Causes of the Cold War Essay

Words: 1572
Pages: 7

“It is clear that fear, greed and revenge were the major factors that caused the Cold War” How far do you agree with this statement when analyzing the causes of the Cold War up to 1949?

The responsibility of the origins of the Cold War often triggers questions among historians yet both powers should be blamed for taking part in it. The origins of the Cold War can often be associated with fear, greed and revenge. Through most analyses, the fault was often given to Stalin’s ambitions to expand communism in Europe, a controversial idea of the Orthodox view. Other historians revised this idea therefore blame the United States actions for the origins of the Cold War, which were analyses of the Revisionist. Later, the Post-revisionist view

It can be argued that the USA didn't need to use the atomic bomb in order to get Japan to surrender, it has also been said that the USA dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and three days later the attack on Nagasaki. Prime Minister Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech which warned the new danger in Europe can be seen as one of the defining moments in the origins of the Cold War. It was Churchill's speech, which he titled "The Sinews of Peace," that changed the way the democratic West viewed the Communist East. The phrase, which refers to the harsh and 'impenetrable' nature of the divide. In Churchill's speech it was clear how much he feared the Soviet Unions rise in power, during the entirety of the speech Churchill is warning about the implications that the spread of communism could have. Through an orthodox perspective Churchill had no other choice but to warn the other countries about what Stalin’s plans of expansion are. When the Truman doctrine was announced on 12 March 1947 the Soviet Union feared that the USA would be successful in stopping Stalin’s goal of spreading communism. Through the perspective of a revisionist the Truman Doctrine was proof of how ‘backstabbing’ the USA is since it was seen as just a way to get in the way of Stalin’s plans and avoid his success. In January 1947, the U.A Secretary of State, was replaced by General George Marshall. The Marshall plan seemed to follow quite naturally on from the Truman Doctrine, which was the