Cold War

1. Timeline of the blockade, 1948: January: The US and British Zones in Berlin and the rest of Germany merged into one economic unit, known as Bizonia. March: Soviet representatives walked out of the Allied Control Commission complaining that Western attitudes made it “unworkable”. The Commission had be established in 1945, to administer all the captured zones. April: The Allied zones were included in the Marshall Plan, Soviet troops began to hold up and search road and rail traffic, that entered West Berlin.

June: The Western powers announced plans to create a West German State and introduce a new currency, known as the western deutschmark, for their zones and western Berlin. The Soviet also economically retaliated by introducing its own currency, the ostmark, in the soviet zone and eastern Berlin. Late June – 24th June: Stalin openly accused the West of interfering in the Soviet zone, as a result he cut off roads, rail and canal traffic in an attempt to starve western Berlin of its resources.

Stalin was trying to force the Allies to pull out of their sectors and abandon plans for separate development on their German zones. Explain the causes of the crisis; what was most important and who was to blame? The causes of the Berlin blockade between the Soviet Union and the USA can only be catergorized into two separate reasons; that being short and long terms causes. The long-term causes of the blockade: The Soviet Union had ensured that the minority of the communist group took control of their eastern zone.

They tried, unsuccessfully, to secure communist control of Berlin’s city council, but was utterly crushed by the capitalist movement in a general election. The West, capitalist countries wanted to speed up the economic recovery of Germany, which had been devastated by war and was now facing serious shortages of food and fuel. The Soviet Union of course, wanted quite the opposite from the capitalist governments, their focus was to secure enough land safely and to be secured from a future attack, so there was this arising sense of pressure that was originally generated by Britain’s and the USA’s economic motivation.

As Berlin was at the heart of the Soviet controlled eastern Germany, the western allies at first we granted access to their sectors by road, rail, canal and air. Stalin did not want this method of “free trade” to continue, as they were differing causes, it could be seen as a deviation from both sides main causes. Stalin also noticed that from Western Germany, it was promoting capitalism and was becoming more appealing towards the poorer, communist Germans that remained within Eastern Germany, so there was this damage towards Stalin’s “sphere of influence”.

Short-term causes for the blockade: The Western Allies forged ahead by encouraging the economic recovery of their zones, especially, in providing a much-needed currency. The western zones received large quantities of “Marshall Aid”. In addition they set up free elections to establish democracy. This of course, opposed Stalin’s communist ideology, and he feared that he would loose control over eastern Berlin for good, a defence or policy of isolationism was needed to be adopted to stop the spread of capitalist influence.

In Conclusion, i think both sides, that being the USA and the USSR are to blame, yes they are both opposing systems, with heavier doses of influence upon each others areas, but the truth is there is always going to be a opposing system within the depths of another parties, what it think the two largest nations at the time did was morally wrong, because as the result of their “squabbling” and decoded telegrams the German people morally suffered more than from a war they had barely survived, its people were being dragged in and out of economic systems, the fear of another war and food and medicine shortages, it was the equivalent of another war on behalf of the Germans.

And if the Americans and the Soviets did have some political issues, as large powers at the time, it was their commitment to lead an example out of war, and that their differences could be solved under terms of negotiation rather than “secret telegrams” and the impression under both sides of “secret agents”, i truly think other countries at that time must have been shaking their heads – that is if they weren’t succumbed to capitalist or communist propaganda. What was Germany’s result? Germany was then confirmed as divided between the capitalist (Western sectors) to the communists (Eastern sectors), along the western side of Germany industry flourished, with loans provided by Britain and America, the vehicle and power industry thrived, creating jobs and business’ for millions of Germans. However across the border, eastern Germany was already experiencing food shortages, diseases and power outs, with all of Germany’s resources to be shared amongst its people and the Red Army, nothing was able to grow because there was no available currency, or no currencies that we worth anything.

The divided sectors of Berlin were hit the heaviest, not only during the war, but amongst the Americans and Soviets, the West was kept under heavy soviet surveillance, all communication was cut by Soviet attempts between western Germany and western Berlin, they experienced food shortages, and power outs, this was shortly changed, as western Berlin received air lifts, containing food, medicine and goods to the people, and continued to do so until June 1948. Eastern Berlin was heavily damaged, soviet controlled and contained a majority of the red army along its border as an act of intimidation, the city was not repaired and its people were to share all physical possessions with the red army, to what Stalin said; “To keep the communist bonds deep within Germany”. How were relations affected? The rivalry between the East and the West was greatly increased and became obvious.

It confirmed the divisions of Germany and Berlin. It led to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, also known as NATO. Truman saw the crisis as a great victory, West Berlin had survived and stood up against the Soviet Union, without causing war. For Stalin it was seen as a defeat and humiliation, however this did not stop Stalin from announcing a victory on their behalf. Three key features of the German airlift: Demonstrated the relationship between the USA and the USSR, to what extent they were willing to go for Germany. How they resented each other despite the fear of another war. Communism and Capitalism could not cooperate peacefully.

What were the reasons for the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939: During 1939, Stalin had also received visits from German foreign ministers, Ribbentrop for example, visited Stalin on the 23rd of August 1939, the sensational claim was made shortly afterwards, that the two bitter enemies had signed alliegence to one another. The Nazi-Soviet pact was both agreed by Hitler and Stalin, that the two would not fight, but secretly also agreed to divide Poland between them. It seemed shocking that the soviet Union had signed an agreement with a country, whose leader wanted to wipe out communism. But Stalin wanted to stop the attack on his country, Britain and France had a deep suspicion of the Soviet Union and Stalin believed what they really wanted for Germany and the Soviet Union to go to war, so that they would both we weakened.

This pact would give both Hitler and Stalin the time they needed, for one to avoid a war on two fronts and the other to gain economic strength, and military influence across its vast population. Hitler did hate communism, but after signing the pact he knew that if he invaded Poland, he would not have to fight the Soviet Union. He did not believe that Britain and France would go to war to support Poland, so he believed that the pact would allow him to take a very large amount of Poland without war. Even if Britain and France did declare war, Germany;s eastern border was now secured by an alliance with the Soviet Union and he did not have to face the prospect of a war on two “fronts”.

The cold war was a tense relationship between the Soviet Union and the Americans. The reason why they were fighting was because of the way their countries ran. The Soviet Union communism is a political way of thinking and an idea of how society should work and be organized. Communism is a kind of extreme socialism that says that there should not be social classes or states. Communism says that the people of any and every place in the world should all own the tools, factories, and farms that are used to produce goods and food.

This social process is known as common ownership. In a communist society, there is no private property. The main differences between Socialism and Communism are that, in a Communist society, the state ceases to exist along with money, so that the people work in exchange for the things they need to live.. In America they have something called capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system in which capital and assets in the economy are controlled by the private sector(private enterprise or ownership) and in which the eans of production are on the bases of making profit.

In capitalism you make your own economic decisions with risks and you can either fail or succeed, but in socialism you stay at only one economic status, in which their is always a social safety net but at the same time you cant strive to achieve more. Both America and the Soviet Union said they were both Democratic, but they didn’t believe each other so they started to argue and threats were thrown around about nuclear ware fare. NORAD is the North American Aerospace Defence Command.

It’s a Joint USA – Canada organization that was set up in 1958 as the North American Air Defence Command as a response to the Cold War threat from the Soviet Union. It provides for aerospace warning (for example, if enemy missiles or aircraft are headed towards North America) , protection of North American airspace.

American life during and after the cold war American life in the cold war… How was it? I will start off by telling you why the cold war is called the cold war. The term “Cold war” is used to describe the relationship between America and the Soviet Union after world war two from 1945 to 1980. Neither side ever fought the other because the consequences would be too appalling. Although they did ‘fight’ for their beliefs using client states who fought for their beliefs on their behalf.

The Cold War was to dominate international affairs for decades and many major problems occurred –like the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin Wall being just some. For many the growth in weapons of mass destruction was the most worrying issue. This was a huge and one of the biggest worries of the American people along with many others. Although the American life was full of worries and tribulations during these time, there was also major cultural, social and economic changes for the better to.

The Cold War touched many aspects of American social and cultural life, from the civil rights movement to survivalism, from Hollywood to the universities. The civil rights movement of the cold war where very interesting. The Cold War added some push to the Civil Rights Movement. . As a result of this, the African Americans came together with the some of the whites in the United States to protest against racisim that was real in the US. For quite some time during the world war, a few African Americans had united to fight for equal rights aswell but did not do so well.

After the world war, quite a number of the civil rights movements came into the limelight though. A significant period in the civil rights movements occurred between the years 1950s and 1960s when strong civil rights groups were formed and Martin Luther king Junior became the head of these civil rights pressure groups. This movement and many like it had a lot of influence on America and how they lead to an improved approval of constitutional rights. Even though the government was trying to silence the anti racism protesters leaving outside America.

https://phdessay.com/could-cold-war-have-been-avoided/

America tried to look like they where all to perfect at home. President Truman felt that as a result of the cold war that was intense between the US and the Soviet Union, it was important that social increases were made in order to put the US at an advantage in this battle. As a result of this, the president’s committee on civil rights was formed; this policy looked over the need to tackle the civil rights issues in the country since it was seriously snooping with the country’s international relations and appearance.

The U. S. was declaring its democracy to be the best and most effective way of running a country and was claiming and trying to show to the world that Communism reduced human rights and individual freedoms. The irony was that in the U. S. , despite our so called “ideal” form of government, these rights and freedoms were being denied to American citizens right at home! , most particularly African Americans. This obviously did not go unnoticed by the higher ups in the government or by African American leaders.

It made for an uncomfortable hypocrisy throughout the Cold War, and was used as an arguing point by some leaders of the Civil Rights Movements. It was rather absurd to have the United States trying to shape discrimination in the other countries while it could not handle the discrimination within its own walls! But it makes more sense. America did not just randomly decide to be nicer to black people in the 1960s, instead of the 1920s or the 1890s. Instead, it ended segregation because not doing so would badly damage the fight against communism.

Civil Rights was therefore not just the right thing to do, but also vitally important to the national interest. Saying all of this is not to talk bad about the accomplishments of the Civil Rights movement, or to ignore the fearlessness of its leaders. Civil Rights was probably the best thing that happened to the United States during and after the cold war. It fundamentally changed the country from a system based upon bullying to what it is today. The American natural survivalism during the cold war was pure instinct. There was always controversy with nuclear warfare.

There is the morality of using nuclear weapons. They were many scared for their life during the cold war. They knew if either the Soviet or U. S. made a wrong move toward the other, they would be wiped out. After the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb in 1949, the American public was understandably nervous. They were aware of the destruction that individual atomic bombs did to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (Boyer 145) But the general public did not know a lot yet about the risks of radiation and fallout.

One of their methods was to involve schools. Teachers in selected cities were encouraged to conduct air raid drills where they would suddenly yell, “Drop! ” and students would need to kneel down under their desks with their hands over or around their heads and necks. Some schools even distributed metal “dog tags,” like the ones worn by World War II soldiers, so that the bodies of students could be identified after an attack. Many of the people where skeptics of “spies”. Russian spies to be more specific. In the 1950s, the U. S. was a scary place.

Many people were convinced that a Communist plot to overthrow the government was about to happen and saw conspiracies in every side they turned or looked. As much terrible fears that where going on at the time, there was still time for fun and games. Escapes from the humble bow. American movies represented a lot of truth’s , scares and fiction of the American life. Or in other words presents films that reflect the anxieties, values, and beliefs of Cold War culture. Hollywood was often a target of the “bad Americans “ because of the variety of ideas expressed through movies and television.

Movie actors that starred in films that were not within the norms of traditional American life were said to be Communist sympathesizers who were attempting to brainwash Americans through propagandists movies. Producers crafted movies with broad audience appeal. A lot of the movies where about “A menace lurks beneath a tranquil surface. ” ( boyer 133). I believe this is where the big part of people looking over there shoulder or not trusting a lot of people came from. A propaganda fear the movies put into the American culture.

Could have been avoided? No, I strongly believe that the Cold War could not have been avoided because Russia and America were natural enemies of the Soviet Union. The United States and Russia were just too different countries with two completely different leaders who never managed to see eye to eye which may have been the biggest reason the war was unavoidable. The other reason was that they had different ideologies and system of government. Also molotov plans n marshal planb.

Truman and Stalin were two different leaders with two different ambitions and wants for their countries and time as leaders. The other reason for the Cold War being such a dispute was because of Truman’s ignorance and greed. He more often than not went back on what he said and made exceptionally high demands. The United States and the Soviet Union represent two opposing systems of government. In the United States, the government is elected by free elections.

The people can form political parties to voice their political opinions. They also possess the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. In the Soviet Union, the government is formed by the Communist Party. The people do not have the right to form their own political parties. They do not enjoy the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. Since these two systems of government are diametrically opposed to one another, there can be little compromise between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In the end, the Cold War buckles down to three main three reason. Truman and Stalin had different thoughts and ambitions, they had different ideologies and system of government, and . The war could have been avoided is if Truman and Stalin had not gotten into so many arguments. The nuclear resources of the United States and the Soviet Union are larger, better equipped, and deadlier than at any other time in history.

This incisive book contends that the superpowers, while exhibiting enormous ingenuity in the area of arms development, have shown only a minimal interest toward the containment of arms. This is a carefully documented evaluation of how both superpowers, and of their failure to contain the nuclear arms race despite their involvement in the process for over a quarter of a century. Only the superpowers can reduce the proliferation of nuclear arms and in the process lessen likelihood of nuclear war through accident, fault or crisis escalation.

Causes of the Cold War The Cold War was a very dangerous period of history that lasted from 1945 to 1991. The Cold War was started almost immediately after the surrender ing Germany to the end of World War II there was a threat tot the planet and its existence if this war was ever to be fought. Both upheld a great amount of resources into the expanding their military readiness. It was more than a war between two countries, it was a war between different ideologies in fear of the government.

In the United States a “witch hunt” was carried out against communists, as they feared that communism would take over the country and in the Soviet Union people were “fenced in” by fear of the police and government and they were not free to travel abroad as many escaped from the hard reigning regime (Artikkel). After World War II two great powers emerged in the world. The world was split into two spheres, the West and the East. The power in the West rested in the hands of the United States and the power in the East the power rested in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The USSR wanted to spread its ideal government, Communism in Eastern Europe and create a “buffer zone” as defense against any attacks by the U. S. (Capitalists) or by Germany. In 1946 Europe was split in two the West and East(western democracies and the United States and the Soviet Union and Soviet occupied territory). In Berlin, the capital of Germany a wall was erected to separate theWest the East side, The was known as the “Iron Curtain”, it was a symbolic of the treat each side felt from the other. The U. S. and U. S. S.

R. were as different as day and night. Therefore neither trusted the other completely. A capitalist economy is based on private ownership, private profit and free competition, it encourages private individuals to own businesses and make profits (capitalism). On the other hand a communist economy is very different. The economy is controlled by the government and the country’s wealth and resources are owned by the state or government. The state controls and plans all economic activity so that everybody benefits (communism).

During World War I and II, the USSR was invaded multiple times resulting in many russian casualties. The USSR began planning making sure they would be secure from any future attack or aggression along the western border. Stalin, the USSR leader, decided to surround Russia with a buffer of “friendly” countries. The U. S. was afraid that the ideology of Communist would spread largely and vasty. When the USSR began attempting to improve its security by having satellite states, the U. S. saw this as an attempt by the USSR to spread the influence of Communism throughout the world.

The United States had the nuclear bomb and soon after that Russia had a nuclear bomb also. Since neither side trusted the other and both wanted to extend their great ideology to the rest of the world, the Cold War heated up. Each side constantly believed the other wanted to destroy the other and felt the need to create a better military force. A military tension began between the two countries. The United States also expanded its navy, armed ships with new technology. Scientists were developing new weapons to aid this military buildup.

Russia, too also built up their military as well. During this time period, while the Russians pushed the Germans out of their border, they also pushed inwards into Eastern Europe. Russia occupied many countries, making it easier for them to establish control and as they established controls in these areas, they gave the local Communist parties a lot of support. Thus, widened their influence in their countries and brought along Moscow-trained Communist leaders who had gone to the USSR during the war spreading the influence of Communism ((Artikkel).

Meanwhile Stalin saw this as an opportunity to establish his ideal one-party governments in these countries , he combined all allie government and removed their partners which were needed as the Communist Parties in the different countries were not strong enough on their own to gain the support of the people and govern the country. The USSR was now able to continue and increase/maintain power in Eastern Europe, successfully forming the satellite states (Iron Curtain). The arms race had a different result on the economies for each country.

The US experienced great economic expansion, new companies were founded by the people to supply the needs of the military. More money was being pumped into the society and as people received more money, they wanted choices how to spend their money. So businesses that expanded this economies expansion. Resources were diverted from one area to provide for the expansion of the military. Since the government owned everything, new companies formed took resources from other areas of their economy.

The military expansion robbed resources the provided needs for the needs of the people hence the result was a shortage of food and other necessary goods for the day to day survival. The arms race resulted in a contraction of the Russian economy. In June 1947, the Marshall Plan was put into effect in order to stop the Russians from influencing any of the weakened western powers(Marshall). Meanwhile the United States sent billions of dollars to help aid to Europe democracies and rebuild vastly reducing the influence of Communism. This brought back Western Germany and rebuilt it as a new ally in US’s fight against USSR.

As a result of Russia rejection of aid to Marshall Plan, East Germany was not completely rebuilt, the lack of reconstruction showed and also during its reunification. The Communists never paid for all of the reconstruction cost while Germany’s economy did taking big hit in their economy. The Truman Doctrine, a plan to help states going through a struggle for freedom against their oppressors, was instituted in 1948. President Truman said, “I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures (Truman). Communism was only allowed to areas already under Soviet control, and Americans would resist Soviet expansion everywhere else. The Truman Doctrine could not have been more clearly directed towards East Germany and, technically, West Germany (Truman). Germany was still under the power of an outside force and also under the power the Deutsches Demokratische Republik. In 1949 the Allies made good on what they promised in the Truman Doctrine and unified West Germany into the BDR (Federal Republic of Germany) and also the Russians instituted the DDR, which turned out to be more of a regime than a government (Truman).

The cold war pertains to the tension and rivalry the existed between America and the Soviet Union approximately after the end of the Second World War until the late 1970’s.  Neither side confronted each other directly in a full blown war but they channel their competition and rivalry through wars in other nations who fought for their ideals on their behalf.

The Vietnam War where America is set against combating communism illustrated that cold war conflict.  Despite the oppressive and corrupt government of Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam, his anti communist stance won him the support of the American government to fight against the pro communist North Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh, who was backed up by Russia and China.

Following the Domino theory, the American government along with their Western Allies feared that communism will spread like a disease from one country to another and the power and influence of the Soviet Union will further expand. (Kissinger, p15)

The Vietnam War as a dummy war between the US and the Soviet Union was an effort to contain the spread of communism which threatened and impeded the objective of the US government to achieve political, economic and military hegemony in the world.

Politically, communism is directly in contrast to the political ideologies and principles that served as the pillars for the foundation of a political governance of the America, to wit, free election, capitalism, individual freedom and democracy, among others.

Economically, the political dominance of communism is detrimental to the capitalistic endeavors of the US and its western allies in enhancing their access to global market for their expanding capitalistic economy. Democracy is necessary to open nations to engage in free trade and restrict the economic intervention of governments in facilitating the same.

Militarily, the maintenance of a state of war permitted and justified the perpetual endeavor and investment for the creation and proliferation of modern military arsenal, which will help ensure the military dominance of the US.

And indeed, the cold war bear witnessed to the unprecedented advancement of military weaponry, the nuclear arms race (e.g. Hydrogen Bomb) as well as equipment and agencies for global espionage (CIA and KGB).

In the late 1960s’, the threat of communism in the US is starting to gain attention in the midst of the civil rights movement and the unpopularity of the Vietnam War, among others which engendered civil unrests at the home front.

Driven by anti communism anxieties, the Cold War thus served to further justify the increased government control over the American citizens which was manifested with the expansion of executive power.  In 1950 for instance, US President Truman contended that spending appropriations (especially for military operations) is the discretionary power of the president.  (Fausold and Shank, p113).

Also, the House of Un-American Activities Committee was created for the Investigation, early detection and curtailment of communism especially directed against labor union leaders, suspected government officials and other political personalities.

Under these premises, the cold war benefits and served the US best in order to withstand the threat of communism and eventually thrived to become the most powerful nation in the world.

The military intervention and US foreign policy during the cold war for purposed of achieving political power and maintaining corporate profit were essential components for establishing the imperialistic dominion that the US currently enjoys today.  “Russia walked out of the cold war game leaving the US alone in front of the chess board.” (Zinn and Arnove, p548)

References

Fausold, M and Shank, A. (1991). The Constitution and the American presidency

SUNY Press

Kissinger, H. (2003). Ending the Vietnam War: A History of America’s Involvement in and Extrication from the Vietnam War. Touchstone Books

Zinn, H. and Arnove, A. (2004). Voices of a people’s history of the United States. Seven Stories Press

In the West our assumptions about the meaning of the term “democracy”have not really changed since Truman appealed to Congress for financial aid to assist the democratic government in Greece in 1945. We do not generally disagree that democracy involves “free institutions, representative government, free elections, guaranties of individual liberty” (Ransom Reader, 150), nor that people should be able to live their lives “free from coercion” ( ibid, 150). To see the Soviet counter-arguments is a revelation, and in many ways a surprise.

Zhdanov’s argument in his “The Two Camp Policy” speech presents an entirely different view of the world, and of world history, and the assumptions in his account were certain to lead to the irresolvable conflicts which constituted the Cold War.

Zhdanov argued that western policy from before the Second World War had always been corrupt and self-serving. The west supported Hitler for a long time because they saw him as “capable of inflicting a blow on the Soviet Union” (ibid, 158).

America only joined the war “when the issue was already decided” (ibid, 159), thus saving herself casualties and significant loss. The United States, he implies, was driven only by self-interest, and no genuine desire to see freedom prevail in the world.

The United States’ Policy after the war was dominated by the need of “the Wall Street bosses” (ibid, 159) to rebuild profits, and therefore to establish new markets. Foreign policy was therefore “expansionist and reactionary” (ibid, 159) in order to maintain “imperialist” influence to ensure markets for capitalist enterprises.

Truman’s claim that the defence of the government in Greece was a moral matter, a humanitarian concern to protect “National integrity against aggressive movements that seek to impose upon them totalitarian regimes” (ibid, 150) was therefore bogus and dishonest.

This meant a determination “to combat socialism and democracy and to support reactionary and antidemocratic profascist regimes and movements everywhere” (ibid, 160). The United States, Zhdanov claimed, was seeking to dominate the world for the sake of capitalist profit, and not for any genuine love of freedom.

All true, but perhaps merge quotes a little bit, and in your own words interpret what point he is trying to get at. Why is this such a big deal for Zhdanov? What point is he trying to make about the US and their post-WWII plans? Thus Zhadanov’s notion of democracy begins to emerge.

The western model he dismissed as “bourgeois pseudodemocracy” (ibid, 161). It is an error, he argued, that democracy is characterized by “a plurality of parties and … an organized opposition” (ibid, 161).

This belief involves a misunderstanding of history and of the nature of socialism. “Capitalists and landlords, antagonistic classes, and hence a plurality of parties, have long ceased to exist in the U. S. S. R. ” (ibid, 161), and this is an inevitable development in a socialist state. The people are the state, he argued, and therefore the class conflicts which lead in western countries to differences of interests, simply will(did) not occur.

The United States’ cynical claim to defend freedom was in fact a defence of “the bloody dictatorship of the fascist minority” (ibid, 161) over the people of Gerece and Turkey. America itself was marked by “national and racial oppression, the corruption and the unceremonious abrogation of democratic rights2 (ibid, 161), and the policy of the United States was to “create a bloc of states” which would be blackmailed into supporting the United States line through the use of economic power, and thus give up their own independence and freedom.

What about the other aspect to Zhdanov’s definition of democracy? Particularly in how he differentiates himself (and USSR) from what is wrong about the United States (what makes them un-democratci).

According to Zhdanov, The west, and particularly capitalist America, was the enemy of all “anti-imperialist and democratic” (ibid, 160) nations. Truman’s arguments had at least the realism of moderation. “No government is perfect” (ibid, 149), he acknowledged, and certainly the newly democratic Greek government was not perfect.

Zhdanov’s argument for the one-party system sounds either hopelessly idealistic, or utterly dishonest. The catastrophic purges of the 1930s and later make the claims about freedom very questionable, and suggest, according to Thomson, that “the nemesis of monolithic parties is self destruction, and the price of absolute power absolute corruption” (Thomson, 721).

Stalin was determined to remove all opposition, and concentrated on destroying those who had held rank in the Communist party during the 20s and 30s, men like Zinoviev, Kamenev, Radek, Sokolnikov and Tukhashevsky.

Thousand were arrested, in all walks of life, and many went to their deaths, or to long Siberian imprisonment. This hardly supports Zhdanov’s claim that opposition would simply not exist. < If you use this quote, you need to explain it a little further.

What are the purges, and how do they negate Zhdanov’s notion of democracy? The Stalinist line, described here by Zhdanov, drove the world into forty years of dangerous confrontation, before the ultimate collapse of the system and its ideology.

A corresponding paranoia in the west led to aggressive stand-offs in Europe, where large numbers of NATO troops were stationed in Germany; in the Middle East, where The Arab-Israeli conflict often took the form of war by proxy between east and west; and in South East Asia, where the Korean War and later the Vietnam War were caused partly by the United States’ neurosis about communism. The arming of the Mujahedin in Afghanistan in the 1980s was one of the last policy errors of the Cold War, and one of which we are now suffering some of the unforeseen results.

How did the United States contribute to this conflict? Where are some areas in the world where we see this conflict occurring, between the United State’s notion of democaracy and the Soviet Union’s?

Works Cited

Thomson, David. Europe Since Napoleon. Harmondsworth: Penguin, Revised Edition, 1966.

Truman, Harry S. , “The Truman Doctrine” Twentieth Century Civilizations. Ohio: Thomson Custom Publishing, 2003. (3): 149-153.

Zhdanov, Andrei A. , “Cultural Purge” Twentieth Century Civilizations. Ohio: Thomson Custom Publishing, 2003. (3): 159-163.