Essay Writing
Origins of the cold war Essay Plan
What's the Question?
“How important were the ideological
differences between east and west in the
emergence of the Cold War up to 1955?”
Plan
• Need to start with the key issue
– Ideological Differences
– This is a long-term cause
• What should I explain in this?
– What is communism?
– What is capitalism?
– How did this cause tensions?
– Was it a key factor in causing the Cold
War?
Argument in this Section?
• This is the hard bit
• What would our line of argument be?
• Phrases
– Many Historians/observers/political analysts
………
– It is clear from the facts that ………………
– Many critics would argue that …………….
For this section
• Many modern historians would argue that
the causes of the cold war were largely a
result of the differences between
communism in the east and capitalism in
the west.
• Many political theorists of the time were of
the opinion that the conflict between
capitalism and communism was inevitable
therefore this heightened the sense of fear
in the west.
Counter Argument
• However some political commentators
would criticise this line of argument as
communism had been established for
almost 30 years prior to the cold war
therefore other factors must have played a
more important role in raising tensions in
between east and west.
Summing up Ideologies
What is undoubtedly clear is that the
ideological differences had laid the
seeds of the Cold War.
Other Factors
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Experience of the second world war
Yalta & Potsdam
Nuclear Arms Race
Berlin Crisis
Changing attitudes of USA and USSR
NATO
Korean War
Second World War
• What do I need to mention?
• You should discuss
– 2nd front opening/failure to…
– Soviet losses during the war
– Suspicions on both sides
– Warsaw rising
Argument for this as a cause
• Many historians would point to the
continued mistrust and tension amongst
the Grand Alliance throughout WW2.
Some historians would point out that the
alliance was one of necessity and
disagreements and hostility was disguised
rather than swept away.
Counter Argument
• Some historians would argue that although the
Second World War had served to heighten
tension amongst the members of the Grand
Alliance, the real tension occurred when the
defeat of Nazi Germany created a power
vacuum in Europe.
• Historian Steve Phillips argues that despite the
political ideologies and the Second World War
the Cold War was not yet inevitable.
Summing up WW2
What is clear was that as the war drew
to an end in 1945 the strains in this
relationship came to the fore.
Yalta & Potsdam
• What do I need to cover?
• You should discuss
– What was the key points agreed about post
war Europe?
– What were the difficulties in coming to an
agreement?
– How did this make relations worse?
– Were the key agreements carried out?
Argument for Conferences
• It is clear that the issue of the future postwar Europe further strained relations.
Many historians would point to the
conference at Potsdam which marked a
severe cooling of relations as Truman and
Stalin both had vastly different visions for
post war Europe and Truman adopted a
‘get tough’ approach to the Soviet Union.
Counter argument
• Although relations between the USA and
the USSR had severely cooled, Historians
would point to the use of the Atomic Bomb
as a significant turning point in the
relationship.
Summing up
The conferences at Yalta and Potsdam
signalled a deterioration of the relations
between east and west and further increased
tension between the USA and the USSR.
Nuclear Arms Race
• What do you need to talk about?
• You will need to discuss
– Why the atomic bomb was such an issue.
– What it was capable of
– And where was it used
– The impact on the relations between USA and
USSR
Arguments for Atomic Bomb
• Many historians would argue that the
threat of the USA using its atomic bombs
hardened Stalin’s attitude and approach to
the west and encourage them to develop
their own atomic bomb.
• It is clear that Truman’s failure to share the
atomic bomb with Stalin served to
heighten Soviet suspicions and distrust of
US motives.
Counter-argument
• Some historians however would argue that
the atom bomb had little impact on Stalin’s
policies as Stalin was still aggressive in his
pursuit of the expansion of the Soviet
Union.
Summing up
The issue of the Atomic bomb and the
ensuing arms race did little to improve
relations between East and West and was the
start of a series of confrontations and
competition that would be known as the cold
war.
NATO
• Many historians would argue that the
involvement of the USA in the formation of NATO
showed that the USA were not going to a return
to isolationism and therefore committed in
stopping the spread of communism
• It is clear that Stalin viewed the creation of
NATO as a deliberately provocative action
therefore historians would argue that this
increased the tensions between the USA and the
USSR.
Korea
• It led to the rearming of the USA with a
three-fold increase in military spending
• It is clear from the evidence that the USA
would now be ready to meet further
examples of communist aggression
• Many historians would argue that the USA
government saw the need to develop and
use a wide range of strategies to help
governments facing the threat of
communism