Cold War: Ideologies or Insecurity?
‘The origins of the Cold War were less about ideologies and more about concerns over insecurity.’ Discuss.
The origins of the cold war were entrenched in both American and Soviet concern over insecurity, and the outbreak of cold war was a process that began towards the end of the Second World War. However, both nations emerged as superpowers after the Second World War, and both shed their policies of isolationism-with the power to influence the global sphere, there is little doubt that there would be conflict of ideology between the nations as well. Ultimately, the conflict between USA and USSR would always stem from the fact that they were fundamentally different, and their ideologies were mutually exclusive.
Conflicting ideologies was often thought to be the origin of the Cold War. USA strongly believed in democracy and the system of the free market. People were allowed to vote for leaders and freedom of speech and media were allowed. USSR, on the other hand, believed in communism and a one- party rule. They operated under a command economy, where the country’s wealth was owned collectively. The democrats believed that communism was a form of slavery to the government, while the communists believed that people in democratic countries were slaves to the rich. When the two countries with clashing ideologies became superpowers, conflict was inevitable as they tried to spread their ideologies to the rest of the world.
The clash of USSR’s belief in communism versus USA’s democracy can be traced back to the 1917 civil war in Russia. The West gave support to the whites by supplying them with weapons and capital. Even in the period before WWII, USSR had tried to court the friendship of USA and the West, but the west rebuffed such attempts, allowing Germany to rearm, all in the hope that Hitler (who was strongly against communism) would invade the USSR and stamp out the communist regime once and for all. The Nazi- Soviet pact was thus the USSR turning the tables on
The origins of the cold war were entrenched in both American and Soviet concern over insecurity, and the outbreak of cold war was a process that began towards the end of the Second World War. However, both nations emerged as superpowers after the Second World War, and both shed their policies of isolationism-with the power to influence the global sphere, there is little doubt that there would be conflict of ideology between the nations as well. Ultimately, the conflict between USA and USSR would always stem from the fact that they were fundamentally different, and their ideologies were mutually exclusive.
Conflicting ideologies was often thought to be the origin of the Cold War. USA strongly believed in democracy and the system of the free market. People were allowed to vote for leaders and freedom of speech and media were allowed. USSR, on the other hand, believed in communism and a one- party rule. They operated under a command economy, where the country’s wealth was owned collectively. The democrats believed that communism was a form of slavery to the government, while the communists believed that people in democratic countries were slaves to the rich. When the two countries with clashing ideologies became superpowers, conflict was inevitable as they tried to spread their ideologies to the rest of the world.
The clash of USSR’s belief in communism versus USA’s democracy can be traced back to the 1917 civil war in Russia. The West gave support to the whites by supplying them with weapons and capital. Even in the period before WWII, USSR had tried to court the friendship of USA and the West, but the west rebuffed such attempts, allowing Germany to rearm, all in the hope that Hitler (who was strongly against communism) would invade the USSR and stamp out the communist regime once and for all. The Nazi- Soviet pact was thus the USSR turning the tables on