To what extent were each of the following responsible for starting the Cold War. (The UK arms trade)

Member Name: Cozzie

Product:	The UK arms trade
Date:	07/06/01 (411 review reads)
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From 1945-90, Communist Russia and the capitalist west confronted each other in what was known as the Cold War. It was called the cold because no actual fighting was done. Each side was convinced of its own superiority and attempted to spread its influence throughout Europe and the world. The Cold War arose for a number of reasons, and neither side can be held to be fully to blame.

U.S.S.R:
The Soviet Union did not believe in democracy. They had not been present at Versailles in 1919 but well remembered the harsh treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918). During the war, they had suffered more losses and damage than any other allies had and they believed that the western allies had delayed the opening of the second front for too long. They believed that the western powers wanted free elections simply in order to secure governments which were sympathetic to the west and which would then become allies against the U.S.S.R and communists. The U.S.S.R were determined to prevent this. Therefore, there was increasing mistrust between the western allies and the U.S.S.R.
Russia had many valid reasons for acting as she did. Victory in the war had given the confidence to play a bigger role on the world stage, and seemed to show the superiority of communist Russia over capitalist Germany. In addition, Russia had suffered enormous destruction and the loss of 25 million citizens during the war, and was determined that it would never happen again. In order to prevent invasion from the west in the future Stalin was determined to ensure Soviet domination of Eastern Europe to provide a buffer zone for Russia.
Stalin’s actions after the war were therefore essentially defensive, aimed at ensuring Russian security, but because of the suspicion, which existed between the east and the west they were seen by America as being the first stage in a communist take-over of the whole of the whole of Europe. The American respo
nse of the Truman Doctrine and Marshall aid were seen in Russia as equally aggressive attempts to spread American power into Europe. With so much suspicion and hostility, any action claimed as self-defence by either side was perceived as aggression, and so relations between the two sides rapidly worsened, reaching a low point with the Korean War of 1950-53.

USA:
America was hostile towards the soviet Union for a number of reasons: the spread of communism was a threat to American business, since communist countries would not buy many American goods, and America was scared of another depression like that of the 1930’s. In addition, Stalin was believed to be a dictator like Hitler, and the 1930’s had shown that appeasement did not work, Truman was determined to stand up to Stalin. Finally, America believed it could be aggressive towards the Soviet Union because it had the Atomic bomb. The Soviet Union would therefore be forced to back down any confrontation. For these reasons, America was suspicious of the Soviet Union and determined to resist communist expansion.
Roosevelt, America’s leader during World War 2 had trusted Stalin, but his successor Truman was hostile to communist Russia. He did not tell Stalin about the atomic bomb until just before its use on Japan. Stalin already believed that the west had delayed the invasion of Europe during the war so that the Soviet Union would be weakened by Hitler’s armies, and this merely increased his suspicion of the west, and his desire to gain control of eastern Europe. By 1946, the leaders of Russia and the west were deeply suspicious of each others intentions.
The United States and Russia had different political systems and views. Each believed that theirs was best, and they were suspicious of each other. America was worried that Russia was trying to spread communism throughout Europe and the rest of the world: Russia believed that the capitalist countries wanted to un
dermine communism in the Russia. However, America and Russia were allies during the war against Hitler, so political differences alone do not account for the Cold War.

Britain

The U.S.A, Britain and France feared that if they withdrew from Berlin it would be yet another step forward in the march of communism and that an attack on Western Germany might follow. They considered it to be crucial to oppose this, for, if they did not, it would appear to the Soviets that the west was not prepared to go to war to prevent the spread of communism in Europe, this would encourage Stalin to attempt further expansion of communism.
The success of the Berlin air lift was a huge boost to the western allies, but the whole episode brought east-western relations to a new low and showed that any reunification of Germany would be impossible.
The allies believed that the war had been fought in the interests of freedom and democracy. They wished to see people given the chance to vote in free elections. The Americans were particularly concerned when communist governments; mostly Soviet Satellites came to power in several eastern European countries in the late 1940’s.
For Stalin, the main cause of friction was the great length of time it took Britain to open the second front against Germany by invading German-occupied France. This meant that Soviet forces did most of the fighting in Europe up to 1944.

I think that you can’t blame anyone for starting the Cold War as every one was just as nervous as each other not knowing fully what the other side was up to were. Both sides made mistakes but I think that mainly was from misunderstanding and the fact that nuclear weapons were being developed which could destroy the opposing sides country so easily. Everyone was on edge and trying to look after their country

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