Year 10s who have been studying the origins of the Cold War, here is your chance to participate in an online debate about who was to blame for the Cold War. Was it the USSR's fault (traditional view), the USA's fault (revisionist view) or both sides were to blame (post-revisionist view). Use the comments box to state which interpretation of history you agree with and give your reasons why. Do feel free to engage with the views of others and say if you agree or disagree with them (but be respectful). Please sign the post using just your initials rather than your full name. If you are looking for additional sources about the Cold War including definitions of many of the key terms, look
here.
I am firmly in the revisionist camp and believe the Cold War was mainly the fault of the USA. The USA did not help the USSR out enough when they were supposed to be allies in WW2 and millions of Russians died needlessly as a result. Given the US had helped the Whites in the Russian Civil War, Stalin had no reason to trust them and no one can blame Stalin for wanting to create a 'barrier' of friendly states around his country. Truman's use of the atomic bomb and his refusal to share the secret with Stalin shows the US intended to use it to gain as much power as they could after WW2. Truman's only intention was to use the opportunity of a weakened USSR after WW2 to his country's advantage.
ReplyDeleteI somewhat agree with the above comment. I do believe that it was mainly the fault of the USA, who used the weakened state of the USSR to try and make themselves superior and senselessly murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese citizens for an increase in their reputation as a global power. However, the USSR was also at fault. Stalin was a tyrannical dictator who only wished to spread his ideals around the world. The two contrasting beliefs held by two very powerful countries made a conflict, cold or hot, utterly inevitable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above commenter, who puts his point across splendidly. I also believe that the USA were mainly at fault, and cost the Japanese an awful lot just to intimidate the USSR. However I do not think that the USSR were completely innocent. Stalin was adamant that his Communist beliefs should be forced upon all other countries, regardless of their citizens' rights and free choice. I think this was very arrogant of him.
ReplyDeleteI think that both the USA and USSR were to blame for the Cold War due to the fact they both had very radical ideas that conflicted greatly. The lack of communicaion between the two sides made sure that there was a considerable amount of misunderstanding and poor diplomacy. The USA didn't really appreciate Stalin's apprehnsions after his country had been ravaged by war but Satlin's drive to get communism to spread were exremely aggresive. The rivalry between them tipped them over the edge.
ReplyDeleteI think that the USA was to blame specifically for the Cold War because I believe that the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima was the key trigger. Although Truman may have justified the decision to kill thousands of innocent people as a way to save millions of Americans, I believe that he actually did this as a way to demonstrate US power to the world and specifically the Soviet Union. The Japanese had already surrendered at the point he dropped the bomb and even though this was a conditional surrender its refusal by the Americans should not have preempted the taking of 100,000 people's lives. I think that Stalin rightfully considered the bomb to be a direct threat on Russia and as a result the foundations for the tension between the USSR and America were laid.
ReplyDeleteI believe that both sides were to blame for the cold war as the US leadership had been rabidly anti-communist, afraid of communist take over of american business, and the subsequent loss of profit.But the extreme paranoia of Joseph Stalin gave the anticommunists a true rational reason to fear Stalin. Stalin's behavior in the Berlin crisis certainly didn't help matters.
ReplyDeleteThe russians feared the American's atomic bomb. And they feared a rebuilt Germany. The americans and the rest of the west feared Russia's tank armies. The American move to encirle russia plus provocative flights, made the Russians even more suspicious of Western motives. Therefore I believe that they both had something to do with the war and neither can put the blame on the other as they both were in the wrong.
I believe that the USA were to mostly to blame for the Cold War. The Hiroshima bomb that was released, in my opinion, was the cause of the war. Truman did not share with Stalin the plan to bomb Japan. This i think was wrong because once the trust is gone with Allies the whole system will drop. When Stalin bugged the room, however, this showed Stalin was already cautious about USA and whether they should trust Truman. By keeping it to himself this showed that he doesn't trust Stalin either. I believe that if Truman had not gone ahead with the Hiroshima plan the War will have still gone on due to Stalin and Truman's existing friction from the start. It would have occurred still but not to the extreme as it did.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the USA and the USSR were to blame for the cold war. Stalin was determined to spread communism around the world which the USA strongly opposed. This difference in beliefs was one of the main reasons for the cold war. When Truman dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima without informing the USSR, Stalin felt vulnerable. However the Communist expansion into Eastern Europe made America also feel threatened. This sense of vulnerability was caused by both sides and was why the cold war started.
ReplyDeleteI believe that both the USA and the USSR were to blame for the cold war; though as two great powers with two opposite and strong ideas, I think there was inevitably going to be a struggle for power and domination whatever. On the other hand, neither the USA or the USSR helped the situation as both sides were suspicious of each other and would have taken any action of the other side as a threat as they both felt vulnerable. However, I do believe that the main causes for the USA to get so involved was how the USSR spread so rapidly across eastern Europe and by retaliating to this with speeches clearly announcing their opposition to communism, put the beginning of the cold war into the open.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the USA and the USSR were both to be blamed for the Cold War, but the USA being the ones to blame mainly. This is because Truman hadn't trusted Stalin in the first place, this is supported by the fact that Truman hid the details that the first atomic bomb had been tested out in America from Stalin and Atlee during the Potsdam conference -the damage that could be caused by the bomb was not explained to the allies. Also Truman had decided to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, which I believe was the trigger for the war, to make the Japanese surrender before Stalin could make the Russians intervene, without consulting the allies beforehand. This clearly proved to Stalin that the USA wasn't being a true ally and that Truman was moving against Russia, threatening it. The USSR could also be blamed because Stalin had bugged Truman's room at the conference of Potsdam suggesting that both of them could not place trust in each other causing their alliance to weaken and causing this paranoid friction between the two countries' leader meaning that this ultimately caused the Cold War.
ReplyDeleteI believe that both the USSR and the USA are equally to be blamed for the Cold War. Both countires had two conflicting ideologies, capitalism and communism and they were bound to clash at one point. Stalin was determined to spread communism around the world and it was a firm belief of the USA that they should be stopped. Truman dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, not only to force the Japanese into surrender, but also to prevent Stalin from entering the war in the Pacific and intimidate the USSR. However, Stalin also tried to threaten the USA by gradually taking control of eastern Europe and spreading communism. This annoyed the USA who where trying to keep it within the USSR. I think the Cold War was mainly caused by the two very different ideologies and the tension that arose between both the USA and the USSR, and both countries were at fault.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone was to blame, but mainly the USA. I believe it couldnt take a threat to it's previously unrivaled power. America used other countries to fight to save American lives, despite the fact that other men were dieing. Also I think Russia trying to exapnd communism and america trying to keep capitalism was very arrogant, every country has a right to decide for itself and it was arragont for thinking that their method was better than all others. In Yalta and Potstam the leaders were too proud and refused to bend their pride for peace, causing a stand off. Also I dont think Truman should have dropped the bomb as was just a show of his power, but at the same time Japan needed to be stopped. I think the Cold war was caused by 2 sides both refusing to give way.
ReplyDeleteI think that both the USA and the USSR were to blame because both countries believed strongly in two different beliefs, capitalism and communism which both conflicted greatly against each other. Aswell as this, the USA were to blame because they dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, which although President Truman tried to justify as saving millions of american lives at the cost of less Japanese, I think he also dropped the bomb to send a message to Russia, saying that the Americans had a bomb,and he was showing off their power. However, on the other hand, the USSR were also to blame because Stalin had bugged Trumans room which shows that neither of them could trust each other and this also called their relationship to deteriorate.
ReplyDeleteI think both the countries were to blame for the civil ware because while it was america's fault for dropping the atomic bomb it was also Stalin's fault for expanding comunism and it is, in my view,both their faults for refuusing to 'step down' and they were both attempting to have the largest shpheres of influence regardless of actuall needs. In addition both sides didn't trust each other as is shown by the fact that Truman didn't tell Stalin about the bomb but also the fact that Stalin bugged Truman's room.
ReplyDeletewhy are you commenting at 2.02am lool?
Deletei think that neither countries were to blame, think it was because of the misunderstandings on both sides result and the failure to appreciate each other's fears.
ReplyDeleteI think that both countries were to blame for the starting of the Cold War. I think that the USA were to blame because of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima could be seen not only to save thousands of American lives but to show Russia their power. However, I also think that it was the USSR's fault because they created tension between the two countries by trying to turn countries communist, which went against the USA's capatilist views.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above comment that both countries were to blame for the Cold War. It was evident that both countries could not trust each other and so it was only a matter of time before the alliance between them broke. The USA were to blame for first of all not telling Stalin about the development of the atomic bomb (even though Stalin knew about it anyway), and then dropping it on Hiroshima - which to Russia was seen as a threat or showing Russia just how powerful they were. However, the USSR were at fault as well, by bugging Truman's room - which just goes to show how much they both sides didn't trust each other. Furthermore, they were trying to turn the rest of Europe communist, which strongly differs with the USA's capitalist view.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that it was both the USA and the USSR that were at fault. It is apparent that both countries were too proud to back down from what was essentially miscommunication on both sides. In addition to this, both sides kept secrets (the atomic bomb and knowledge of it) which made it virtually impossible for one side to wholly trust the other.
ReplyDeletemy view is poet-revisionist, I feel that it was both the USA and the USSR's fault as not all of the USSR's action can be taken as defensive such as the H-Bomb and neither can the USA's, such as when they displayed there technological power with the two atomic bombs they dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
ReplyDelete