Who Was to Blame for the Outbreak of the Cold War?
An in-depth exploration of the social, political, and economic catalysts that sparked the Cold War
This essay was written by Ruben Gati, a high school student from Singapore
Spanning an approximate 50 years from 1949 to 1991, the Cold War was a period of ideological conflict between the two global superpowers of the time: the communist Soviet Union, and the capitalist United States of America. Responsibility for the escalation of political tension between the East and the West is often passed from one nation to the other depending on the lens a historian is looking at it through;
However, attempting to attribute the blame to either the USSR or the USA is a pointless exercise. Neither country is more correct than the other in the events of the Cold War, and thus the blame lies less in the individual nation and its ideology, but rather the joint actions of both over the course of the conflict. Hence, the point stands that a combination of military distrust, political tension, and economic interference from both nations are to blame for the outbreak of the Cold War rather than the fault of one country.
Firstly, the political tension between two conflicting ideologies forced both powers to impose their beliefs upon Europe as a middle-ground; ultimately leading to the outbreak of the Cold War. With the Soviet Union critically damaged following both Hitler’s betrayal after the joint invasion of Poland, as well as the subsequent 24 million Russian casualties killed during the Second World War, it was no secret that Stalin was paranoid about his country’s general security. Operating under a facade of self-preservation, the Soviet Union expanded its territory into Western Europe, taking over smaller nations such as Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Poland; arguing that if said countries had been more sympathetic towards Communist ideals, Hitler and the Nazis would have not been able to invade them as easily as they did; something Stalin viewed to be heavily influential in the USSR’s substantial death toll.
The formation of the Warsaw Pact provoked the Allies to the point where Truman, the US president at the time, announced his idea for what is formally known as the ‘Truman Doctrine’, an initiative set out to contain the spread of communism across the globe. As well as this, the Marshall Plan, involving 13.3 billion US dollars worth of aid to be sent to Western Europe, helped form closer ties between the US and Western Europe, tearing Europe into two ideologically opposed halves; the Capitalist West, and the Communist East. This encouraged a scramble towards collective security across the continent, characterized by the militarization of multiple borders and stoking of international distrust.
To elaborate on this point further, it was the military distrust in the form of international alliances that dragged Europe into the long term power struggle that was the Cold War. Following the events surrounding Berlin, the US proposed forming a military alliance between the countries of Western Europe; an organization that continues to exist to this day: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO for short. Much to Stalin’s dismay, this idea of collective security appeared to be very popular with the Western European countries, who all accepted their invitation to join.
From the Soviet point of view, a military alliance on this scale could only mean potential threat, and so to counter this ‘future’ danger, Stalin established Cominform in 1955. Cominform, formed through the signing of the Warsaw Pact, was a military alliance held between the USSR and its communist sympathizers. The presence of two military powers of this scale in Europe forcibly accelerated the eventual outbreak of the Cold War.
Finally, the Allies’ economic intervention in western Europe, more specifically Berlin, provoked an unnecessarily aggressive Soviet response; further contributing to the increasingly tense political unrest. Following the two international conferences - Yalta and Potsdam - held to discuss the division of reparations, territory and supplies leftover from the Second World War, the division of Germany proved to be the topic of much debate. Despite it finally being agreed upon that Germany would be divided into four zones - One for the US, British, French and Soviet Union; the capital, Berlin, was also split into four, disregarding the fact that it was considerably far into Soviet territory.
What followed was an indirect competition between the two sides, each competing to prove themselves to be more economically prosperous and offer a better life to its citizens. The Allies joining their territory together into one, as well as attempting to establish an economic presence in Russian territory by introducing a new currency, urged Stalin to intervene with West Berlin’s development. Resources were imported to East Berlin via three main routes, the highway, the railway, and by air, two of which were blocked by Stalin in 1948. This led to the Allies resorting to a constant line of supply from the air, now referred to as the Berlin Airlift. The notion that the Allies would resort to such a petty measure to deliver supplies to their half of Berlin further proved the Capitalist’s resilience in fighting against communism, as well as angering Stalin immensely; further pushing the world towards a Cold War.
In conclusion, the passing of blame between the two major superpowers battling for influence over the latter half of the 20th century is a meaningless exercise for historians to partake in. The existence of numerous proxy wars, military alliances, and large political factions dividing common ground proves that neither the USA or USSR can be allocated full responsibility for the outbreak of the Cold War; regardless of whether or not its resolution, epitomized by the dissolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis and collapse of the Berlin wall, lay mainly in the hands of the USA and its cultural impact.