The Two Superpowers: The Cold War

Words: 1798
Pages: 8
Open Document
The Cold War was a battle for power and influence between the USA and the USSR –the two superpowers that emerged after World War II. There were various factors that contributed significantly to the Cold War origins such as ideological differences as well as conflicting national interests and some less important factors such as a clash of key leader’s personalities and attitudes. Historians who studied the Cold War origins came up with a wide range of views. Engerman solely blamed ideological differences between the two super powers, whereas Paterson emphasises shared responsibility. Michael MccGwire recognised Russia’s fear of attack and that their defensive techniques were simply to protect themselves.

Own Opinion

From 1917, the ideology …show more content…
Tensions that were originally created by differential national interests developed from the fact that both superpowers saw the other as a threat to the safety of their countries. The USSR believed that it was necessary to defend their national interests to ensure there were no further attacks, especially after a loss of 20 million Soviet soldiers and 40 million citizens because of World War II . To protect his country, Stalin used a process that the Hungarian
Communist party leader described as ‘slicing salami’. It was very clear that Stalin was not willing to share power and aimed to make sure all the countries he had conquered in Eastern Europe had a communist government. His way of purging anything that was not communist was to do it bit by bit. For example, communists executed the leaders of all of Bulgaria’s party leaders once the left-wing government were in power. Poland, a country with great importance to Stalin, was a big part of their national interest. He was convinced that having control of a country which essentially was an access point to invade Russia, would help protect from foreign invasions. Poland was referred to as Stalin’s buffer zone which played in favour of defending communism. Stalin also broke the promises from Yalta, which was done so because of the national interests of the USSR i.e. the expansion of the Polish government never actually happened. Although Stalin acted a lot on his national interest, it seems that his ideology played a role in the decisions he
Show More

Related Documents: The Two Superpowers: The Cold War

How Far Did Peaceful Coexistence Ease Cold War Tensions Between the Soviet Union and the Usa in the Years 1953 Essay

How far did peaceful coexistence ease cold war tensions between the Soviet Union and the USA in the years 1953-61? In the years 1953-61 some might say that the cold war tensions were eased by peaceful coexistence, with super power negotiations and key agreements paving the way for better relations. Despite this, the stronger argument suggests that ultimately, cold war tensions were not eased, the cold war continued for another 30 years. This was due to failure to negotiate anything of substance…

Words 1008 - Pages 5

Cold War Arms Race And Space Race

The Cold War occurred during the years 1945-1990, shortly after the World War II ended. The Cold War involved an extremely long period tension between the Western World and Eastern Europe. This was lead by the two superpowers of the post-World War II era, the Soviet Union (Eastern) and The United States (Western) alongside their allies. Their authorities Harry S Truman and Joseph Stalin, both had their ideological mission; capitalist democracy versus communism that clashed. They participated in “proxy…

Words 200 - Pages 1

The Great Powers in the International System Essay

insurrectionary Polarity/ Superpower/ Great Power What is meant by multipolarity, bipolarity and unipolarity? • A unipolar system is where one “pole” or polar actor is identified as the predominant power in the world. It need not be a state but a group of states. An example of a unipolar power is the Holy Roman Empire. • In a bipolar system two powers control the majority of global power. This was said to be the case in the global war where power surrounded two ‘poles’ – the Soviet Union and…

Words 376 - Pages 2

How Did The Cold War Superpowers Face Off

Chapter 17 Section 1 Cold War: Superpowers Face off K- W- Who was involved in the Cold War? What effects did the Cold War have on the countries involved? What was the outcome of the war? What was the reason for the war? L- Cold War After WWII, two powers remained: Soviet Union United States Yalta Conference Leaders of U.S., Britain, and Soviet Union Agreed to divide Germany into zones Creation of the United Nations June 1945, based in New York 48 Nations joined the organization intended…

Words 882 - Pages 4

was Detente superficial essay

never built to last as the two systems were too different to be able to cooperate successfully. On the the biggest issues during the cold war and so inevitably when establishing the Détente was the nuclear arms…

Words 1214 - Pages 5

Essay about General Education 101 Final

World War II began in 1939 and ended in 1945. The World War involved a large portion of the world’s great powers. It is considered the most widespread war in history because if involved a vast majority of the world’s nations. After the Second War, with the decline of Europe, power was evenly shared between the Soviet Union and the United States. These two superpowers both wanted to dominate the other, leading to conflict (Chung). In terms of history, there was resentment on both sides about actions…

Words 1488 - Pages 6

Proxy Wars During The Vietnam War

The Cold War was an indirect war between the US and the USSR, lasting from 1947 to 1991. It started after WW2 when both superpowers were looking to spread their ideals through the world. The ¨Cold” in Cold War comes from the fact that there was barely any direct conflict between the two countries, they fought each other through proxy wars and competitions with technological weapons. There were many proxy wars during the Cold War but unarguably The Vietnam war was a major one with incredible impact…

Words 1070 - Pages 5

Propaganda During The Cold War

era of the Cold War, the economic struggle between two of the world's superpowers. The Cold War had such an impact it affected basically every country in the world at the time. After World War 2, the Soviet Union and the United States had an ongoing tension between each other. The cold war was a cause of the fear of communism, hate of capitalism, Truman dislikes Stalin, USSR fearing the atomic bomb, and the U.S. refusing to share nuclear secrets. If there was a claimed ‘winner’ of the war, it would…

Words 905 - Pages 4

1960s Nuclear Weapons

arsenals emerged as destabilizing components of the tenuous Cold War relationship. Simultaneously, nuclear weapons functioned as mechanisms to sustain peaceful coexistence among the superpowers. An analysis of this period reveals that the dual influence of nuclear weapons had two primary effects on the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States. First, the amassing of extensive stockpiles of nuclear weapons by the two superpowers solidified the bipolar…

Words 1341 - Pages 6

World War 2 Test: Analyze the Results of the Second World War Essay

Meghan Cole Hegna IB History/ World War II Test 29th October 2014 Analyze the results of the Second World War By the end of April 1945, the war on two fronts against Stalin and the Allies had proved too much for Germany thus Hitler famously committed suicide. As with WWI, Germany and her allies were defeated, leaving the Western Allies victorious, ending WW2 in Europe. Furthermore, the American decision to drop the atomic bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced the Japanese to move towards surrender…

Words 1025 - Pages 5