I need help with a WW2/ Cold War Question!??

Question

Which of the following contributed to the start of the cold war:
1. The threat of war against western europe by the soviet union if they failed to accept communism.
2. The use of atomic weapons against Japan
3. The surrender of Japan to the U.S.A. in 1945
4. The divison of Germany between the Soviet Union and America, Britan and France.


-I THINK it's either 2 or 3 but it's worth ALOT of points so I don't want to guess and be wrong! So thank you so much in advance for your help!

Thank you ALL for your wonderful answers! Obviously it was so textbook! There answer so said my teacher was #4. I didn't think out of the book. In the book it said The U.S. dropped a bomb on Japan, then Japan surrendered to the U.S. and basically the cold war followed. I didn't put it all into perspective. So thank you all for helping!!

Answer 1

I like option 4. East and West Germany was the focal point for the massive build up of arms. At times, the Soviets had tens of divisions of tanks in East Germany and all NATO exercises were centered around protecting West Germany.

1) Don't like because I don't think there was a threat that Western Europe would be come communist, the USSR seemed to draw its line at the Berlin Wall and focused on Eastern Europe contries so I believe 1 is false.

2) This cerianly started the doctrine fo mutually assured destruction (MAD) which was an underlying aspect of the cold war but not its cause. It merely meant that the cold war would be a nuclear war if it escalated. In fact, MAD probably detracted us from a all out war.

3) Japan was a sore spot for the USSR and certainly that situation led to Korea, the first conflict of the cold war so I guess 3 is not a bad answer but I still prefer 4. If you look at the cold war as USSR vs. US then Korea may not have been that big a cold war action as China was the main communist antagonist, further reinforcing 4 as the right answer.

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

4

Answer 4

It really is all of the above.

1. Led to the Marshall Plan and the placing of American forces in nation's like Great Britain.

2. This started the arms race with both nations building more and more nukes.

3. The Soviets wanted to carve up Japan much like Germany was, but the US did not allow it. With American forces in Japan, the Soviets became paranoid about having both of their coasts open to being invaded by the US.

4. Haven't you heard of the Berlin Airlift?

IF you had to choose ONLY 1, it would be #1. The protection of western Europe (whom the US felt they just saved from Fascism) fall to Communism would have been unthinkable for the Americans.

Answer 5

The answer is obviously number 4.

What started out as a wartime alliance between Russia, Britain and the United States - the 'Big Three', quickly fell apart. Despite the Yalta Agreement and Stalin's promise to allow freedom in Eastern Europe, the Soviet occupation of East Germany presented a problem.

In 1945 with the defeat of Hitler, Germany was divided into four occupation zones - Britain, France, U.S and Russia each controlling a zone. However, Stalin was always suspicious of the West and its talk of reuniting Germany.

When the West tried to unite the French, U.S and British zones to form the 'Federal Republic of Germany', the Soviets retaliated and tried to take control of all Berlin - the Soviets were angry that the West had let the Germans off the hook as the Soviets wanted a revenge against Germany.

The soviet move to take Berlin prompted the 'Berlin Airlift' and Western distrust of Stalin. This distrust was further created by Stalin's shutting out of the West in Eastern Europe which the U.S hoped would allow it access to markets in Eastern Europe. In 1947, Churchill made his famous 'Iron Curtain' speech.

From 1947, relations between West and East cooled and prompted a stalemate in Germany - effectively dividing it into East and West Germany - which lasted until 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Answer 6

The start of the cold war was the conflicting worldviews.

Consider how our current president, George W. Bush, feels it is his duty to spread democracy, as per his numerous references in policy speeches during his tenure. Americans feel that the whole world needs our brand of freedom. After the success of WWII, we felt that and sensed, as another sort of 'manifest destiny' (same song second verse), that we owed it to the world.

Meanwhile, communism has a similar religious fervor, courtesy the iron-fisted spurring of single-minded people like Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, and Castro. To them the world sorely deserved being saved from the evils of capitalism.

The Soviets had subjugated eastern europe and began reforming them into their own image. The Marshall Plan began reconstructing western europe in the American-influenced image.

Actually, then, answers 1 and 4 come closer than 2 or 3. Russia came late to the war against Japan, joining just as Japan capitulated. The atomic bomb was a technological embarrassment, they wanted one themselves, a sort of "me too" response. The closest thing to a start of the Cold War was the posturing efforts around Berlin, divided as it was and deep in Soviet-occupied East Germany. Berlin made the Cold War serious, but loud-mouthed George Patton already knew, before WWII had ended, that until the Soviets are defeated, the war was not over. Again, 1 or 4 come closest to the correct answer.

Answer 7

It's a combination of 1 and 2. The Soviet's love of communism and their eagerness to spread it created tension throughout the world, especially Europe. The realization that the Americans had created a weapon that could easily destroy their country in a few hours didn't exactly help, but instead created an arms race to see who could build the biggest and most destructive weapon imaginable.

Answer 8

Wow, that is a lot ... Ok WW2: In ww1 germany lost tonnes of land. France got heaps of it and they were bankrupt. Americans kept lending them money. When the U.S. went into depression they couldn't help Germany. Hitler promised strength and economic security. He promised 1000 (i think) years of glorious aryan rule. Austria and Hungary joined for economic support because they got screwed over at the end of WW1. Japan was militaristic and wanted land (I don't know much about Japs). That is a very short version. Vietnam: don't know a lot about it but ... Part of Vietnam was communist, the other part capitalist. Americans came to help the latter so Aussies joined too. the rest of that goes for ages. That is a start.