This will be a popular question but should not be treated as a simple analysis of the causes of the Cold War. Candidates should present a well-structured analytical response in which they assess the importance of the differing views on Germany as a cause of the Cold war. They may challenge the statement and introduce other causes, but they must take a position on the importance of differing views on Germany between the US and USSR as a major cause of the Cold war.
The views of the US
The US had a desire to rebuild the German economy and reunite Germany as a nation and this was demonstrated by the disagreement over reparations at Potsdam; the Byrnes speech in 1946 which supported a rebuilt German economy; Marshall Plan aid and currency changes in 1948. In addition, the decision to unify the three western zones into Bizonia and then Trizonia was a clear statement that the US wanted a strong and economically powerful Germany to assist US trade and to act as a bulwark against communism. The decision to create the Federal German Republic and to rearm Germany after 1951, and to allow them to join NATO in 1955, were all indicative of American support for German rebuilding and the lack of fear of a strong Germany. These actions caused fear and apprehension in the USSR, which felt that Germany might be used to launch an attack on the Soviet territories in Eastern Europe or the USSR itself. Such actions were also seen as an indication of possible US imperial motives in Europe.
The views of the USSR
The USSR demanded huge reparations both to weaken the German economy and help Soviet post- war recovery. The USSR did not wish to encourage German development and refused Marshall Aid for East Germany. It was clear that the USSR wanted Germany to remain poor and neutral to prevent another attack and, perhaps, to create conditions for a possible Communist takeover. These actions increased Western fears of further Soviet expansion in Europe. The Berlin blockade was seen as an example of Soviet aggression and hardened Western attitudes toward the USSR, leading to the formation of NATO and the further division of Europe into rival blocs.
There is no endpoint stated but do not expect candidates to go beyond 1949, although it may be that some will discuss events up to 1961 and beyond.
Samples of writing from senior students
-->
The first act of
open aggression between the East and West occurred in 1948, when Stalin closed
off all Allied access to the divided city of Berlin in what would become known
as the Berlin Blockade. Here for the first
time we see the Soviet Union taking measures directly against he United States
since after the end of the Second World War, done as a result of the tensions
resulting from disagreement between the two countries over the treatment of
Germany.
The
primary disagreement over Germany was about the extent of the reparations she
should pay for her participation in the war. The Allies, learning from
Versailles, pursued a strategy to rebuild Germany as a lucrative trade partner
with the hope that economic prosperity would lead to stability in Europe. The
Soviets, on the other hand, took an all-together different lesson from
history. They remembered vividly how
Germany had devastated the Motherland twice in the first and Second World War
as well as the barbarism with which they conducted themselves in their occupied
territory. It was imperative to Russia to keep Germany weak so that if nothing
else the millions of Russian military and civilian lives who died fighting the
Germans in both wars could have ensured that Germany would never again threaten
the Motherland. There were also more immediate concerns. The two powers who
most prominently represent the Allies, the United States and the United
Kingdom, had came out of the war with their industry largely intact whereas
Russia had lost most of it to the Germans. Reparations were supposed to be a way
to allow Russia to rebuild but now instead of allowing their most contributing
allies of the war who had fought off 90% of the German army singlehandedly the
Allied powers were saying that they needed to reduce them in the interests of
rebuilding a terrible enemy which had proved twice that it could not be trusted
with the means to create an army. From the Soviet perspective America was
willing to sell Russia out if it meant gaining influence in the new order of Europe.
The
1948 signing of the Marshall Plan only served to compound that fear. Billions
of the United State’s money would be invested into Europe to rebuild it, a
tactic Molotov deemed “dollar imperialism”. Stalin was fearful that by giving
out money the United States would come to exert considerable influence in
Europe and push the Soviets out, leaving a country who has explicitly acted
against the Soviet government in the past with control over the country which
had done the most damage to Russia in the past along with all the other old
great powers of France and England.
The
final nail in the coffin leading to the Berlin Blockade and by extension the
kickoff of the Cold War was when the Allies introduced a new currency in the
western part of Berlin to replace the struggling Reichmark. Stalin saw this as
the Americans implementing a way to control the economy of the city and by
extension the economy of the country as a whole and took actions to reduce the
Allies influence in the city by way of the Berlin Blockade.
-->
Intro student EXAMPLE 1:
The treatment of Germany was
a crucial source of conflict contributing to the cause of the Cold War , yet it
is essential to understand that it [] a more global subject which led to the
Cold War- Europe. The significance of Germany can be seen in the conferences of
Yalta and Potsdam of 1945, yet the events of the Truman Doctrine of March 1947,
and Marshall Plan of September 1947, show that it was conflicting views and
interests which were a major cause of the Cold War.
Intro student EXAMPLE 2:
The first act of open
aggression between the East and West occurred in 1948, when Stalin closed off
all Allied access to the divided city of Berlin in what would become known as
the Berlin Blockade. Here for the first
time we see the Soviet Union taking measures directly against he United States
since after the end of the Second World War, done as a result of the tensions
resulting from disagreement between the two countries over the treatment of
Germany.
Intro student EXAMPLE 3:
By 1949, the DDR was formed
and consequently all chances at peaceful coexistence between the Soviet Union
and Western Powers, most importantly the USA, were extinguished. What was it
that had caused this final clash between the two ideologies? Post-revisionist
historian John Lewis Gaddis argues that Germany was bound to be the source of
conflict, [;] after all, she had started WWII. However, this essay will argue
that the extent to which Gaddis'[s] argument is significant is limited by
several other events such as the atomic bomb, Kennan's Long Telegram and the
Iron Curtain speech.
sample paragraphs/arguments
"There are many people
in the world who really don't understand- or say they don't- what is the great
issue between the free world and the communist world. Let them come to
Berlin!" As John F. Kennedy's words echo in context of current US-Russian
relations regarding Crimea today, his statement powerfully portrays the western
views which would later be considered to be the cause of the Cold War. The
issue today in the Crimean, which is called by "Der Spiegel" as the
"New Cold War," can be understood when considering the conflicting
views of 1945-1991. USA's view and opinion was that of benign treatment of
Germany in order tio rebuild its economy and make it any ally against the war
on communism. With Russian expansionist attitudes regarding Georgia and the
Crimea today, the USA in 1945 felt the urge to send a clear message to the
USSR. Truman had the hyperinflation of 1923 in mind, and demonstrated that
Germany should be treated in a way that would allow "it to re-enter the
world of international discussions" Evidence can be seen in James F.
Byrnes speech in Stuttgart.....
However, there was much
tension and apprehension created otherwise between the two ideologically
differing powers. Frank Capra's 'Why We Fight' makes it clear that the causes
of the Cold War cannot be discussed without addressing the atomic bomb. As
Molotov stated [sic] the "USA negotiates as if they have a pistol in their
back pocket- the atomic bomb." When Eisenhower dropped the fatal weapon on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, it was to scare Stalin, which Capra's
documentary makes clear.
The beginning of the clash
between the Allies' interests came in July 1946 in the form of the Potsdam
conference. A key point in this conference was Germany. Already, the US and
Britain had begun to develop different theories to Stalin's as to Germany's
future, and these reasons dwelled in its past. Remembering the Versailles
conference just 27 years before, the British and Americans concluded that it
must have been excessively harsh terms of that treaty, {sic] which allowed
Germany to be in such a state that they staged war again. Yet Stalin believed
the opposite, he[sic] believed Germany reached this state because Versailles
had not been harsh enough and believed in the Morgenthau, [sic] castration and
agriculturization of Germany, as the best option.
Another key area in which
Germany's role can be examined can be shown through the Marshall Plan. It's
[sic] aims were to rebuild a war[-]devastated region, remove trade barriers and
modernise industry. Although it signalled the start of containment, or as
Foreign Minister Molotov dubbed it "dollar imperialism", it can also
be used to highlight the role of Germany in the Cold War causes. From the American
perspective, Europe relied on Germany's rebuilding. According to an economist
from the time, Germany could not be reduced to a "pastoral state"
without the removal of 25 million people. Europe needed their raw materials and
manufactured goods. America, according to John Lewis Gaddis, writing in 1972,
claims that America was looking for a partner and rival in trade in the nation
of Europe. What this involved was building up Germany. The Marshall Plan aimed
to create three key zones of trade; Western, central and Eastern Europe.
Germany would be the key player in the central block [sic]. This is where
differing views play a key role. After Versailles, and its evident failure
after the rise of the Nazis, The West maintained its position from post WWI in
the new post world war II view, that being too harsh on Germany creates key
problems, while the Russians followed the post-WWI French perspective that
Germany should be punished...
The most obvious example of
the American departure from the warmongering, evil portrayel [s[c] of the
German peoples presented in the ‘Why We Fight’ propaganda films directed by
Frank Capra is the ‘Restatement of policy on Germany’ speech made on September
the [sic] 6th, 1946 by Byrnes, the then US secrety [sic] of state.
Within the speech he presented a change in US policy from the essential
military occupation and denazification of Germany towards a complete rebuilding
of Germany into an entirely capitalist American style democracy. Later
commenting that “the nub of the program was to win the German people… it was a
battle between us and Russia over minds…” Its [sic] perhaps therefore not
surprising that just 2 years after the speech when the Wirtschaftswunder was in
full swing the USSR elected to blockade west Berlin in order to limit East
German exposure to a country which was clearly winning the battle for calories.
As such this change in US policy could certainly by [sic] argued to be a major
cause of the escalation of the Cold War.
However, according to
historians such as William A Williams it is not Germany who [sic] is to blame,
but Churchill and Truman. Williams criticizes Truman and Churchill for their
lack of understanding of Stalin's interests. Stalin had a true fear of Germany
and did not wish to be attacked by them again, just as Clemenceau feared
Germany attacking France again after 1919 if Versailles was not harsh enough,
and they did. Truman took a very aggressive stance towards Russia, claiming he
was going to "get tough" with communism. Molotov was said to have
complained about his swearing and rude language during their conferences.
Russia felt heavily provoked by Truman, and this was not an unjustified
feeling. Truman's testing of the a-bomb and use there [?} of during the Potsdam
conference built mistrust in Stalin, especially as Truman was keeping this a
secret. Thus tension built between the two as a consequence of mistrust. As
Truman continued to bomb Nagasaki it became clear that he was trying to scare
the Soviets and the tension rose further, Germany aside....
... Lastly, another key event
in the origins of the Cold War was the so-called 'Iron Curtain speech' of March
5th 1946. It was an address by Churchill towards the people of America warning
them of 'Soviet expansionalism" [sic] while claiming that Eastern European
countries were under "Soviet influence... totalitarian control and police
government." The speech urged "imperialistic" powers of the
world to fight the Soviet Union- in other words, Churchill called for a unified
Britain, France and America who should face the USSR. Not only was this seen as
a threat to Russia but also as a main cause of the Cold War by Kruschev. [sic]
The Iron Curtain speech antagonised Russia and showed the lack of trust just a
mere year after WWII. Interestingly enough, Churchill's speech acted almost as
a reaction to Stalin's Bolshoi speech from January 1946 which praised communism
and called for a 'war' on capitalism as
it "proceeded through crisis and the catastrophe of war. While to some
Stalin's behaviour seemed threatening, they failed to recognize that the speech
was given by Stalin in order to justify collectivization and was not different
from his other speeches."
The Orthodox perspective,
[sic] usually blames Stalin and Communism for causing the Cold War, as opposed
to disagreements on Germany. It was the aim to spread the ideology, the
development of Eastern Europe and the weakening of Western Europe which was the
cause for the war. The Orthodox perspective, [sic] frequently uses the Marshall
Plan of September 1947, [sic] to prove this idea. The Marshall Plan, which was
an action taken by the USA to restore Germany and Europe as a major trading
partner rather than economically reducing it to an imperial dependency, was
described by the Russian Foreign Minister Molotov as 'Dollar Imperialism', and motivated
workers to be "liberated from capitalism" to prevent an economic
dependence which would lead to American, democratic control. Tony Judt argues
that the way he handled Marshall aid, [sic] was "Stalin's greatest
mistake" , as the USA had no choice to include Eastern Europe, yet instead
Russia "broke Europe into two halves" leading to only the West
receiving support. Living in Western Germany, this is an outcome which until
today can be recognized, as clearly the East still relies on significantly
poorer and less advanced infrastructure. So instead of accepting the
strengthening of Europe, Stalin in the same month formed 'Cominform' which
would be the organisation leading communist, eastern states, and controlling
their economic support. The denial of the USSR, [sic] is the attitude which was
further and further developed which can be seen in the eastern expansion
towards Czechoslovakia in March 1948 and the Berlin Blockade in June 1948 which
was solved through the airlift which the US provided. This shows that the continuous
aims of Russia to limit Europe in its development to expand its own ideology
and territory, [sic] is a main factor which the orthodox view defends, as
opposed to the views about Germany.
