From Ibstudy

Causes of the Cold War:

Contents 1 Factors contributing to the Cold War 1.1 Long-term origins (1917-1941) 1.2 Short-term origins (1941-1946) 1.2.1 1945 Meetings: 1.3 Attitudes of major powers 1.3.1 American/Capitalist Position 1.3.2 Soviet Position 1.3.3 General European Position 2 1945-1953: The start of the Cold War 2.1 Action in Asia 3 The 'Thaw' (1953-1957) 4 The Khrushchev Era (1956-63) 5 The 'Long Peace' in Europe (1963-91)

Factors contributing to the Cold War

Long-term origins (1917-1941)

• WWI(1917): Communist Bolsheviks come to power and withdraw Russia WWI, where it had been in alliance with the United States.
  • Bolsheviks executed Tsar Nicholas II and his family
    • Bad because they were related to British royalty
  • Bolsheviks were Communist. Just thought that should be repeated, because it's really important. Capitalism and communism were seen as naturally opposing systems.
• Russian Civil War (1918-1921): the Reds fought the U.S.-backed Whites.

Short-term origins (1941-1946)

1945 Meetings:

• Yalta:
  • Germany to be split into four zones(American, British, French, Russian), Berlin too.
  • Eastern Europe to have free elections
  • U.N. to be created
  • Stalin agreed to join the war against Japan
    • Condition: Japanese-occupied territory given to USSR
• Pottsdam
  • Couldn't agree on what to do with Poland or Germany

Attitudes of major powers

American/Capitalist Position

Mainly, suspicion of Russia from a number of sources:

• Kennan's Long Telegram (1946, followed later by the "X Article"):
  • telegram sent by George Kennan, Charge' D'affaires (second to the Ambassador) at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, basically said that Russia believed that communism and capitalism could not peacefully coexist, and one would have to make way for the other.
    • 1946: Stalin had made a speech that was translated as having said that capitalism and communism could never coexist peacefully. Kennan used that
    • See Wikipedia page for more info or the original text on Wikisource
• NSC-68: National Security Council report on Communist aims. Note: this was not until 1950!
  • Main jist was that the USSR wanted to "impose its absolute authority over the rest of the world."
  • Depicted the USA as "the center of power in the free world."
• During the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheveiks had fought U.S. supported forces and, after winning, renounced all Russian international debts.
  • Capitalist countries lost all investments in Russia
• At the end of WWII, Russia appeared to forcefully impose communist governments in Eastern Europe.
  • Free elections did not happen as agreed at Yalta
• These led to the American policy of containment of communism

Soviet Position

Mainly, suspicion of the West from these sources:

• USSR was not well-informed of the development and planned use of the atomic bomb.
• Old tensions from the Russian Civil War
• Russia had been invaded twice in 50 years by Western powers
• The dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan prevented Russia gaining back territory lost in the Russo-Japanese war which they had been offered if they helped defeat Japan.
  • Russia had declared war on Japan on the 8th of August, the bomb was dropped on the 10th.
• Therefore Russia wanted border states to prevent future invasions
• U.S. and G.B. had delayed opening a second front on Germany. Russia had lost over 20 million soldiers.

General European Position

• Great war losses had been incurred.
  • Poland 6 million dead, Germany 4.2 million, etc.
• Power Vacuum

1945-1953: The start of the Cold War

• Europe
  • Atomic bomb
  • Eastern Europe
  • Containment and roll back
    • Truman, Marshall, Cominform, Molotov, Comicon
  • Berlin blockade and airlift
    • NATO

Action in Asia

• • Korean war 1950-1953 (however, it didn't officially end yet)
  • Vietnam War (U.S. gets involved in 1957, Saigon falls 1975)
  • Indo-china wars
  • China becomes communist

The 'Thaw' (1953-1957)

• Reasons for a thaw
  • Death of Stalin
  • McCarthy discredited
  • End of Korean War
  • End of Indo-china war
  • Russian concessions
  • The Austrian State Treaty
• Continued tensions
  • Continued Russian grip on Eastern Europe
  • Actions to protect communism
  • The Warsaw Pact
  • Russia builds up arms
  • Berlin problems (Recognition)

The Khrushchev Era (1956-63)

Destalinisation Polish Crisis (1956) Hungarian Uprising Suez Crisis Increased power of Khrushev and USSR Second Berlin crisis (1958-1962)

• Threats by Khrushchev against Western powers in west Germany/Berlin (Berlin Ultimatum)
• Demands to get rid of West Berlin
• Geneva conference
• Berlin Wall

The Arms race (1949-1958 and onwards) Cuban missile crisis (1962)

• Fidel Castro
• Bay of pigs incident
• Missiles in Cuba
• Naval blockade
• Consequences

Consequences

• Deterioration of Relations

The 'Long Peace' in Europe (1963-91)

Detente in Europe

• Distracted super powers
  • Vietnam
  • USSR and China
• Controlling nuclear development
• France withdraws from NATO
• The Hamel report
• Brezhnev doctrine
• Ostpolitik
• China and the USA

The Third Cold War (1979-1985)

• Weakening of Détente
• Solidarity
• Ostpolitik threatened

End of the Cold War

• Gorbachev
• Detente renegotiated
• East Europe
  • Economic problems
  • New conflicts without communism
• Collapse of GDR
• Reunification of Germany

Collapse of the USSR