Research Paper on "Cold War Era the End"

Research Paper 4 pages (1390 words) Sources: 4

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Cold War Era

The End of the Cold War and the Development of Democracy in the Former Soviet Union

The idea behind the Cold War and whether it could have been avoided or whether it was something that was inevitable has been a bone of contention for both researchers and historians for years. The trend in thinking, however, is that the Cold War was indeed inevitable because of the build-up of problems that were seen before the war began in 1947. By that time, there was very little that anyone could have done to avoid the War (Gaddis, 1997). Originally, the breakdown in post-war relations that occurred after WWII is what led to the Cold War. During that era in history the United States and the Soviet Union struggled to make any kind of peace with one another. Although they said in 1945 that they were committed to unity and cooperation, their power and victories in WWII made it difficult for either one of them to give in on anything (Gaddis, 1997).

Not long after their tentative truce, blame was placed on the Allied Coalition that had been able to defeat Hitler. Each side - American and Soviet - started blaming the other side for the creation of military, ideological, and political rivalry (Roberts, 1999). The rivalries and related problems divided Europe into a number of competing blocs. In addition, a strong and very dangerous struggle for power formed between communism and a liberal form of democratic capitalism (Roberts, 1999). It was difficult to pinpoint the location of the power struggle, as it seemed to appear out of nowhere and reach out to encompass virtually everywhere. There was very little that could be done to stop it from occurring.



Once the Cold War started, there was speculation as to how and why it had begun. There were phases of debate, and different time periods in which those debates were seen. American foreign policy was one of the focal points of the debates, and that trend of thought continued through the 1970s (McCauley, 1990). Another area of focus was that the Cold War occurred because America tried to stop Soviet expansion (Roberts, 1999). Still another debate centered around the idea that the United States was aggressive and unreasonable after WWII, and that aggression provoke the Soviet Union into taking a stand against what it considered to be unfair treatment (Roberts, 1999).

By the end of the 1970s, the majority of the people who had been arguing were ready for compromise They were prepared to let go of their desire to place blame on others, and to move forward. Unfortunately, there were misunderstandings and unavoidable clashes that continued to take place (Roberts, 1999). These caused the attitudes that drove the Cold War, instead of allowing the discomfort between the two countries to fade away into the background. Even though both of the countries could see what was coming, there were still miscommunication issues and no one wanted to concede too much or give up too much ground. Finally, the two powers had basically reached a stalemate.

The 1980s and 1990s saw historians making other suggestions as to the cause of the Cold War (Painter, 1999). Small players like West Germany, France, and Britain were more closely scrutinized, and politicians such as Adenauer, Bidault, Bevin, and Churchill has a stronger influence on the foreign policy of the United States. Blame was shifted from one country to no countries to a group of countries. Soviet foreign policy also came into focus during the 1990s (Painter, 1999).

In 1982, the death of Leonid Brezhnev showcased the problems with Soviet leadership in a more obvious manner. The country's economics began to have trouble meeting society's demands, since the model for Soviet economics had essentially been the same since the 1930s. Outdated and shoddy products were produced and the quality that was needed for the country to be competitive in a newer and more high-tech world had not yet been developed. The military had resources because it took whatever the country had, but anyone else who needed something had to accept the leftovers. There was plenty of military might in… READ MORE

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