Cold War - Guerra Fria

Kingston University[pic 1] 

  Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Economics BsC

                             

Capitalism

“The Ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.”

Joao Felipe Leal Cordeiro

 K1448775

                                                                              1622 Words

Contents

I - Introduction : What was The Cold War………………………………………………………………3

  1.1  - World power hegemony and Capitalism Golden Age ………………………………………….3

II - Main Body : Conflict between the USSR and the US ………………………………………………4

  2.1 - Ideological conflict…………………………………………………………………………………..4

  2.2 - The Importance of Alliances………………………………………………………………………..4

  2.3 - Parallel wars on other countries …………………………………………………………………..5

  2.4 - Prove of the Soviet Union defeat …………………………………………………………………5

III - Conclusion

  3.1 - Summary of informations…………………………………………………………………….……6

        I -

        Soon after the Second World War, when humanity was finally achieving equilibrium between global powers, a new conflict arose. The Cold War, an international and multidimensional issue between opposing economic and social systems, bi-polarized the world into Capitalism against Communism. However a major change was seen in the Cold War scenario when compared to previous conflicts in history. As the further analysis will prove to be in fact true, the conflict between the United states and Allies against the USSR was driven because of the nations’ ideologies and the threats they brought to the newly stabilized world, instead of the military conflict itself.

        In a dispute for the world power hegemony, two major alliances were formed, in one side the Soviet Union and it’s communist system and on the other side the democratic capitalism of the United States. After the Second World War, the capitalist countries were passing through the Capitalism Golden Ages; which included massive growth of economic index and a political system that was both legitimate and democratic. The post-war Golden Age was pushed by the American capitalism, due to their sharp increase in GDP. The American economic improvements were guided by Keynesian theories, which are known today as the ‘post-war Keynesian doctrine’, widely accepted until the early 70’s. Furthermore as a crisis in the capitalism system grew in the end of the 1970’s, the American society felt the need to enhance the presence of capitalistic systems around the world to prove its efficiency. However, along the same decade the Soviet Block increased  its influence in other nations, propagating an opposing ideology with roots on Marxist and Leninist ideals of communism. As both parties were becoming more influential the direct conflict became imminent.

II -

        The tension between the USA and the USSR was directly related to post World War agreements, moreover according to some historians the soviet-american relations began deteriorating soon after the disagreement over the treatment of Germany: a nation which could benefit either economic system once in control. In the 1960’s the USA was the only country with an economically and strategically enhanced position, while the other nations were still dealing with the costs of the previous war. The American GNP increased from 88,6 Billion dollars on 1939 to 220 Billion dollars on 1945, furthermore the USA also had more than 12,5 million soldiers and the largest fleet on the world with 1,200 major ships. On the other hand the Soviet army was by far the largest military force in Europe, being an intimidating colossus with 11,9 million soldiers in 1945 and military forces extended from the pacific to the Elbe until the Baltic states. Hence, the military of the USSR was used to conquer most of Eastern Europe, and therefore impose their economic system; which consequently led to a spread of fear over other countries that depended on capitalism for their wellbeing, such as the USA.

        This conflict was at it’s core an ideological struggle between two economic and social systems, caused because their extremely different principles and values: totalitarian communism and democratic capitalism. Both the USSR and the USA saw each other as illegitimate regimes, which would only cause harm for their economy if it continued to exist. As John Lewis argued on his book “ “…..” the tensions that are growing out of fundamentally different social systems and views of the world turned out to be irresolvable for both powers. Making a war focusing its forces on supporting their own systems and proving they are the legitimate “. As the Cold War was gaining momentum,  each party was fighting not only to prevail, but also to win de alliance of as many other countries they could.

        Although the roots of the Cold War were based on ideological contradictions, the conflict still represented a ‘military period’, where both sides of the issue maintained a powerful military which was indeed prepared for direct conflict. During the decades of the war, both sides made investments on technology, mainly the development of atomic bombs, as well as increases in the military budget; such as the budget for purchase of weapons, on what historians call the Arms Race. The historian John Lewis stated in a comment about the Cold War military technology that “A direct conflict on that time would probably result on the extinction of both countries , as both had nuclear weapons”. The direct confrontation between the USSR and the USA was not a reality on that time, however the conflicts on other territories such as Asia and Eurasia were increasing, as a result from the direct influence of the battle between economic systems.