Stage 2 History

Cold War Origin Essay

The Cold War was a direct result of World War II. Evaluate this statement.

The conclusion of World War II was closely followed by decades of fluctuating tension

between intransigent states of conflicting ideologies. However, it is debatable whether or not WWII

was the direct cause of heightened hostility between the United States and Soviet Union during the

Cold War period. While the U.S.’s aggressive push against communism in post-WWII Europe

alienated Russia, the introduction of nuclear weapons and the exacerbation of ideological rivalry were

also key factors in the instigation of the Cold War.

The development of the world’s first atomic bombs not only succeeded in ending WWII, but

also in beginning the most prominent period of geopolitical tension in modern history. According to

the US government, the detonation of the ‘Fat Man’ and ‘Little Boy’ bombs without the involvement

of Stalin aimed to end confrontation with Japan swiftly. 1 Nevertheless, the bombings challenged the

USSR. Stalin knew of the U.S.’s weapons development ahead of the bombings, and had instructed the

process of creating Russia’s own be hastened. 2 Aware the war was nearing its conclusion, with Japan

having offered surrender and the Red Army preparing to invade, Stalin could not discern a legitimate

reason for the US to use their ‘last resort’ in terms of ending the war. 3 This, combined with instances

of confrontation such as the US’s delay to support a second front, led Russia to believe the detonation

was, in reality, a deliberate threat. The bombings were not the only conceivable option to defeat the

Axis Powers at the time, and therefore could only be interpreted by Russia to have an alternative

motive. Stalin’s understanding of the bombing as an act of aggression is reflected in his famous

‘Bolshoi speech’, where he remarked of the expansion of world capitalism ‘through crisis and the

catastrophes of war’.4 In this way, the creation of nuclear weapons during WWII entrenched both

parties in aggression and, further catalysed by the bombings themselves, caused the Cold War.
1
President Truman Speech After the Bombing of Hiroshima 1945, television program, C-Span, Washington, 6
August. https://www.c-span.org/video/?294914-1/president-truman-speech-bombing-hiroshima&start=177
2
Zhukov, G 1971, The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov, accessed 15 September 2018,
<https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Memoirs_of_Marshal_Zhukov.html?
id=bcpBAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y>.
3
Ibid.
4
Stalin, J 1946, Bolshoi Speech, speech, Moscow, February.

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The U.S.’s aggressive push against communism in post-WWII Germany may have been what

truly introduced irredeemable geopolitical tension between the U.S. and USSR. The intention of the

Marshall Plan was, essentially, to draw European countries away from communist influence and thus,

undermine Soviet powers within the region. 5 The economic policies were strategized to give the U.S.

a larger control over global trade and economics, and the domestic and foreign policies of Western

European countries.6 Soviet Foreign Minister Andrej Vyshinsky’s 1947 address to the U.N. accused

the U.S. of acting to ensure Europe was dependent on the interest of American monopolies. 7 Clearly,

the creation of these policies were seen by the USSR for what they were: a blatant push against their

influence in Europe. Russia’s further alienation from the global community led them to enact the rival

Molotov Plan, tightening their hold on their satellite states and enforcing a directly oppositional

policy to the U.S.8 Previously free countries such as Poland were placed under harsher rule by the

USSR, which led to further ideological conflict with the West, who had been promised free election in

Soviet controlled states. Furthermore, U.S policies towards Germany were intentionally antagonistic

against the USSR. The merging of the U.S., UK and France regions in order to manufacture more

goods to fight communism was intentionally aggressive. Thus, Stalin was provoked into engaging the

Berlin Blockade, thrusting the world directly into a heated conflict of ideological tension. Therefore, it

may have been the antagonistic economic and territorial policies enacted by the US which led to a

poisoned environment in post-WWII Europe, directly triggering the Cold War.

However, WWII provided a landscape for tensions to truly generate, intensify, and become

volatile enough to have significant consequences. According to Sumner Wells, the Under Secretary of

State in 1941, any sort of relations “between the United States and the Soviet Union, particularly

during the period of Soviet-German agreement, had been practically non-existent” since the U.S. had

5
O'Brien, S 2014, ‘Questioning the Marshall Plan in the Buildup to the Cold War’, University of New Hampshire:
Inquiry Journal, accessed 15 September 2018, <https://www.unh.edu/inquiryjournal/spring-2014/questioning-
marshall-plan-buildup-cold-war>.
6
Ibid.
7
Harrison, H 2018, ‘Why the Marshall Plan spooked the Soviets and sparked the Cold War’, Financial Review,
accessed 15 September 2018, <https://www.afr.com/news/world/north-america/why-the-marshall-plan-
spooked-the-soviets-and-sparked-the-cold-war-20180225-h0wn2p>.
8
Helprin, M 1998, ‘A Marshall Plan for Russia’, Wall Street Journal, accessed 15 September 2018,
<https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB905290504273433500>.

Emily Fotopoulos SACE No. 887224H 2

Stage 2 History

recognised the USSR in 1933. 9 Thus, the WWII alliance could be determined as a key cause of the

intensifying rift between the US and USSR. It was the first opportunity the two nations of starkly

different ideologies and opinions had to work closely together. Stalin’s resentment for the West

stemmed, initially, from the hesitation of the western powers to establish a second front in Western

Europe.10 As a result of the U.S. and U.K. postponing the opening of the front by nearly two years,

the Soviets suffered horrendous loss of life and material, because they were forced to withstand the

brunt of German strength mostly on their own. As a result, Stalin felt Russia was being alienated by

the western powers, and this built distrust and resentment between the nations. Stalin’s retaliation –

recalling Russian ambassadors from London and Washington – is evident of this. 11 From the U.S.

perspective, Russia’s refusal to aid the Polish Home Army during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 was a

cause for concern. German forces were able to regroup and defeat the Polish resistance easily without

opposition from the Red Army. This frustrated the U.S., as they had implored Russia to aid the

resistance. The mutual feeling of distrust and suspicion was then exacerbated by disagreements at the

Yalta and Potsdam conference between Stalin and the Allies, and fears soon arose that the Soviets

might seek a separate peace with Germany. 12 The alliance between the U.K., U.S. and USSR

consistently provided a means for which ideological rivalry and tensions could grow. WWII was the

direct result of the Cold War by granting the opportunity for the East and West to establish a

relationship based on distrust-and contempt.

Ideological tension was the basis of the Cold War. Thus, the notion that it was directly caused

by the events of WWII is entirely founded. WWII and its diplomatic complications provided a

landscape for tensions to find real root, and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki entrenched both

opposing states in a relationship of aggression. The aggressive economic and territorial policies

enacted by the U.S. after the war simply aided in intensifying geopolitical tensions leading to the Cold

War, while WWII remains the direct cause.

9
Fischer, G 1950, ‘Genesis of U. S.-Soviet Relations in World War II’, The Review of Politics, vol. 12, no. 3,
accessed 20 September 2018, <https://www.jstor.org/stable/1404666>.
10
Office of the Historian n.d., U.S.-Soviet Alliance, 1941–1945, United States of America
Government, Washington, accessed 20 September 2018, <https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/us-
soviet>.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.

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Word count: 1010

References

 Fischer, G 1950, ‘Genesis of U. S.-Soviet Relations in World War II’, The Review of Politics,
vol. 12, no. 3, accessed 20 September 2018, <https://www.jstor.org/stable/1404666>.
 Harrison, H 2018, ‘Why the Marshall Plan spooked the Soviets and sparked the Cold
War’, Financial Review, accessed 15 September 2018,
<https://www.afr.com/news/world/north-america/why-the-marshall-plan-spooked-the-soviets-
and-sparked-the-cold-war-20180225-h0wn2p>.
 Helprin, M 1998, ‘A Marshall Plan for Russia’, Wall Street Journal, accessed 15 September
2018, <https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB905290504273433500>.

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Stage 2 History

 O'Brien, S 2014, ‘Questioning the Marshall Plan in the Buildup to the Cold War’, University
of New Hampshire: Inquiry Journal, accessed 15 September 2018,
<https://www.unh.edu/inquiryjournal/spring-2014/questioning-marshall-plan-buildup-cold-
war>.
 Office of the Historian n.d., U.S.-Soviet Alliance, 1941–1945, United States of America
Government, Washington, accessed 20 September 2018,
<https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/us-soviet>.
 President Truman Speech After the Bombing of Hiroshima 1945, television program, C-
Span, Washington, 6 August. https://www.c-span.org/video/?294914-1/president-truman-
speech-bombing-hiroshima&start=177
 Stalin, J 1946, Bolshoi Speech, speech, Moscow, February.
 Zhukov, G 1971, The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov, accessed 15 September 2018,
<https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Memoirs_of_Marshal_Zhukov.html?
id=bcpBAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y>.

Emily Fotopoulos SACE No. 887224H 5