Causes of the Cold War - ideological differences

Causes of the Cold War - ideological differences

1. The Cold War 1945- 1989 Ideological differences Reasons that the Cold War started

2. Reasons the Cold War started In today’s class I am learning to: Describe different ideological beliefs between the USA and USSR Analyse the impact of these different beliefs in causing the Cold War

3. Reasons the Cold War started The different ideological beliefs of the USA and USSR played a major role in causing the Cold War. The USA strongly believed in Capitalism whereas the Soviet Union wanted to see the spread of world Communism .

4. Reasons the Cold War started Capitalism is the belief that people should live with minimal government involvement, including being able to set up and own businesses. Th e USA also had strong emphasis on individual rights , such as free speech and voting.

5. Reasons the Cold War started Communism is supposed to be an equal society, with the government controlling many aspects of people’s lives, such as all businesses. This limits people’s individual freedoms and involved a one-party political system .

6. Reasons the Cold War started There were other major differences between the two sides. Religion is one key example. Many Americans were very religious, whereas religion was generally undermined in the Soviet Union, with government support for atheism .

7. Reasons the Cold War started Both sides wanted to see the spread of their ideology throughout the world, and feared the other. Given the hugely opposing beliefs that each side had, this inevitably created tensions between them, leading to Cold War.

8. Reasons the Cold War started However in spite of these beliefs, both sides became allies during the Second World War. This shows that ideology differences did not have to mean division , undermining the idea this caused the Cold War.

9. Reasons the Cold War started The USA’s actions focused on the belief of Containment . This meant that America would not remove Communism where it existed, but contain it to stop it spreading further. This included providing military support to countries.

10. Reasons the Cold War started Europe was devastated by the effects of war and the USA worried this would make Communism seem more attractive. The Marshall Plan aimed to stop this. The USA offered huge loans to European countries to rebuild.

11. Reasons the Cold War started Germany in particular had been hugely affected by war and was suffering from extreme poverty. The ‘hunger winter’ of 1947 saw protests in Germany as people wanted access to food and also fuel to heat their homes. West German protests against poverty. The sign says: “We want coal, we want bread”

12. Reasons the Cold War started The USA gave $13 billion to Europe, mainly to the UK (around one quarter). Money was also offered to the USSR but this was rejected as they worried it would force them to agree to conditions which undermined Communism .

13. Reasons the Cold War started The Soviet Union believed that the USA was trying to promote global Capitalism , using their money to force countries to accept this. This angered the USSR, and created a rift which inevitably led to Cold War.

14. Reasons the Cold War started However the Soviets forced Eastern European countries to reject any US money. This meant Soviet control in eastern Europe was not undermined and so did not create the conditions to cause Cold War.

15. Reasons the Cold War started Around the same time (in 1947 ), the USSR set up Cominform . This organisation aimed to unite all Communist countries. It also tried to promote the spread of Communism elsewhere in the world.

16. Reasons the Cold War started After World War Two ended, the USSR kept control of Eastern Europe. They imposed Communist governments in countries like Hungary and Poland, in spite of promises to allow free elections.

17. Reasons the Cold War started In the USA, there were real fears that Communism would spread to America. The Red Scare is the name given to the period when much of American public life became obsessed with the idea of ‘reds under the bed’ .

18. Reasons the Cold War started The most famous person associated with the Red Scare was Joseph McCarthy . He was a US politician who started a ‘witch hunt’ of various people that he believed were secretly Communist and trying to spread this.

19. Reasons the Cold War started The actions of the USSR in promoting global Communism caused fear that this could spread to America. This forced the USA to pursue actions (such as Korean War involvement) which angered the Soviet Union, dividing the two sides.

20. Reasons the Cold War started However both sides sincerely believed that the other’s system would collapse ; each thought the rival system could not survive. There was no need to pursue war against a n enemy which would soon come to an end.