The Cold War
A BiPolar World - The American Position
- Came out of WWII even richer than before
- Own 20 billion in gold reserves of a World total of 33 billion (2/3)
- Largest navy, airforce and monopoly on nuclear weapons
- Largest trading and industry in the world
- Influence in Asian and Europe
- 1919 exaggerated
- Largest army in the World
- Production not at pre-war levels
- Stalin looked inward afain and put effort toward Communism at home
- Began to influence over satellite states in Eastern Europe
- Many POWs (prisoners of war) kept on working in Russia
- Show trials returned
Causes of the Cold War
- War ideologies
- Communism vs. democracy (capitalism) (east vs. west)
- Nationalism - both USA and USSR take actions throughout Cold War to protect their interests
- Imperialism - Many old imperialist nations are gone, USA and USSR take over this role worldwide (ex. Vietnam and Afghanistan)
Fears and Concerns in the cold war
- Fears and Concerns - West feared a Communist revolution worldwide (cominform replaced comintern--> Lenin)
- Russian fears counterrevolution from within helped by money from the west
- The Domino Theory - a metaphor that the USA used to describe the fear of allowing countries to go Communist and then their neighbors would follow course (Southeast Asian and Eastern Europe)
- Satellite States and the Iron Curtain - Many Eastern European states (that Russia had occupied) became puppet communist governments
Summary
There were many fears and concerns during this period such as, communist uprisings and counter revolutions.Coming out of world war two the United States was the richest country and one of the most powerful. They had great influence in Asia and Europe. The Russians were also a very powerful country and they had the largest army in the world. One of the main causes of the cold war was nationalism because both the states and the USSR both wanted to protect their integrity.Stalin wanted to spread communism in Europe.
