gins of a cold war
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 obviously and most forefront due to the great ideological differences between the USSR’s communism and the USA’s capitalism, such as their complete opposing beliefs over nationalisation and system of government. However National interests, such as the fight over Poland and leaders personalities, such as Truman’s lack of experience in foreign policy cannot be overlooked as important reasons for growing hostilities between superpowers.
The vast 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; however it cannot be denied that personalities of the leaders running these countries, were a contributing reason for the ever growing hostilities between them. Joseph Stalin, leader of the USSR and communist regime, was a figure known for being shrewd, manipulative and ruthless, instantly suggesting that relations with other countries, so different from his, were to be quite strained. Though he was known for these negative traits, he was also commended for his sense of practicality and his skills as an administrator, this suggesting that perhaps his ability to put aside differences, may be better than necessarily believed. It was common knowledge that Stalin was an autocratic leader, perhaps a dictator to some, and that he was harsh on his country, using heavy censorship, harsh industrialisation and a systematic use of terror, employing his red terror and cheka to silence those against communism with arrests and murder. When it came to Foreign policy, Stalin was highly suspicious of the west, of their intentions, of their political ideologies and of their views on the USSR; he was so untrusting of them he went...