Cold War Question?

Question

At the end of the war, the Grand Alliance held several conferences to determine the postwar settlement. Keeping the conferences and conflicting ideologies in mind, was the Cold War inevitable? Why or why not?"

Answer 1

Given their underlying differences – when Hitler was finally defeated in 1945 – a Cold War was perhaps inevitable. The USA was a capitalist democracy; the USSR was a communist dictatorship. Both sides believed that they held the key to the future happiness of the human race. Neither was conflict new to the two sides. Stalin could not forgive Britain and America for helping the Whites against the Bolsheviks in the Civil Wars (1918-1921), and he believed that they had delayed D-Day in the hope that the Nazis would destroy Russia. In the meantime, Britain and America blamed the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 for starting the Second World War. Also, the two sides’ aims for Germany were different – Stalin wanted Germany to be ruined by reparations, and he wanted a buffer of friendly states round Russia to prevent a repeat of the Nazi invasion of 1941. Britain and America wanted a democratic and capitalist Germany as a world trading partner, strong enough to stop the spread of Communism westwards.

It is impossible to identify a time when the Cold War ‘broke out’. After 1945, a series of clashes and misunderstandings meant that the ideological differences widened more and more into open hostility.

Answer 2

In my opinion, yes, the Cold War was inevitable.

Prior to the end of WWII, concessions were being made by the US to keep from angering Russia (i.e., allowing them to take Berlin when we too could have gone in). At the end of the war, there was some tension between the countries - they had been on "our side" against the Axis powers, but we did not support their political ideology. Post war occupation of Germany and the division of land was only the start of the problem. As time passed, the tension between "us" and "them" grew until several boiling points were reached. The first of these was the Korean War. We go to war in Korea to keep the free South Korea from being over run by its communist neighbor. Fast forward ten years and you have Vietnam for the same reason - protect the free South from the evil North.

I think that the cold war was unavoidable, and the division of settlement of post-war Germany was just the kindling to the fire.

Answer 3

The Cold War started the moment the Allies backed the Whites in the Russian Revolution after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and the Allied troops invaded Russia in 1918.

"Winston Churchill declared that Bolshevism must be "strangled in its cradle". In addition, there was also a concern - shared by many countries in the Central Powers as well - that the socialist revolution would spread and so many expressed support for the Whites, occasionally provided troops and supplies." ("Russian Civil War", Wikipedia)

(BTW, the term "Grand Alliance" is normally used for the European coalition of Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg, England, the Holy Roman Empire, the Palatinate of the Rhine, Portugal, Saxony, Spain, Sweden, and the United Provinces during the 17th and 18th century.)

Answer 4

U.S. and the USSR were considered the two strongest nations after WWII and they both had seperate ideas of how to run things... Cold War, was U.S. trying to stop communism from spreading... just because it wasnt the same way that we run things... i tink it was not inevitable.... the U.S. thought they were the strongest nation in the World and they wanted things to go their way..

Answer 5

it was inevitable because it wasn't in our hands. it was in the leader of russia's hands.