Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Spring 4-23-2019
Recommended Citation
Melton, Jennifer, "The Misunderstood Origins of the Cold War" (2019). Spring Presentation of
Undergraduate Research. 5.
https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/spur/5
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THE MISUNDERSTOOD
ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR
SYMPTOMS OF
BY: JENNIFER MELTON SET-UP TO FAIL A BITTER FEUD AGGRESSION
E CONOM ICS
cultural divide between the United States and the Soviet Union all led
THES I S assumed that the United States would soon relapse into isolationism, as
it had done after World War I”.4 This is an example of Stalin’s failure
Therefore, the American public had difficulty understanding some of the
conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union in later years of
to interpret the future actions of the United States and represents the the Cold War. In addition to the fact that the American government was
F E AR
The peace treaty negotiations between the countries who were involved fact that Stalin did not plan accordingly for the United States to be untruthful to the American public, there was also an attempt to create an
in World War II resulted in a magnification of miscommunication and more active in European affairs after the end of World War II which intimidating portrait of the Soviet Union in order to amass support for the
awareness of present societal differences thus causing the beginning of brought the two superpowers of the world into conflict with each other. effort against them.
the Cold War. However, Robert Higgs, author of Depression, War, and Cold War
In the post-World War II years, a fear of the spread of communist influence
and ideology permeated Western European powers and the United States. Studies in Political Economy, argues that America had a different point
The fear of communism added to the American want to protect weak countries of view of their future involvement in Europe after the war. He explains
from exposure to communist powers and ideologies. However, the effort of that in the United States “‘isolationism’ and ‘appeasement’ were
the Soviets to spread communism was not merely an effort to implant their completely discredited”.5 In other words, the United States had been
C O N C LU S I O N
SOUR C E S
influence, but also an attempt to revitalize the economy just as the Americans forced into a position of power and control after World War II ended.
were trying to revitalize the economy. Because the Soviets were attempting Therefore, they were the only country available to influence other
to fix the economies of European countries, which would bring those nations countries. In addition, the United States realized that their previous Miscommunication played the most prominent role in the inception of the Cold
Higgs, Robert. Depression, War, and Cold War Studies in Political Economy. Oxford University Press: New York, 2006. closer to the Soviets instead of the Americans, the United States government policy of isolation from foreign politics was no longer feasible in terms War conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. The already
pp. 126. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/longwood/detail.action?docID=271296. spread anti-Soviet propaganda among their own citizens. However, the of the world order. This further supports the Soviet misunderstanding widening divergence of the wartime alliances was worsened by the peace
“No Early End To ‘Cold War’.” Times, 29 May 1950. pp. 6. The Times Digital Archive. http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/ Soviets also spread anti-capitalist propaganda to discourage friendly ties of the intentions of the United States and the aggression between the treaty negotiations and conferences that attempted to tie up the loose ends
tinyurl/8ySvM4. Accessed 3 Feb. 2019.
with the Americans so as to distance the two societies. two countries in the post-war years. of World War II. Fear of communism throughout the globe subsisted in the
Olmsted, Dan. “Did More Russians or Americans Die in World War II?” Last modified September 17, 2018. https:// United States which pressured the American and Soviet governments to be at
www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/did-more-russians-or-americans-die-world-war-ii.
odds with one another. As a result, citizens sought peace between the feuding
Quigley, Carroll. The World Since 1939. New York, NY: The Macmillan Company, 1966. pp. 227.
1
Vladislav M. Zubok, Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev (University of North Carolina 5
Robert Higgs, Depression, War, and Cold War Studies in Political Economy, (Oxford University Press: New York, 2006), pp. countries, causing internal strife, while the governments requested citizen
Robin, Ron Theodore. The Making of the Cold War Enemy : Culture and Politics in the Military-Intellectual Complex. Press: North Carolina, 2007), 1, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/longwood/detail.action?docID=475215. 126, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/longwood/detail.action?docID=271296. support of the conflict through propaganda. In conclusion, miscommunication
Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, 2003. pp. 29. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/longwood/detail. Ron Theodore Robin, The Making of the Cold War Enemy : Culture and Politics in the Military-Intellectual Complex, (Princeton Zubok, 2.
influenced each of the issues discussed because, ultimately, the Cold War
2 6