Cold War: Account for the Rise and Fall of Detente - Term Paper Example

Cold War Essay: ‘Account For The Rise And Fall Of Detente In historiographies of many countries a great attention is paid to the problem of Cold War.A special attention is usually paid to the foreign policy of the USA and the USSR in post-war period. Many researches are dedicated to this issue. Nevertheless many aspects of this problem deserve further researching. One of these aspects is accounting for the rise and fall of Détente. Is should be noticed that the relationship between the USA and the USSR appeared at the centre of international policy in post-war period. The close cooperation of the USSR and the USA was changed into the hard confrontation that got the name ‘Cold War’. This term was firstly used in 1947 by the American economist B. Baruch. His speech determined the ideological and political ground of historical works, left an imprint at the methods of analysis and comparative methods, touched different aspects of American foreign policy in post-war period. (Borovik,1997) There was a special point of view about this in the historiography of the USSR. It was considered that one of the main tasks of American foreign policy in period between 1940 and 1950 years was avoiding the Socialist revolutions in Western Europe. It was declared that the USA’s aim is to gain the world domination. Mainly all policy of the USSR was built on these thoughts. The government of Soviet Union spoke about anticommunism character of American foreign policy. It should be mentioned that all Soviet concepts in different spheres of life were represented by the unity of ideology. The historians and politicians of the USSR had been trying to find the initiator of post-war confrontation for a long time. As a room Soviet historians supported the ‘official positions’ and blamed Americans and allies from Western Europe in Cold War beginning. They connected it with American hegemonism. Later the new theories appeared – the idea about mistaken from both sides. (William H. Chafe,1991) It is interesting that some Soviet historians, such as Philitov A., considers the year 1948 to be the starting year for Cold War. He proves his opinion by the reason – the armies in the USA and the USSR were rapidly reducing before 1948 and after 1948 the number of people in both armies was increasing. He considers it to be an indicator of Cold War. Another historian, such as Polyakov Y., is against of giving the concrete date for the Cold War beginning. He considers that the world entered Cold War slowly step by step, through the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, though the argues while concluding the treaties of peace, through Churchill’s speech. Taking into account everything that was said above it would be right to consider the beginning of Cold War to be a definite period, but not a certain point. As for the reasons of Cold War rise the Soviet scientists were unanimous. They saw the anticommunism character of Cold War. It is possible to point out some reasons of rise (according to Soviet approach): The instinctive fear of Americans before the ideology of communism and the epidemic character of its expansion; The necessity for war image creating in order to overcome the psychology of isolationism of American nation; Economical interests; The necessity for distracting attention of Americans from the current problems of the USA. In the post-war period the USA turned into the most powerful country in the spheres of economy, army and policy. This gave a good base for global American hegemony. (Borovik,1997) The problem was that American concept did not coincide with the Soviet one. It should be mentioned that the USSR considered the successful fighting with Nazism to be a good ground for the world socialist system. Even Stalin called the USSR the ‘base of the world revolution’. This was the periods of confrontation between two great countries. The question is if the Soviet Union was enough strong for such confrontation. The basic motive of the USA that caused Cold War was its economic interests. In addition a great crisis inside the country that was rapidly increased in post-war period played a great role too. The appearing of the phenomena of Cold War was caused by the necessities for the processing of “Pax Americana”, because Cold War as an active conflict between two supercountries was at the background of the terrible events of the World War the II. It was a dangerous step because of threat of ‘Hot War’. Probably the sober-minded politicians, including Truman, would do everything to avoid this event. The problem was that the conflict was artificially and strongly cultivated by American side. Both countries did not evaluate the risk of real war. So, the creating of the world of ‘open doors’ and followed power of the USA were the aim of American foreign policy. Truman considered that an important place of the USA in international policy was impossible without confrontation. His plan was to form a threat of danger for the USA though the ideological expansion of communism. Truman was had also personal interests in this conflict. This would help him to improve his reputation as a president. It is an interesting fact that Russian historians had an evolutionary opinion about Truman’s policy. I would like to notice that analyzing the rises of Cold war we should take into consideration the formation of the bipolar world structure. The bipolarity was always one of the sources of confrontation. At the end of the war the prerequisites for the bipolar world were formed. Speaking about the rises of Cold War it is impossible to forget about the relationship between these two great countries before the World War the II. During two decades the USA and the USSR were divided by the political and ideological confrontation. This situation could not simply disappear. That is why this problem demanded reconsideration of international values from both sides. (Borovik,1997) Through the Cold War did not begin until the end of World War II, in 1945, U.S.-Soviet relations had been strained since 1917. In that year, a revolution in Russia established a Communist dictatorship there. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviets called for world revolution and the destruction of capitalism, the economic system of United States. The United States did not grant diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union until 1933. In 1941, during World War II, Germany attacked the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union then joined the Western Allies in fighting Germany. For a time early in 1945, it seemed possible that a lasting friendship might develop between the United States and Soviet Union based on their wartime cooperation. However, major differences continued to exist between the two, particularly with regard to Eastern Europe. As a result of these differences, the United States adopted a “get tough” policy toward the Soviet Union after the war ended. The Soviets responded by accusing the United States and the other capitalist allies of the West of seeking to encircle the Soviet Union so they could eventually overthrow its Communist form of government. In addition the greatest part of Americans believed in military and economical power of the USA. They thought that it was possible to it would help in formation of economical and political hegemony. Americans believed that the process of “Pax Americana” would make a new division of the world map according to American interests. (William H. Chafe,1991) Generally Cold War can be defined as a phenomenon that was the result of some confused and contradictory steps of the participants of the post-war geopolitical play. Taking into consideration everything mentioned above, it is worth mentioning that historic approach is very important here. It is a fact that economic, political, diplomatical, and ideological fighting was taking place between the two great states even before the World War the II and moreover after it. In addition after the world tragedy the confrontation between the USSR and the USA reached a great tension in some periods. Sometimes it was even in one step before ‘hot war’. That is why I think that it is right that the period of Cold War is assigned to the post-war period. Here it would be appropriate to quote John Lewis Gaddis: “Detente, we now tell each other, was not an end to cold war tensions but rather a temporary relaxation that depended upon the unlikely intersection of unconnected phenomena. There had to be, we argue, approximate parity in the strategic arms race, a downplaying of ideological differences, a mutual willingness to refrain from challenging the interests of rivals, an ability to reward restraint when it occurred and to provide inducements to its further development, and the existence of strong, decisive and intelligent leadership at the top in both Washington and Moscow, capable of overriding all of the obstacles likely to be thrown in the path of detente by garbled communications, sullen bureaucracies, or outraged constituencies. To have found all of these things in place at the same time, we maintain, was about as likely as some rare astronomical conjunction of the stars and planets, or perhaps a balanced budget.”(Gaddis John Lewis) Going back into the past and defining the history of Cold War beginning it is impossible not to help concluding that the methods and ideas of confrontation were the base for policy of both blocks. That is why both sides are responsible for Cold War beginning. The Soviet historiography of Cold War became an integral part of the world historical science. The period of Cold war was a unique time that is characterized by many contradictory things. The end of Cold War made possible a detailed researching of this period. It is worth mentioning that the actions of the USA concerning the control of the USSR’s power were developing by stages. The first steps were directed into Europe and accordingly the development of its ability to resist the Soviet power. Later, in atomic age, the USA tries to convince the European allies of the USA’s protection. (Borovik,1997) In 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created and it obliged the USA to protect Western Europe in frames of their official alliance. NATO was the reply to the Soviet power in military sphere in Europe. At the end of the World War the II the USA made the fastest demobilization of their army from European countries. The Soviet Army had much more military forces in European countries and that is why it was considered that the USSR was able to conquer Europe. After the USSR got their atom (1949) and nuclear (1953) weapon it was doubtful is the USA was able to protect Europe. Actually Cold War was going around this problem. As an example of Cold War it is possible to take the Korean conflict and to quote lines by Jeremy Williams: “The Korean War was a bloody conflict. It left Korea, North and South, with several million dead and the UN forces involved in the fighting with over 100,000 casualties. But despite fighting as intense and as violent as any other conflict since World War Two, Korea has always been historys Forgotten War’. The Korean War began on 25 June 1950 when communist North Korea invaded the South with six army divisions. These North Korean forces, backed by impressive Soviet equipment including tanks, made quick gains into the territory. The United States decided to intervene in the defense of the South and, taking advantage of the Soviet absence from the UN Security Council, proceeded to press for UN resolutions condemning the invasion. Days later a resolution was passed calling upon member countries to give assistance to South Korea to repulse the attack. General Douglas MacArthur, then in charge of US forces in the Pacific and of the occupation of Japan, was appointed commander of the joint forces.” (Williams Jeremy) The last great crisis of Cold War in Europe reflected one more attempt of the Soviet Union to split western allies. There was a danger of nuclear war between The USSR and the USA. In December 1987 the president of the USA Ronald Reagan and the general secretary of the USSR Michail Horbachev signed treaty concerning the liquidation of the nuclear weapon from European countries. The disability of the USSR to split the USA and the allies from Western Europe was one of the most important factors in finishing Cold War. Given the nature of the personalities and the nations involved, it was perhaps not surprising that, as the war drew to an end, virtually none of the critical issues on the agenda of postwar relationships had been resolved. Preferring to postpone decisions rather than to confront the full dimension of the conflicts that existed, FDR evidently hoped that his own political genius, plus the exigencies of postwar conditions, would pave the way for a mutual accommodation that would somehow satisfy both Americas commitment to a world of free trade and democratic rule, and the Soviet Unions obsession with national security and safely defined spheres of influence. The Russians, in turn, also appeared content to wait, in the meantime working militarily to secure maximum leverage for achieving their sphere-of-influence goals. What neither leader nor nation realized, perhaps, was that in their delay and scheming they were adding fuel to the fire of suspicion that clearly existed between them and possibly missing the only opportunity that might occur to forge the basis for mutual accommodation and coexistence. For nearly half a century, the country had functioned within a political world shaped by the Cold War and controlled by a passionate anticommunism that used the Kremlin as its primary foil. Not only did the Cold War define Americas stance in the world, dictating foreign policy choices from Southeast Asia to Latin-America; it defined the contours of domestic politics as well. Now, it seemed likely that the Cold War would no longer exist as the pivot around which all American politics revolved. However much politicians were unaccustomed to talking about anything without anti-communism as a reference point, it now seemed that they would have to look afresh at problems long since put aside because they could not be dealt with in a world controlled by Cold War alliances. In some ways, America seemed to face the greatest moment of possibility in all of postwar history as the decade of the 1990s began. So much positive change had already occurred in the years since World War II—the material progress, the victories against discrimination, the new horizons that had opened for education and creativity. But so much remained to be done as well in a country where homelessness, poverty, and drug addiction reflected the abiding strength that barriers of race, class, and gender retained in blocking peoples quest for a decent life. References Henry Borovik "Cold War", 1997 William H. Chafe "The Unfinished Journey: America since World War II" New York Oxford, Oxford University press, 1991. Williams Jeremy, Kill em All: The American Military in Korea Gaddis John Lewis , The Rise, Fall and Future of Détente,Foreign Affairs, Winter 1983/84 Read More