The Cold War, lasting for more than 50 years throughout most of the 20th Century was considered a war of words between the Soviet Union and the United states of America. The cause and origins of this war is still debated today. Many simply blame fundamental ideological differences between the USA and the USSR, however there is much more to the Cold War than this dispute. From gathering and reading many historical papers and documents an idea can be formed to show the main origins of the Cold War. Originating from the early 20th century, if not before, a general mistrust and suspicion between the Soviets and West lingered, adding to the fragile allied relationship. The characters of the leader’s in power was also an important cause to many of the conflicts between the major powers as well as the Nuclear Age and development of new technologies.
Ideologies were an important contributor to the Cold War because they meant the US and USSR were less likely to trust each other. Their respective fears of communism and capitalism spreading gave both sides an excuse to try to exercise their own power and to maintain the dominance of their own system of government. The USSR was communist, a form of extreme socialism1. The communist system is designed to benefit society as a whole rather than individual interests and therefore everything is owned by the state and the idea of a classless society is promoted. In contrast, the USA’s political, economic and social system is based on Democratic Capitalism - essentially a free market economy. With such fundamental differences in ideologies, it is understandable that these powers clashed when it came to how they thought world politics should be run, however, there were other significant factors which contributed to the Cold War. Part of the reason the ideological differences between the US and the USSR may be overemphasized as a reason for the Cold War is the fact that these differences were somewhat over exaggerated at the time,...