as a result of the second world war, and the battle for influence continued in Europe
This was especially obvious in Germany (Berlin in particular), where Germans could easily compare the progress of the 2 ruling governments
Communist regimes in Eastern Europe would serve as security zones for the USSR, but the USA saw this as aggression
Overall argument
Post-revisionist intepretation
Inevitable clash between two competing systems
Mutual misunderstanding and distrust
U.S. mistakenly believed Stalin was assisting the Greek communist party after WW2
Both countries had expansionist ideology