Essay on the Cold War: it’s Origin, Causes and Phases.
The blame for the Cold War cannot be placed on one person — it developed as a series of chain reactions as a struggle for supremacy. It can be argued that the Cold War was inevitable, and therefore no one’s fault, due to the differences in the capitalist and communist ideologies. It was only the need for self-preservation that had caused the two countries to sink their differences.
The Cold War between the Communist East and the Capitalist West dominated international relations during most of the 20th century. It cannot be said that the USSR alone was to blame for the conflict, although it certainly had a fare share in the blame through its foreign policies and diplomatic interference; the capitalists (mainly USA) did little to promote peace and avoid conflict.
The Cold War ended rapidly and, for many, unexpectedly. During 1989, communist regimes across Eastern Europe crumbled in quick succession, and the Berlin Wall fell in November. Its removal was followed by the unification of Germany a year later and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Many interpretations have been offered to explain these events, focusing on the role of Gorbachev.
Revision tip and answer preparation Revision tip. Look back through the pages in this unit, sorting the evidence to support the idea that either the Soviets or the Americans provoked the Cold War.
Another major factor contributing to the Cold War was the fact that the United States and USSR were the only two powers to escape World War II relatively unharmed. Whereas other major world powers such as Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany lay in ruins, the Soviet Union and the United States still had manufacturing and military capabilities. The world had been a multipolar one before.
The Ultimate Aggressor in the Cold War In the Cold War, no country took the blame. Some people say it’s the Americans, while others say it’s the Soviets. Of course both countries could be blamed, but there is always that one country that does the most damage. These countries are mainly called the “aggressors” of the war. In this case, everyone should know the Soviet Union was the main.
The French insisted that the treaty correctly apportioned blame, but the Americans were very wary of putting the whole blame for the war on one country, and within a few years the British had changed their tune too: David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister, described the states of Europe as having somehow slid into war, with no one country more to blame than any of the others.