Who was to Blame for the Cold War?
Everyone's opinion is different, some say one thing, some say another but the big question is, who was to blame for the Cold War? The United States of America? The Soviet Union? Maybe it was inevitable and bound to happen, but maybe it was partly both of their faults. Could the Cold War have been prevented? There are many points that can argue and back up all of the above opinions. I will be examining different sources and viewpoints in this essay and conclude it with my own and other historian's opinions. There are three divisions of western historians when it comes to their opinion on the Cold War, the Traditionalists, the Revisionists and the Post-Revisionists. Each party have their own opinion on who was actually to blame for the Cold War. Traditionalists are historians who believe that the Soviet Union were to blame, Revisionists, who believe that the United States were to blame and Post-Revisionists believe that both the USA and the Soviets were to blame. Each group has reasons for believing what they believe and they will all be argued within this essay. There are many points that may have triggered the Cold War. Firstly, the history of mistrust between the USA and the Soviet Union that formed after their alliance in
The USSR believed that the West were hostile towards them because of a few points. The west of Europe was free, but in the east, the Soviets had taken over. The western part of Germany was not included in the Marshall Plan, Stalin refused the Soviet zone to receive aid. Government was chosen in democratic elections. The USA thought that this expansion into Eastern Europe was not for defence, but the first step of a plot for the Soviets to take over the world. 1941 - Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, afterwards, the USA, Britain, France and the Soviet Union fought in an alliance. the USSR was a one party dictatorship. Each side was responding to responses to their own actions. The USA betrayed Britain and told the Soviets that this "iron curtain" had nothing to do with them. This separation was by soviet policy. At the Yalta conference, they forced him to agree that some of the London Poles would be included in the government and that there would be free elections for a new government 'as soon as possible' The Yalta Conference appeared to be a success, with agreements on what would be done after the war settled, but some of these agreements were not kept, and The London Poles had hardly any say in their government. Stalin however was not fooled, he forbade any communist countries from receiving Marshall Aid.
Common topics in this essay:
Soviet Union,
West Berlin,
Eastern Europe,
Cold War,
East West,
Western Capitalist,
Marshall Plan,
Marshall Aid,
London Poles,
War Modern,
soviet union,
cold war,
eastern europe,
marshall plan,
east west,
truman doctrine,
marshall aid,
warsaw pact,
usa britain,
west berlin,
truman doctrine marshall,
doctrine marshall plan,
usa britain france,
threat soviet union,
communists bitterly opposed,
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Acceptance Essays
