Exploring the Key Factors Behind the Cold War: US vs USSR Ideologies

This essay examines the causes of the Cold War, a period of passive hostility between the United States and the USSR following World War II. The primary drivers of this conflict were ideological differences, with the US championing capitalism and the USSR promoting communism. The USSR aimed to spread communist ideologies, causing the US to support anti-communist nations and campaign against communist ideas. The US's initial monopoly over nuclear arms heightened Russia's insecurity, leading to a nuclear arms race and the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). The power vacuum post-World War II allowed both superpowers to impose their influence on decolonized territories, turning them into Cold War battlegrounds. Economic distress in Europe also played a role, with both nations offering competing prescriptions for post-war reconstruction. Joseph Stalin's reneging on agreements regarding free elections in Eastern Europe further fueled mistrust, contributing to the escalation of tensions and the onset of the Cold War.

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COLD WAR AND ITS CAUSES
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Cold war emerged as a passive hostility out of indirect competition between the two
world superpower The USSR and The USA after World War II (Arnold & Wiener, 2012).
The motive of the Cold war was to bring hostility in between two nations by campaigns and
propagandas through television, print, media and nuclear power. Nuclear warfare has been a
leading weapon of the cold war.
The main cause behind cold war between the two superpowers of the world was
their political, economic and social ideological conflict (Burk, 2017). After defeat of the
axis nations post World War II, USSR and The USA came into ideological conflict with
each other. The USSR was a communist nation that nationalised the corporations and
enterprises whereas The USA upheld capitalism and neo-liberal free market structure as their
economic policy. USSR sought after spreading communist ideologies in the nations and
territories they happened to occupy due to the war, certain western European nations as well,
for instance, France, Greece and Italy, with the mission of “converting” their economic
system into a communist economy. In fear that USSR might turn Europe and parts of Asia
minor into communist countries, the USA started supporting anti-communist countries and
campaigned against communist and socialist ideas worldwide via media and print. They
condemned the authoritarian, undemocratic political system of communism and feared that
worldwide anti-capitalist propaganda might be a threat to individual freedom, freedom of
owning private property and democracy (Dunbabin, 2014).
During 1945, the USA had been the only nation which had monopoly over
nuclear arms and warfare. The Nuclear Programme of America has been a matter of
concern for the rest of the nations (Routledge, 2013). When the Hiroshima Nagasaki nuclear
bomb attacks were conducted which resulted in monstrous casualties, Russia became insecure
of her position and existence. Secretly, Russia too carried out her nuclear bomb creation and
test. Russia and her allies formulated their own nuclear policies to combat nuclear war with

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America. Various intense espionages, spies and intelligence agents of Russia working in the
United States had aided her to build such robust and powerful nuclear bombs and arms. After
a steady research and experimentations, Russia came up with a demi-nuclear bomb that was
utilised in Hiroshima by USA, shocking America. Eventually, both the nations became
proficient in nuclear warfare (or nuclear arms race) and entered into the doctrine of Mutually
Assured Destruction (MAD) with each other, which stated that both parties knew that any
attack from each other would be devastating to themselves, therefore, they adopted the policy
of restraining themselves from attacking each other. Such factor ignited the magnitude of the
cold war between USSR and the USA.
The allied war strategies to combat World War II initiated Soviet Russia to occupy all
the Eastern Europe roughly by 1945. Immediately after the World War ended, the USA and
USSR were politically divided regarding the ruling authority over Eastern Europe,
particularly, Germany and Poland. However, even though America campaigned against
Soviet Russia regarding break of agreement of free elections and self-rule throughout Eastern
Europe, they could not change the influence USSR had over eastern European nations.
Power vacuum that was created post world war around the late 1950s initiated Soviet
Russia and America to impose their influences on vanquished territories, for instance,
colonised Asia, Africa and Middle eastern countries (Kuniholm, 2014). Such fight of
imposing authority between the two superpowers led to an increased magnitude of the
cold war and the fragmented and decolonised countries became the cold war
battlegrounds.
The widespread economic distress brought about by World War II throughout Europe
and the allied countries imposed unprecedented deprivation to the citizens and the civilians in
terms of life and property. An acute shortage of food, clothing, shelter, asylum, medical aid
were observed during that time which led the war-weary Europeans go ashtray and be sceptic

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about the activities of the world political powers. The two world power, namely USSR and
the USA utilised the situation in indoctrinating the war-exhausted nations into their
own ideologies. Both USSR and the USA proposed different prescriptions of post-war
reconstruction of economic, political and social spheres (Westad, 2013). The USSR held
out solemn vows to them by stating that only communism and socialism would be able to
emancipate economic deprivation, inequality and injustice in the society that was the result of
post-world war. Whereas, the United States, which had remained subsequently secured from
profuse damage of the war, used its magnanimous power and wealth with vows of foreign
trade and assured the war survivors and victims that democratic capitalism was the only way
by which economic freedom and success could be achieved. Such situation created an intense
conflict between USSR and the USA, leading to the immense cold war.
Joseph Stalin, the representative of USSR, had negotiated agreement during the
World War II about the freedom of Eastern Europe which he subsequently reneged
(McCauley, 2013). He failed to keep his promise and instead of creating free elections,
communist governments were institutionalised in those countries, anti-communist or non-
socialist governmental organisations were highly suppressed, and ironically, democratic
elections never occurred which collected criticism and controversy all around the world.
Moreover, In Yalta conference, the Soviet Union had pledged to enter into the war with the
USA against Japan as soon as three consecutive months after the European war had ended. In
return of the pledge, The United States of America had awarded the Soviet Unions with
territorial consessions from Japan, the Kurin Islands of Japan, regain the territories lost in
Russo-japanese war of 1904-05 including the southern Sakhalin Island, promising the
restoration of status quo in pro-soviet outer Mongolia, and special rights at Manchuria in
China. However, during the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings that were carried out by
the USA to Japan, USSR happened to intervene in between the warfare. The United

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States of America no longer needed the aid of USSR after their intervention, however, Stalin
was still present at that juncture for collecting Western promises. These factors and events
eventually brought an ambience of mistrust in between the two global superpowers, USSR
and the USA which acted as a catalyst in heightening the tension between both the
superpowers, resulting in the cold war (Wolfson, 2016).

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