The emergence of the Cold War, up to 1955

What are the five factors for the emergence of the Cold War?

1. Tensions within the wartime alliance

2. The arms race

3. Ideological differences

4. Disagreements over the future of Germany

5. The crisis over Korea

What is the most important factor being argued throughout the emergence of the Cold War essay?

Ideological differences

What is the main argument being made throughout the emergence of the Cold War essay?

How each factor made tensions rise for the key decision makers (the USA and the USSR), leading to the emergence of the Cold War

What is the context and background knowledge for the emergence of the Cold War introduction?

In 1945, the world had been devastated by WW2 which had seen approximately 70 million deaths as a direct result of the fighting. The only two superpowers left were the USA and the USSR, who had gained financially, such as the USA providing a huge war loan to the UK. The competition between these two superpowers to reshape the world led to a Cold War; a conflict which sees hostile relations but with no direct fighting between the main nations, to emerge between 1945-1955

What is the first piece of knowledge and analysis for the factor - tensions within the wartime alliance?

The USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939 and in 1945 the Red Army was accused of committing atrocities in Berlin and Eastern Europe… This was an important factor in starting the Cold War because the USA were angered by these actions and therefore were less likely to trust the USSR, which in turn would make them more hostile/sceptical, raising tensions between them

What is the second piece of knowledge and analysis for the factor - tensions within the wartime alliance?

The USSR was annoyed that the USA did not open a second front in Western Europe until 1944, meanwhile the USSR lost approximately 27 million people in the war… This was an important factor in starting the Cold War because the USSR felt that they were abandoned by their ally and left to do more fighting, which meant that they were resentful/sceptical of each other post-war and thus quicker to offence, causing tensions to rise

What is the counter analysis for the factor - tensions within the wartime alliance?

However, the alliance could not have been that full of irreparable tensions, as ultimately, they fought together effectively

What is the first piece of knowledge and analysis for the factor - the arms race?

The USA used a nuclear weapon on Hiroshima causing 140,000 deaths, but the USA had deliberately kept this weapon a secret from Stalin… This was an important factor in starting the Cold War because the USSR felt betrayed and were worried the USA would use atomic power against them, thus they became more hostile, which in turn raised tensions

What is the second piece of knowledge and analysis for the factor - the arms race?

By 1949, the USSR had created their own atomic bomb and by 1952, both sides had hydrogen bombs which were 250x as powerful as the bomb used on Hiroshima… This was an important factor in starting the Cold War because the rivalry between the two sides involved extremely dangerous weapons, which ramped up the fear level and caused tensions to massively increase given the stakes involved

What is the counter analysis for the factor - the arms race?

However, the UK developed their own nuclear weapons, yet the USA did not start a Cold War with them and so it could not have just been the creation of the arms race that led to the conflict

What is the first piece of knowledge and analysis for the factor - ideological differences?

The USA were capitalist which meant they favoured a free-market democracy and created NATO to protect this in other nations, whereas the USSR were communist which meant they favoured a state-controlled economy and created the Warsaw Pact to protect this in other nations… This was an important factor in starting the Cold War because with such opposing viewpoints, each side’s government would aggressively pursue to reshape the world in their ideology, which made tensions rise as they disagreed with each other

What is the second piece of knowledge and analysis for the factor - ideological differences?

The USA took action to support capitalism by implementing the Marshall Plan which supported capitalist nations with approximately $17 billion, whereas the USSR set up Comecon which supported communist nations with interdependent trade and production… This was an important factor in starting the Cold War because both sides felt the other was using their economic power to undermine the other, which caused tensions to rise as both sides felt threatened by one another as their ideological differences became more apparent

What is the counter analysis for the factor - ideological differences?

However, communism had existed in Russia since 1917, therefore if ideology caused such a divide between the two then a Cold War should have started in 1917 instead of in 1945 and the USA and the USSR would not have been able to work together during WW2

What is the first piece of knowledge and analysis for the factor - disagreements over the future of Germany?

At Potsdam and Yalta, it was clear that the two sides had different plans for Germany; the USA wanted a strong capitalist nation, whereas the USSR wanted a weak communist nation and so they compromised by splitting Germany into zones… This was an important factor in starting the Cold War because the different ideals for Germanys future led to it becoming a source of disagreement and tension as the two sides became rivals in the same country and the jealousy among each zone caused many falling outs, which led to tensions rising

What is the second piece of knowledge and analysis for the factor - disagreements over the future of Germany?

The Berlin Blockade was the USSRs response to Bizonia and the currency changes in the west, stopping the capitalists from accessing Berlin for over a year, but the capitalists responded with a major airlift operation which was a huge success at supplying West Berlin… This was an important factor in starting the Cold War because both sides felt the other was attacking them; Stalin felt annoyed at the USAs response and his failure to force the capitalists out of supporting Berlin, whereas the USA felt Stalin was being aggressive, which raised tensions between the two sides

What is the counter analysis for the factor - disagreements over the future of Germany?

However, some historians would argue that the situation in Germany was a compromise that avoided and deescalated any fighting, therefore it is evidence that the two sides could work together at summits

What is the first piece of knowledge and analysis for the factor - the crisis over Korea?

In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, gaining support from the USSR, while the USA supported the South, and both sides had their pilots wear the wrong uniform to disguise their support… This was an important factor in starting the Cold War because both sides were basically fighting each other directly, which caused a huge amount of tension to rise between the two sides as they were on opposite sides of a war

What is the second piece of knowledge and analysis for the factor - the crisis over Korea?

1.75 million US soldiers were committed to the Korean war and in return approximately 36,000 of these soldiers died… This was an important factor in starting the Cold War because the USA had spilt blood to fight communism and therefore cemented their commitment to the cause, which in turn raised tensions as the USA would be aggressive in the fight against communism and towards the USSR

What is the counter analysis for the factor - the crisis over Korea?

However, without ideology, the Korean War would have been considered a regional conflict instead of as a proxy war, which would have been less significant to the emergence of the Cold War