Origins of the Cold War: Historical Perspectives and Tensions
Explore the origins of the Cold War through key events such as Yalta and Potsdam Conferences, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin blockade, and NATO's establishment. Understand the U.S.-Soviet antagonism from various schools of thought and the contrasting visions of the Soviet Union and the United States. Delve into the complex dynamics that shaped the post-World War II era.
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The Origins of the Cold War Mark Lawrence University of Texas at Austin
No, we do not need to fear Russia. We need to learn to work with her against our common enemy, Hitler. We need to learn to work with her in the world after the war. For Russia is a dynamic country, a vital new society, a force that cannot be bypassed in any future world. -- Wendell L. Willkie, One World (1943)
At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one. One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression. The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio; fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms. -- Harry Truman, March 1947
Tensions escalate February & July 1945: Conferences at Yalta and Potsdam March 1946: Churchill s Iron Curtain speech March 1947: Truman Doctrine speech June 1947: Marshall Plan announced February 1948: Communist coup in Czechoslovakia June 1948: Berlin blockade begins April 1949: NATO established August 1949: Soviet atomic test
Explaining the U.S.-Soviet Antagonism: Three schools of thought 1. Orthodox: Soviet responsibility 2. Revisionist: U.S. responsibility 3. Post-revisionist: irreconcilable visions of the future
The Soviet vision 1. Control Eastern Europe 2. Weaken Germany 3. Cooperation if possible, confrontation if necessary to achieve 1 and 2 4. Opportunism elsewhere to extend Soviet influence
The U.S. vision 1. American leadership 2. Open world economic order 3. Decolonization 4. Collective security
Points of Contention 1. Status of Eastern Europe 2. Status of Germany
Irritants 1. Wartime tensions 2. Atomic weapons 3. Soviet paranoia 4. Anticommunism in the United States
Globalization of the Cold War 1. End of the Chinese civil war, 1949 2. Aid for Southeast Asia, 1950 3. Korean War, 1950-1953
