The specific reasons that can clearly explain events that triggered the cold war cannot be determined conclusively. The world war two victories of United States and their longtime allies known as the Soviet Union showed an excellent relationship between the two (Gaddis,30) . They worked collectively in terms of military and political strengths which made them winners.
However, around nineteen forty three, signs of a war between these two allies started to become evident. Also, a question of who was responsible for the war is relevant since the Soviet Union viewed America’s release of atomic bombs as sign of intimidation as well as a way of trying to take international control of many countries and increase of their market coverage across the world. On the other hand, America viewed the soviet movement as being unfair in the imposition of a total form of control of the Eastern Europe countries that they had control over. Hence, they imposed rules of governance in these countries (Lucas, 18). This raises the question of why two bodies that have worked together for a long time could fight each other. This will form the basis of analysis in this paper.
First, there was confrontation between the three leaders namely President Franklin of America, President Churchill of Britain and lastly Stalin who was the leader of the Soviet Union. The disagreement involved governance of Poland after their victory in the war. There were two governments present in the country while under the leadership of Germany. Communists as well as non-communists had reasonable control in Poland since it was at the center of countries going into the war hence it was used by Germany when invading Russia during world war two .Stalin insisted on communists to take control of Poland after the war while Churchill insisted that Poland should form its own government (Lucas, 30). This crisis was the first step to the cold war with many analysts viewing the leader of the Soviet Union as being responsible. The cold war would later spread across the world from Europe to Asia and its effects would be felt in all nations.
Secondly, a conflict arose from the conference called Potsdam concerning some principles of the post war governance of Germany. The interpretation of these principles by the Soviet Union and western nations was different. The agreement outlined how resources between the superpowers where to be shared, with Germany being treated like an economic unit. Since the world war two had destroyed many industries in Russia, Germany would deliver products from their industries to Russia and in return they would receive food as well as materials. However, Russia did not keep their promise which led to increasing tension and suspicion between Western countries and Soviet Union in Russia. This was one of the factors leading to the cold war.
Further, an economic disagreement in the year nineteen forty six between the Western countries and the Soviet Union in Russia led to the cold war. American as well as British leaders agreed to join the two economic zones for better as well as efficient production. This was facilitated by adopting a uniform system of infrastructure like the railway system. This acted as a threat to Russia Soviet Union since the western countries would become powerful economically and gain support of west region of Germany. The union named Trizonia would expand Germany industries hence eventually making the west to be powerful. Russia had fear that in the long run they would lose control of their economy and would be attacked by other powerful nations.
Moreover, in the year nineteen forty seven, the West signed a doctrine called Truman that showed a Marshall form of plan which included western region of Germany. Russia viewed this as a threat to the communist campaign against them. Therefore, the Soviet Union did not agree to this leading to a conflict and eventually causing a cold war between the two.
In addition, a diplomatic kind of conflict in the year nineteen forty nine between Russian Soviet Union and the western countries was evident. An agreement in the month of February between several countries like Britain and France concluded that a democratic kind of leadership was the right way of governing the Western region of Germany. However, the Soviet Union viewed this as an anti soviet form of military attack to their ideology. They were of a different opinion that Germany should operate under specific rules. Hence, this disagreement in opinion was another factor that contributed to the cold war arising.
Another cause of the cold war was involved the crisis of Berlin in the year nineteen forty eight. The western countries agreed on the formation of a single currency in all their nations. They proposed that West Germany should also use this currency. After the world war two, there was massive food shortage and inflation in many countries. Due to this, many currencies lost value hence leading to this arrangement by leaders to have one currency. In contrast, the Soviet Union opposed this move because if it was successful, they would lose their control of Eastern zones of Germany. Also, the western countries would eventually become strong. They countered this move by making a barrier in communication between western zone of Berlin and western region of Germany. This began in the month of July in the same year. This blockage would make more than two million Berlin people to be starved. The United States viewed this move as a way of frustrating the Marshall form of plan. There was consideration by the western countries to fight with Russia. However, Stalin was forced to withdraw the barrier when the Atlantic agreement was made, which combined military forces of western nations and the United States. He even admitted defeat and lifted the ban on blockage of Berlin he had imposed.
This blockage had several implications. First, the western governments would resist any attempt made by Russia in controlling Europe. In addition, Russia retained the rights to the route of communication which implied that even in defeat, they were still strong. Further, these developments made both countries to buy atomic bombs in the year nineteen forty nine. However, leaders from both sides agreed that war would be the last result since the world war two effects where still felt in all economies of the world. Germany held election in the following year and a party by the name Christian Democracy won (Roberts, 45). However, Russia still wanted to be aggressive in forwarding their ideologies hence the threat was still open and western countries were cautious.
In the year nineteen forty nine, the cold war spread from Europe where a communist party took control of china which was a stronghold in Asia. The size of Soviet Union in china as well as Russia was great hence threatening the American policy referred to as containment. This eventually led to a war in Korea. The communist leadership in the north led attacks to the southern region which Americans had established a democratic government. These attacks had the objective of setting one communist leadership in the whole of Korea region. Western states new that it was important for the southern region to remain as a democratic process. The effects of this war included the alliance between china and the union. China would be protected in the northern region by the buffer kind of state. Lastly, Korea was devastated by this war, especially in the northern zone.
There was increased competition by many countries around the world specifically in Indonesia and Guatemala which were seen by many people as being allies to the communist’s organizations. The United States used central agency of intelligence in the analyses of governments around the world since they would help those who supported a democratic process of leadership and overthrow the ones opposed to this (Jack, 28). Hence, many governments were overthrown by this organization.
In review of the chosen bibliography or sources of information used in this paper, the first book is on the rethinking of implications of the cold war by an author called Gaddis. This book provided information relevant to the topic under review since it illustrated the excellent relationship that existed between the Soviet Union and the western nations. As such, the first paragraph contains an introduction from this source. Also, the book had presence of originality due to the presence of citations and illustrations by use of graphs in addition to presence of references. This made the authors work to be correct and accurate. Hence, this source was useful in getting a picture of the relationship before the cold war started. The second source is the book titled America fighting the Soviet Union by an author called Lucas. This source provided information on the primary cause of disagreement between the Soviet Union and the western nations, which was in relation to management of the West German regions. Also, the book was used due to originality and reception, which were presented by citations and illustrations using pictures at the time of disagreement between the leaders. This made the information used to be correct. Hence, the source was useful in understanding the cause of the cold war.
The third source used in this analysis was a journal on the Soviet Union by an author called Roberts. The journal was useful in giving an overview of the spread of the cold war across the world from Europe to Asia and finally other nations. In addition, the source was original sine the author acknowledged sources of information used making the journal to be accurate and correct. Hence the source was useful in understanding the spread of the cold war and its effects across the world. The final source used in this paper was the book on silencing the western nations by the Soviet Union by an author called Jack, which illustrated the measures taken by the Soviet Union and the western nations in terms of strategizing against each other. The book provided accurate and relevant information due to presence of originality by citations and graphical illustrations in the book. In addition, the book was precise in terms of understanding the two conflicting parties better. Hence, relevance to this paper involved getting a clear picture of the measures taken by the two parties across the world.
In conclusion, the origin of the cold war is not certain. Many historians say that the war started immediately after the world war two. However, as analyzed in this paper, the main reason for the war was that the western states wanted democracy to be used as a governance tool in countries across the world while the soviet union’s wanted to impose rules over the countries that they had control of. Today, various policies employed by governments can be viewed as harsh since every nation wants to be a superpower, have a strong economy and lastly they want to protect their people through use of a strong defense force. The effects of the cold war and any war in general have negative effects hence governments should strive to make peaceful resolutions to all problems.
Summary of references
1. Gaddis, John. Rethinking Cold War implications. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1997. Print.
This book gives a detailed account of the relationship that existed between the Western states and the Soviet Union before the cold war. More focus is put on how the two sides worked together to concur many territories.
2. Lucas, Scott. The Americans fight the Soviet Union. New York: New York University Press. 1999. Print
This is a book in which the author focuses on the causes of conflict between the two sides. It gives in detail the series of meetings held by the Soviet Union and the Western States which resulted in disagreement on administration of West Germany.
3. Roberts, Jean. The Soviet Union policies. Article on the Soviet Union in the World, 45, 45-90.
This is an online article which can be read from the eBooks blog which shows the logical order in which the cold war spread from the European territories to Asia and other continents. Therefore, it is important to the public in understanding how the cold war affected many nations.
4. Jack, Andrew. Silencing the Opposition to western states in the Cold War. Urbana. University of Illinois Press, 1999.Print.
This book provides information about the measures that each of the sides took to counter the other and protect them from being defeated. Therefore, it is important in the understanding of strategies employed by Western nations as well as the Soviet Union in the cold war. It also shows the impact of the cold war around the world in terms of damages done.
Works cited.
1. Gaddis, John. Rethinking Cold War implications. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1997. Print.
2. Lucas, Scott. The Americans fight the Soviet Union. New York: New York University Press. 1999. Print.
3. Roberts, Jean. The Soviet Union policies. Article on the Soviet Union in the World, 45, 45-90.
4. Jack, Andrew. Silencing the Opposition to western states in the Cold War. Urbana. University of Illinois Press, 1999.Print.
