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Which historical view of the causes of the Cold War seems to you most valid and why?
Introduction: The Cold War was the conflict between the United States and its NATO allies, described as the West, and the former Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, and described as the East. Both blocs, heaverly inflenced by their respective capitalist and communist ideologies, believed that the other was doomed to extinction. But instead of simply waiting for the other to collaspe, the superpowers engaged in a war of influence that rapidly spread over the whole world. What was the purpose of the conflict? Who fired the first shot? Many ideas and theories have emerged on the causes of the Cold War. The three major interpretations of the causes of the Cold War are the orthodox, the revisionist, and the post-revisionist views. To answer this essay question, one must analyse these different historical views of the Cold War. These three schools of thought will be used as an axis for this essay, by first looking at the orthodox view, its origins, beliefs, and flaws, then at the same aspects of the revisionist view. The study of the post-revisionist view will be combined with an explanation as to why this view seems to me the most valid in understanding the causes of the Cold War.
1) The orthodox view: The orthodox view is that the Soviet Union is guilty of starting the Cold War, due to the aggressive nature of the Marxist-Leninist doctrine, which lead to growing Soviet expansionism around the world.
a) Origins: The orthodox view appeared during the first post-war years. This view was a reaction to the violation of the Yalta Conference by the Soviet Union, seen by many historians as the start of the cold war. The imposition of Soviet-dominated governments in Eastern Europe, and the apparent aggressiveness of Soviet expansionism, influenced G.F.Kennan, a US diplomat and historian, to write his two famous articles, “The long telegram of 22 February 1946” and “The sources of Soviet conduct”. In these articles, Kennan develops the idea of long-term “containment” of the Soviet Union, and as S.E.Ambrose puts it, “It quickly became the quasi-official statement of American foreign policy.” (Ambrose, 1976, p.167). Kennan’s “Long Telegram” also contributed to the formation of the “Truman Doctrine”.
b) Beliefs: Kennan, and other orthodox historians, saw the Soviets as fundamentally hostile and paranoid, due to the aggressive nature of the Marxist-Leninist doctrine on which the USSR’s policies towards the capitalist west were founded. He was pessimistic about the alliance with the USSR before the war ended, unlike President Roosevelt. When it became clear that the USSR would not cooperate with the West, Kennan’s theories on the Soviets post-war goals gained in validity. After the refusal of “Marshall Aid” for the whole of East Europe by the Kremlin, the Truman Doctrine declared war on all advances of Soviet power over the world. Kennan’s mistrust of the Soviets was now that of the American government, and the whole western bloc. Martin McCauley notes that “[Orthodox historians] take it for granted that the [next page]