The development, course and end of Cold War is arguably, among the most fascinating topics in modern history judging from the considerable amount of historical literature and research. Although multiple causes have been advanced, Cold war has its roots in the breakdown in relations between the two major players; the US and Soviet Union during the period 1945-1950. Hypothetically to understand how Cold War developed, the causes of Cold war must be looked into on the basis of their relative importance so as to come up with differing perspective of the origin in relation to the events during the period. Understanding how multiple factors interacted to bring an end a forty-five year war and how decision makers were able to successfully negotiate and agree is also of enormous importance.
The onset of Cold war can be traced to the events of August 1945 when the United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings of the two Japanese major cities provided adequate ground for an inevitable capitulation by Japan at a time when the Soviet Union, which was to be part of the three nation alliance (with the US and Britain) against Japan, was still reluctant to join the fight against Japan. It can only be read that the bombing of the two major Japanese cities by the US was part of a plan to intimidate Russia especially on the grounds that it was still lagging behind with regards to nuclear development; this happened even before the Stalin side could confirm their full participation in the war against Japan. Notably, the Japanese capitulation besides bringing an end to the World War II marked the onset of yet another war that was later to be founded as the Cold War. Affirmatively, this war was called a “cold war” as it did not involve any direct confrontation hence could by all means be coined as a political war rather than a military war.
Reportedly, the nations that formed the grand alliance to fight “Fascism and right-wing extremism” quickly found themselves at odds soon after Japan ceded. To many scholars, the exact reason for the immediate disagreement between the three nations that formed the grand alliance leading to the cold war cannot be resolutely underpinned. Some scholars speculate that the Stalin side should be blamed greatly for the cold war because, due to the Soviets’ duplicity in which Stalin was greatly accused of making promises that he was by all means committed to fulfilling. For instance, soon after the end of World War II, Stalin, who had already installed a pro-Communist administration in Poland, incessantly promised Roosevelt that he was going to help Poland hold an unchained election shown no prospects of doing so. Roosevelt could not push for the elections to be held at any preferred date and could do only hope that Stalin could honor his promise anytime. Until his death in 1953, there was no election held in Poland. At one point, Roosevelt was heard lamenting that Stalin had broken all the promises he made during the Yalta conference. In this light, it is worth saying that the war was an unfounded war greatly as a result of the mistrust between Russia and the US.
Yet again, others blame Harry Truman (the successor of Franklin Roosevelt who had served as a vice-president for barely three months at the time of Franklin’s death) for his hard-line approach to Stalin. As president, Truman viewed Stalin with disapproval, and besides looking at them with great suspicion, he openly regarded them Soviets as untrustworthy. He was acting differently from Roosevelt who would remain warm to Stalin even though Stalin had shown no hope of honoring any of his promises. Barely serving ten days as president, Truman declared to his state advisors that the US was going to stand against Russia, and at some point he blatantly told the Soviet foreign minister, particularly with reference to the Soviets’ occupancy of Poland, that Russia is supposed to honor its promises. Additionally, Stalin was greatly angered by Truman’s objection to the idea of Russia taking reparations from the US and other countries like Britain and Germany. All these could only heighten the tension between the US and Russia.
Additionally, the then British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, also shoulders some blame for having brokered several deals with Stalin in a bid to improve his empire while not considering the interest of the other nations. In another instance, he accused Russia of creating an Iron Curtain that was aimed at dividing Western Europe from Eastern Europe. Aptly stated, Churchill was keen to join the American side in its bid to structure a post war development plan that limited Stalin’s ability to continue dominating parts of Europe.
Notably, the relationship between US and Russia improved greatly during the 1980s. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev assumed leadership of Russia ushering in an era of openness and restructuring. The period between1980 and 1990 is also illustrious with regards to the cold war as it is a period when the then US president, Ronald Reagan, proposed the strategic defense initiative to protect the US from attack by nuclear ballistics. Within the same period, Reagan and Gorbachev signed the INF (Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces) treaty that saw the removal of several medium range missiles from Europe. It is also notable that Poland held its first free elections during this period. In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved which marked the much needed end to the cold war with Gorbachev taking credit for having played a pivotal role in ending the cold war.
