Who Was to Blame for the Cold War? Essay - 1640 Words.
The creation of the Bretton Woods institutions in the 1940s shows increased tension between the two superpowers, an aggressive American foreign policy is thus partly to blame for starting the Cold.Each party has their own opinion on who was actually to blame for the Cold War. Traditionalists are historians who believe that the Soviet Union was to blame, Revisionists, who believe that the United States were to blame and Post-Revisionists believe that both the USA and the Soviets were to blame.Stalin's foreign policies contributed an enormous amount to the tensions of the Cold War. His aim, to take advantage of the military situation in post- war Europe to strengthen Russian influence, was perceived to be a threat to the Americans. Stalin was highly effective in his goal to gain territory, with victories in Poland, Romania, and Finland.
As early as 1948, blame was being placed for the yet to be concluded Cold War era. In that day, the predominant view was that the fault lay not on the West, despite the unclearness of intentions and the icy tone of the Truman administration’s relations with the USSR, but on the ever-secretive Russia.Finally, The Truman Doctrine (America sending money and supplies to a country in danger of a communist take-over) and the Marshall Aid (America giving money to prevent people to like communism) was seen as “Unfair” and made Stalin suspicious. On the other hand, we can argue that the USSR was to blame for the Cold War.
It is interesting to see that even some Russian now declare that Stalin was more responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War. Stalin was viewed as an exhibiting “expansionist tendencies”. In conclusion For the Orthodox or Traditional point of view Stalin and the ideology of Marxism-Leninism were more to blame for the outbreak of the Cold War.
