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Why Was The United States Responsible For The Cold War?

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The Cold War was one of if not the most major conflict in the 20th century. Even though war never broke out between the United States and Soviet Union, the Cold War still had a profound impact in modern history. After the Cold War, the United States would become the foremost world power while the Soviet Union would cease to exist. The Cold War in general is still a contentious debate among historians. Among the most heated of these debates is which nation, the United States or the Soviet Union, actually started the Cold War. The “orthodox” and more traditional view is that the Soviet Union was responsible. The “revisionist” case is that the United States was more at fault for the Cold War. Overall, the orthodox view had the most compelling …show more content…

Historians normally consider the Cold War to begin after World War II, but Soviet expansionism and ruthlessness began even before World War II. The Soviet Union, under Stalin, helped bring about WWII when he signed the Non-Aggression Pact with Germany in 1939 (BC lecture, 3). The Soviets carved up Poland, the Baltic States, Finland and Romania when working with the Germans (BC Lecture, 4). This set the tone for a new wave of Soviet expansion. In addition, the Soviets were brutal in the way they conducted World War II. In 1941, Stalin ordered the killings of anti-communist Polish officers when the Germans began their invasion of the Soviet Union (BC lecture, 4). In 1945, after four years of brutal warfare within the Soviet Union, the Red Army approached Warsaw. The Polish underground forces who were in hiding in Warsaw, viewed the Soviets as their deliverers (BC lecture, 5). They decided to take advantage of their situation by rising up against the Germans. They wanted to rout the Germans out of Warsaw, with the help of the Soviet Red Army (BC lecture, 5). However, Stalin ordered the Red Army to stay on the outskirts of Warsaw while the Germans crushed the uprising (BC lecture, …show more content…

This deep-rooted hostility primarily stems from the Communist ideology itself (BC lecture, 8). The Soviets believed that history would lead to revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the installation of world Communism. (BC lecture, 8). Many Communists believed that revolutions across the globe would occur inevitably, so there was no immediate need for a major war with the West (BC Lecture, 9). However, Russian policymakers did not believe in a completely passive stance towards the West. They wanted to fast-forward history towards Communist principles. (BC lecture, 10). The Soviet Union, as the leading force in the making of this history, needed to compete to stay ahead of rivals. (BC lecture, 10). Soviet military policies after World War II are evidence of his drive to compete. (BC lecture, 10). Having built the world’s biggest army in his efforts to stop Hitler, Stalin did not,

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