The blame for the development of the Cold War rests most heavily on the United States’ shoulders; however, the origins of the war overall stemmed from a back and forth struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union for spheres of influence. The United States was overly aggressive and preemptive in its policy to expand it’s sphere of influence and contain the Soviets’. In all fairness, these preemptive actions were not without justification; however, these justifications lay less within the Soviet Union’s actions and policies, and more with the timing and situation the United States happened to be placed in. Nevertheless, these actions were a major contribution to the development of the Cold War, and seeing as how blame cannot
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Yet, within this relocation of international financial powers lies an inherent claim to endless spheres of influence. The changing of the international currency to the U.S. currency, no matter how intentional or unintentional, undoubtedly gave the United States a “leg up” over the Soviet Union in terms of spreading their ideology. After all, the success of the Cold War was measured in terms of the spheres of influence each side had managed to gain, which was measured by the success of each nation’s economic aid to struggling European countries. Considering the universalistic nature of capitalism, it would be in America’s best interest to switch international currency to the dollar in order to aid all these European nations- nevermind the fact that aiding these nations in the first place would also be in their best interests. In order for capitalism to truly be sustainable, and for America to preserve their post-WW2 economic prosperity, there needed to be an international system of free trade markets. Thus, …show more content…
Following WW2, Stalin believed that the Allies’ success had been directly linked to that of the USSR’s, whose success could be attributed to communism and the Red Army. As Stalin said in his 1946 Election Speech, “The war proved that the Soviet social system is a genuinely people 's system, which grew up from the ranks of the people and enjoys their powerful support; that the Soviet social system is fully viable and stable form of organization of society.”. He goes on to mention that the series of 5 year industrial-growth plans he had implemented over the years had been immensely successful, and should be spread throughout war-stricken East Europe in order to restore it. Although it is certainly debatable how genuine these sentiments of Stalin’s were, at face value, it is clear that the wish to gain a sphere of influence over Eastern Europe during it’s restoration, was no more dangerous than that of the United States’ economic aid plans. Stalin wished to adopt a sphere of influence for his own assertion as a co-world power in the new international order that was being formed post-WW2. After all, it had already been established that there was no feasible way that there would be a hegemony of either U.S. or USSR ideology in the near future; the two would have to co-exist for the
Yet, within this relocation of international financial powers lies an inherent claim to endless spheres of influence. The changing of the international currency to the U.S. currency, no matter how intentional or unintentional, undoubtedly gave the United States a “leg up” over the Soviet Union in terms of spreading their ideology. After all, the success of the Cold War was measured in terms of the spheres of influence each side had managed to gain, which was measured by the success of each nation’s economic aid to struggling European countries. Considering the universalistic nature of capitalism, it would be in America’s best interest to switch international currency to the dollar in order to aid all these European nations- nevermind the fact that aiding these nations in the first place would also be in their best interests. In order for capitalism to truly be sustainable, and for America to preserve their post-WW2 economic prosperity, there needed to be an international system of free trade markets. Thus, …show more content…
Following WW2, Stalin believed that the Allies’ success had been directly linked to that of the USSR’s, whose success could be attributed to communism and the Red Army. As Stalin said in his 1946 Election Speech, “The war proved that the Soviet social system is a genuinely people 's system, which grew up from the ranks of the people and enjoys their powerful support; that the Soviet social system is fully viable and stable form of organization of society.”. He goes on to mention that the series of 5 year industrial-growth plans he had implemented over the years had been immensely successful, and should be spread throughout war-stricken East Europe in order to restore it. Although it is certainly debatable how genuine these sentiments of Stalin’s were, at face value, it is clear that the wish to gain a sphere of influence over Eastern Europe during it’s restoration, was no more dangerous than that of the United States’ economic aid plans. Stalin wished to adopt a sphere of influence for his own assertion as a co-world power in the new international order that was being formed post-WW2. After all, it had already been established that there was no feasible way that there would be a hegemony of either U.S. or USSR ideology in the near future; the two would have to co-exist for the