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How far do you agree that the origins of the Cold War in 1945 and 1946 owed much to the ideological differences and little to personalities and conflicting national interests? The origins of the Cold War cannot be denied as being most ob iously and most forefront due to the great ideological differences between the !""#$s communism and the !"%$s capitalism& such as their complete opposing beliefs o er nationalisation and system of go ernment' Howe er (ational interests& such as the fight o er )oland and leaders personalities& such as Truman$s lac* of e+perience in foreign policy cannot be o erloo*ed as important reasons for growing hostilities between superpowers' The ast difference in ideologies is clearly the underlying factor which caused tensions for the superpowers of the world during the Cold War and the years 1945 to 46, howe er it cannot be denied that personalities of the leaders running these countries& were a contributing reason for the e er growing hostilities between them' -oseph "talin& leader of the !""# and communist regime& was a figure *nown for being shrewd& manipulati e and ruthless& instantly suggesting that relations with other countries& so different from his& were to be .uite strained' Though he was *nown for these negati e traits& he was also commended for his sense of practicality and his s*ills as an administrator& this suggesting that perhaps his ability to put aside differences& may be better than necessarily belie ed' /t was common *nowledge that "talin was an autocratic leader& perhaps a dictator to some& and that he was harsh on his country& using hea y censorship& harsh industrialisation and a systematic use of terror& employing his red terror and che*a to silence those against communism with arrests and murder' When it came to 0oreign policy& "talin was highly suspicious of the west& of their intentions& of their political ideologies and of their iews on the !""#, he was so untrusting of them he went as far as bugging %merican and 1ritish leaders$ rooms at the Tehran conference& reading con ersation transcripts to ma*e sure plots were not being made against him' This untrusting nature clearly could not ha e helped hostility between the three leaders and could clearly be a source of irritation on 1ritain and the !"%$s part' Winston Churchill was another leader who had his high suspicions& being ery untrusting of "talin and his moti es& as well as being ery anti2communist& something which was made ery apparent and ery public in his 3iron curtain$ speech' The speech called for an alliance between 1ritain and the !"%& to pre ent "o iet e+pansion& something he was afraid of due to "talin$s 3increasing measure of control from 4oscow'$ Howe er this speech was a little less shoc*ing at the time& as at this point he was no longer )rime 4inister& the role being passed to Clement %tlee& suggesting these blunts iews were only publicised for the reason that he was now on the political sidesteps' Howe er despite his suspicions he was ery well *nown for generally being a ery enthusiastic& energetic and inspiring leading& and pro ed himself as being compromising and able to put aside differences& 5oining forces with #ussia to defeat fascism and to pre ent any more world conflicts 2 he established a publicly positi e relationship with "talin& referring to him as $uncle -oe$& gi ing the public reason to belie e the superpowers could wor* together' !ltimately it was Churchill$s anti2communist stance on politics and ruling which caused tension rather than his traits& as he was a ery inspiring and energetic character& therefore inferring that possibly ideological differences were the most prominent and forefront causes of the Cold War' #oose elt& the %merican president until 1945& li*e Churchill& was a man described to be ery energetic& optimistic but also liberal in attitude& *nown to being a patient leader' His domestic policies demonstrated that although %merican society and go erning went by capitalist ideals& he wasn$t ignorant to some of the less e+treme alues of Communism& putting in place the new deal 2 a policy addressing issues caused by the 6reat 7conomic 8epression which in ol ed increased state
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inter ention in the economy in order to create 5obs' #oose elt was .uite prepared to wor* with "talin during the "econd World War& despite all the clear differences between them& wanting to be more in ol ed with the rest of the world and wanting to defeat fascism after the awful )earl Harbour incident' #oose elt was clearly a president who wanted resolution between the countries and wanted to try to create more positi e relations between superpowers& howe er in 1945 he unfortunately died and ice president Harry Truman stepped in' Truman was perhaps less willing to wor* with "talin& though not that ob ious about it& apparent through his lac* of e+perience and negati e e+perience in foreign affairs' 0or e+ample when dealing with one of "talin$s ministers& he tal*ed about him as an $uneducated idiot$& not putting in enough effort to create a wor*ing stable relationship with the !""#' This similar approach of inconsideration was ta*en by Truman when going along with the 4anhattan )ro5ect& not informing "talin of it causing further tensions' The atomic bomb was a shoc*ing and e+tremely destructi e piece of weaponry and not re ealing it to "talin undoubtedly raised "talin$s suspicion of the west' To "talin& this act appeared to be one to intimidate him and ensure he and #ussia had no part in defeat of -apan& an personal enemy prior to World War Two& following the 1995 #usso -apanese War' The changes of leadership between 195 and 46 could not ha e helped tensions between Western leaders and "talin& as the new leaders were thoroughly different to the ones he had become used to' Though conflicting personalities pro ed to be unhelpful in pre enting hostilities from growing between the superpowers& it is clear that differing ideology was the dri ing force which caused much alienation' Howe er national interests was an issue& intrinsically lin*ed to political aims and ideologies& which contributed to the Cold War' The occupation and fate of )oland was a huge national interest which was of great importance to both the 1ritish and the !""#' 1ritain had in ested much interest in )oland$s freedom& ha ing gone into the war to begin with to defend their liberty from 6ermany& with the )olish go ernment e+iled and stationed in :ondon' 1ritain wanted )oland to be able to re2establish their national freedom and employ a democratic system of go ernment howe er this was feared to be impossible if "talin got his hands on it' "talin indeed wanted )oland& this sue to the fact that it was a point of access into #ussia and ha ing influence o er it would protect #ussia from foreign armies attac*ing the !""# border& something they suffered much of in the "econd World War' "talin$s main priority was protecting the !""# from attac* and defending Communism and )oland was the buffer ;one which could ensure this possible' Howe er from a Western point of iew this could be seen as an act of promoting communism into other countries' His moti es were possibly not so insidious& e idently through his allowance of a democratically elected go ernment in Hungary being able to remain& in 1945& rather than using his influence' The issues between the superpowers surrounding )oland were clearly a contributing factor to the e er growing hostile relations& howe er the source behind the )oland related tensions was the fear and suspicions of Communism and "talin$s moti es& again presenting that ideological differences was the *ey component in the Cold War' %nother national interest which ser ed as an originating tension to the Cold War was the !"%$s *eenness to help economically rebuild 7urope' Their intentions on the surface appeared to be innocent enough howe er their moti es behind all their 7uropean interest and help could ha e potentially increased strains between the !""# and the West' The !"% supplied aid to many 7uropean countries& through a concept called the 34arshall )lan$& gi ing destroyed nations a chance to rebuild their economies, though it was clearly a *ind act& the !" made sure that it was highly publicised 2 they wanted to appear to be the strong sa iours& who all should stri e to be li*e' 0or e+ample& /taly was a nation which recei ed much aid and as a result& not so coincidentally& at the same time& a democratic system of go ernance and capitalist mar*et was put into /taly' This was due to the huge amounts of propaganda and programmes used as a means of influence on ulnerable nations& such as 3operation
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bambi$& a piece of %merican& capitalist propaganda used to influence the minds of the young' The !"% also used a concept *nown as 38ollar /mperialism$& another economic plan with intentions of helping rebuild 7uropean countries and their economies' The !"% hadn$t suffered the damage to industrial districts and the hardships of rationing& li*e the rest of the fighting world had in World War Two& and as a result it had lots of goods to e+port and needed a large free mar*et to do so' 8ollar /mperialsim in oled e+porting goods and loans to other countries& hoping to bring them bac* to life& for their own good and for the !"%$s own benefit too' This economic concept could be saud to ha e been a huge tension between the !""# and %merica& as it e+cluded #ussia& alienating them by spreading their capitalist ideologies and all the while ignoring their need for help in rebuilding themsel es' /t was not only national interests after the "econd World War which widened the hostile gap between the superpowers& but also ones beforehand' Though not in the time period of 1945 to 346& it was worth remembering that the superpowers possibly still felt resonance from past conflicts' 0or e+ample during the 0irst World War& #ussia had signed the Treaty of 1rest2:ito s* with 6ermany& in 4arch 191<& abandoning 1ritain& their allies& and ma*ing a deal with the enemy' The West were further alienated by the !""# when the "o iet go ernment refused to repay debts to Western in estors from the 0irst World War and the #ussian Ci il War& again showing their abandoning of responsibility and their lac* of loyalty to the West' %nother e+ample of 1ritish alienation due to the !""#& was the assassination of the Tsar and many 1ritish royal family relati es& an act which upset a ma5ority of the public& as well as =ing 6eorge > himself& on a more personal le el' Howe er it was not 5ust 1ritain and the West that had e+perienced betrayal before the "econd World War& #ussia too had reasons to feel resonating anger' 0or e+ample the fact that during the #ussian ci il war& 191<2?1& which saw a fight for communism& defended by the #eds& many Western countries helped the Whites in fighting for democracy& by sending support& both physically and financially' %nother e+ample of what felt li*e Western betrayal to the !""#& was the 1ritish policy of appeasement& an agreement between Hitler and 1ritain which caused many suspicions by "talin and painted the 1ritish as disloyal to #ussia' /t is clear that national conflicts was definitely an area of hostility for the superpowers all ha ing much say in foreign policy and relations, howe er when loo*ing at the reasoning behind such tense national conflicts& it could be correct to suggest that there were many clashes due to the superpowers$ fear of each others differing political ideologies and aims' The differing ideology was undeniably the e er2present issue which was most isible and perhaps most crucial in the origins of the Cold War' To the West the protection of democracy and liberty was absolutely worth fighting for and was so in the battle against fascism' /t is difficult to be sure if "talin$s actions as a leader were due to moti es based on a desire to spread communism or whether they were of a defensi e manner& howe er it is clear that he did use his ideologies to create a bloc of countries under his control and penetrate eastern 7urope' This spread of communism& which threatened the West$s efforts to preser e democracy& clearly made their leaders e+tremely uncomfortable and was a reason for such unspo*en hostility and tension between the superpowers' The core ideologies of the West and of the 7ast were a clear cause of Cold War& particularly between %merica and the !""#& the leading superpowers& and it$s not difficult to see why& when the ideals between them were on such opposite sides of the political spectrum' %merica and their capitalist ideals followed the belief that nationalism was a threat to the wealth& status and power of owners of businesses& factories and land& belie ing that all were entitled to own their own property and their own business& being able to *eep the ma5ority of hard earned profits' These alues were belie ed to create incenti e in the people to gain more through hard wor* therefore impro ing economic output and indi idual li es' %merican politics also went by the ideals that go ernment should be a guardian of liberal democracy& gi ing
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people the ultimate power o er who they are ruled and who doe& not ha ing a censored press and ha ing the freedom of speech& worship and ote' Communism had and did ha e practically the opposite political beliefs' Communicm said that nationalisation was a posisit e& not a threat& that would enable goods generated by the economy to be more fairly distributed according to need' Communsim claimed that captalism was little more than a means of di iding society into classes and encouraging greed 2 communism go ernment would promote class unity and therefore with a classless society& political parties would be unnecessary' /t in the eyes of democracy and capitalism& Communism could be seen as a ploy to control the public& ta*e away their freedom and stunt personal thri e' /n the eyes of communism& Capitalism could be seen as a concept which encouraged the growth of the already rich and the further demise of the poor' !nderstanding how different these ideologies are and were& it is clear to see why each superpower was threatened by the other and it can be suggested that maybe a lac* of communication did not help this growing fear and tension' /t is clear that their were many reasons for growing tensions between the superpowers and for the origins of the Cold War, personalities clearly were important in upsetting relations& as a lac* of open communication& for e+ample by "talin and his moti es to spread control in areas such as )oland& meant suspicions were rife and mistrust was in the air' (ational interests which saw the superpowers aims of more control and influence across the globe& meant they were fearful of each others moti es& %merica afraid of a communism ta*e o er across the world and the !""# afraid of an attac* on their politics and leader' Howe er the basis in each of these acts of defence and moti ations through fear& is the issues of differing ideologies & therefore it is correct to say that the differences in Communism and Capitalism were the *ey issue in the Cold War2 howe er it would be wrong to suggest that personalities and national interests were irrele ant& as they clearly were'

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