Who was to blame for the Cold War? (10) Flashcards Preview

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1
Q

What is the Soviet View? (4)

A

The Soviet view The Soviet blamed the US for starting the Cold War for the following reasons:
• The West did not understand that the USSR was simply trying to ensure its security against future invasion; the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe was defensive rather than expansionist. In many of his speeches made at the time, Stalin repeated this concern about Soviet safety and security.
• The USSR had suffered terribly during the Second World War, and needed to make sure this did happen again. In contrast, at the end of the war the US was in a much stronger position on an economic and military level. • The USSR was not planning to take over the rest of the world; it was protecting Soviet land rather than promoting communism.
• The strongly anti-communist attitude of the new US president, Harry Truman, made the post-war tension much worse.

2
Q

What was the Western view-often referred to as the traditionalist view? (4)

A

In the orthodox Western view, Stalin was to blame for the start of the Cold War for the following reasons:
• Stalin had set out to conquer as much territory as possible after the Second World War.
• He wanted to increase the Soviet sphere of influence and was prepared to use force to do so.
• The Soviets did not hold free elections in the Eastern European satellite states and they became one-party communist states.
• This forced the West to adopt a policy of ‘containment’ to prevent the further spread of communism in Europe; this was the reason behind the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift and the formation of NATO

3
Q

Who were the revisionists?

A

By the 1960’s, some Western historians had started to question the standard (or orthodox) view that blamed Stalin for the start of the Cold War. They were called revisionist historians because they revised the views that had previously been accepted as the truth in the West.

4
Q

What was the revisionist Western view? (4)

A
  • The USA was to blame for the start of the Cold War because it wanted to ensure American economic domination of Europe.
  • At the end of the Second World War, the USA was in a strong position: it had the atomic bomb, its economy was strong and its people had the highest standard of living in the world.
  • The USSR, on the other hand, was too weak to pose any real threat to the West.
  • The West used the idea of ​​a Soviet ‘threat’ to justify its own desire to dominate the world.
5
Q

What was the post-revisionist view? (4)

A
  • The Cold War developed because of misunderstanding on both sides.
  • The USSR had genuine security concerns in Eastern Europe which the West failed to understand.
  • However, Soviet actions after the war created genuine fear and suspicion in the West.
  • Truman, who replaced Roosevelt as US president at a critical time, had little experience of foreign affairs but believed it was important to take a tough line to protect American interests; Roosevelt, on the other hand, believed that it was possible to co-operate with the USSR.
6
Q

What are the post-post-revisionist views?

A

In 1989 the Cold War ended, and in 1991 the USSR collapsed, bringing to an end over 80 years of communist domination. After this, the new government in Russia opened the Soviet archives and many documents that had been kept secret for years were made available to historians. The US government also made more information available to the public. Many of the key figures involved in the early years of the Cold War have published diaries and memoirs. As a result, much more information is now available to historians and to the public. This has caused many people to question their views on the origins of the Cold War.