Who Was To Blame For The Cold War Essay Example For Students

Who Was To Blame For The Cold War? Essay Who Was To Blame For The Cold War?The blame for the Cold War cannot be placed on one person itdeveloped as a series of chain reactions as a struggle for supremacy. It can beargued that the Cold War was inevitable, and therefore no ones fault, due tothe differences in the capitalist and communist ideologies. It was only theneed for self-preservation that had caused the two countries to sink theirdifferences temporarily during the Second World War. Yet many of the tensionsthat existed in the Cold War can be attributed to Stalins policy of Sovietexpansion. It is necessary, therefore, to examine the role of Stalin as acatalyst to the Cold War. We will write a custom essay on Who Was To Blame For The Cold War? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Stalins foreign policies contributed an enormous amount to the tensionsof the Cold War. His aim, to take advantage of the military situation in post-war Europe to strengthen Russian influence, was perceived to be a threat to theAmericans. Stalin was highly effective in his goal to gain territory, withvictories in Poland, Romania, and Finland. To the western world, this successlooked as if it were the beginning of serious Russian aggressions. The westernview of the time saw Stalin as doing one of two things: either continuing theexpansionist policies of the tsars that preceded him, or worse, spreadingcommunism across the world now that his one-state notion had been fulfilled. It also must be mentioned that Stalin is seen as wanting unchalleged personalpower and a rebuilt Russia strong enough to withstand caplitalistencirclement.1Admittedly, the first view of Stalin, as an imperialist leader, may beskewed. The Russians claim, and have always claimed, that Stalins motives werepurely defensive. Stalins wished to create a buffer zone of Communist statesaround him to protect Soviet Russia from the capitalist West. In this sense,his moves were not aggressive at all they were truly defensive moves toprotect the Soviet system. His suspicions of Western hostility were notunfounded: the British and U.S. intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918-1920) were still fresh in Stalins memory when he took power. Furthermore,Stalin was bitter because he was not informed of U.S. nuclear capabilities untilshortly before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Compounding tensionswas the fact that Stalins request that Russia be allowed to participate in theoccupation of J apan was denied, even though Russia had declared war on Japan on8th August (the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 10th August) and had beenresponsible for annexing south Sakhalin as agreed to at Yalta. This failure tobe included in the Western worlds politics created an even deeper rift betweenthe two superpowers. Clashes between Stalin and the West first appear at the Yalta andPotsdam Conferences in February and July 1946, respectively. Though the mood atYalta was more or less cooperative, Stalin agitated matters by demanding thatall German territory east of the Rivers Oder and Neisse be given to Poland (andthus remain under Soviet influence). Both Roosevelt and Churchill refused toagree to these demands. The Soviet Union responded bluntly, saying ..theSoviet Government cannot agree to the existence in Poland of a Governmenthostile to it.2 The atmosphere at the Potsdam Conference was noticeably cooler,with Truman replacing Roosevelt as the representative from the United States. Trumanhad been kept in complete ignorance by Roosevelt about foreign policy,3 which meant that Truman was not aware of the secret assurances of securityRoosevelt had made to Stalin. His policy towards Soviet Russia, then, was muchmore severe than that of Roosevelt. He was quoted as saying We must stand upto the Russian sWe have been too easy with them.4 Both Truman and Churchillwere annoyed because Germany east of the Rivers Oder and Neisse were beingoccupied by Russian troops and were being run by the pro-communist Polishgovernment, who expelled over five million Germans. This went directly againstthe agreements made at Yalta earlier in the year. The west viewed this as anact of aggression on the part of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union respondedwith a statement saying Poland broders with the Soviet Union, what sic cannotbe said of Great Britain or the United States.5From this point, the Cold War truly becomes a chain reaction. In Marchof 1946, Churchill presented his Iron Curtain speech at Fulton, Missouri, inresponse to the spread of communism in eastern Europe. He called for a westernalliance to combat the threat. Stalins response was hostile: rather thantrying to negotiate a peaceful settlement, Stalin continued to tighten his gripon eastern Europe. Communist governments were installed in e very area ofeastern Europe (barring Czechoslovakia) by the end of 1947. These governmentswere implemented by guerrilla tactics: elections were rigged, non-communistmembers of the governments were expelled, with many being arrested or executed,and eventually, Stalin dissolved all non-communist political parties. Stalinbegan to implement a reign of terror using the Russian Army and his secretpolice force. Moreover, Stalin had increased his influence in the Russian zoneof Germany as if it belonged to Russia. He allowed only the communist party anddrained the area of its vital resources. .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c , .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c .postImageUrl , .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c , .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c:hover , .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c:visited , .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c:active { border:0!important; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c:active , .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u26211247e194874fbe7191746a67941c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: You Belong To Me EssayThe West reacted. It appeared to them that Russias attitude wentagainst all of the promises that Stalin had made at Yalta namely, that Stalinwould permit free elections in the eastern European states. Russia argued thatit needed to maintain a sphere of influence in the area for security reasons: tothis, even Churchill agreed in 1944. Further, Russia argued that the areas hadnever had democratic governments, and that a communist system would allow these backward countries to progress and flourish. Stalins policy of expansionworried the West: in response, the West introduced the Truman Doctrine and theMarshall Plan, both of which sought to arrest the s pread of communism. Stalins aggressive tactics did not end with creating a sphere ofinfluence. Stalin re-established Cominform in September 1947. Cominformrepresented a union of all of the communist states within Europe, includingrepresentatives from the French and Italian communist parties. Even within thiscommunist structure, Stalin had to exert his influence. It was not enough for astate to be merely communist: it had to adopt the Russian-style communism. Furthermore, the states within Cominform were expected to keep trade within theCominform member states, and were discouraged from making any contact with theWestern world. Russia strengthened the ties with the Cominform countriesthrough the Molotov plan, which offered Russian aid to the satellite states, andthe establishment of Comecon, which served to coordinate the economic policiesof the communist states. These actions on the part of Stalin only increased therift between the capitalist and the communist systems, and made futurecompromise and negotiations more difficult. Perhaps the most aggressive move that Stalin made, however, was thetakeover of Czechoslovakia in February 1948. Several key issues arose in thisconflict. First, the U.S. felt alienated when Czechoslovakia rejected MarshallAid, which the U.S. blamed on the influence of the communist party. Second, thePrime Minister of Czechoslovakia was a communist, the President and ForeignMinister were not. Finally, the fact that the communists took power inCzechoslovakia by means of an armed coup sent waves of fear through the westernworld, causing the iron curtain to fall even further. The U.N. had its handstied, because there were free elections (the candidates were all communist)and there was no proof of Russian involvement. While it cannot be proved thatStalin ordered the coup, the signals were clear: Stalin had likely encouragedthe coup, and it was not coincidental that Russian troops in Austria were movedup to the Czech border. Czechoslovakia was the final east-west bridge, and withthe fall o f it, the iron curtain was complete. The final hostile movement of Stalin of importance was the Berlinblockade and airlift. When Russia grew dissatisfied with the economic disparitythat had developed in Berlin, it responded by closing all road, rail and canallinks between West Berlin and West German. The goal was to force western powersfrom West Berlin by reducing it to the starvation point. While the blame for the Cold War cannot be placed on a single man,Stalins expansionist policy was clearly an ever-present catalyst in the war. Certain Truman was not blameless, but the U.S. was not expanding its empire the Soviet Union was. Whether the expansion was for self-preservation, orwhether it was merely imperialistic expansion, is relatively immaterial. WhatStalins actions unarguably did was start a string of chain-reactions within thewestern powers, and therefore, a good deal of the blame must rest with him. BibliographyAronsen, Lawrence Martin Kitchen, The Origins of the Cold War in ComparativePerspective: American, British and Canadian Relations with the Soviet Union1941-1948. London: MacMillan Press, 1988. .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc , .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc .postImageUrl , .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc , .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc:hover , .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc:visited , .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc:active { border:0!important; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc:active , .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u66c1af58943a7a6685b7cdfbe8b337dc:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Philippine Typhoons EssayDavis, Lynn E. The Cold War Begins: Soviet-American Conflict over EasternEurope. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1974. Dockrill, Michael. The Cold War: 1945-1963. London: MacMillan Education Ltd.,1988. Halle, Louis J. The Cold War as History. London: Chatto Windus, 1971. Jonsson, Christer. Superpower: Comparing American and Soviet Foreign Policy. London: Frances Pinter Publishers, 1984. LaFeber, Walter. America, Russia, and the Cold War 1945-1990, 6th ed.. NewYork: McGraw Hill, Inc., 1991. Maier, Charles S., ed. The Origins of the Cold War and Contemporary Europe. NewYork: New Viewpoints, 1978. McCauley, Martin. The Origins of the Cold War. Essex: Longman Group Ltd., 1983. . Smith, Joseph. The Cold War, 1945-1965. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, Ltd., 1989. History

Laughter In Austen Essays - Pride And Prejudice, Mr. Darcy

Laughter In Austen "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." What we read is just the opposite; a single woman must be in want of a man with a good fortune. In this first line of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice we are at once introduced to language rich with satire. The comic tendencies displayed in the novel's language introduce a theme very important to the novel?the character's laughter and their attitudes towards laughter as an index to their morality and social philosophy. Beginning with Darcy's opinion, expressed early in the novel, that Miss Bennet"smiled too much," attitudes towards laughter divide the characters. Most obviously Darcy, all "grave propriety," is opposed to Elizabeth, who has a"lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous." We tend to consider Elizabeth's position the normative?more closely aligned with modern theories of humor. She laughs at hypocrisy, vanity, pretension, the gap between statement and action, and between theory and practice. On the other hand, Darcy takes a conservative attitude toward laughter. His taciturn disposition and unwillingness to be the butt of mirth are clearly described. He tells those assembled in the Netherfield drawing room that "it has been the study of his life to avoid those weaknesses which often expose a strong understanding to ridicule." But the deficiencies of this view, evident enough in Darcy's own demeanor, are revealed in the parodies of it which appear in the novel. Everywhere in Pride and Prejudice, pompous gravity is laughed out of existence. In the absurdly formal utterances of a Mary Bennet or a Mr. Collins (neither of whom is ever known to laugh), Austen demonstrates that a total lack of humor has effects the reverse of what a situation demands. One example of this is in Mr. Collins' parody of the prodigal son in his letter of"consolation" to Mr. Bennet on news of Lydia's elopement: "Let me advise you...to console yourself as much as possible, to throw off your unworthy child from your affection forever, and leave her to reap the fruits of her own heinous offence." Yet another example is Mary's formulaic response to the same event: "we must stem the tide of malice, and pour into the wounded bosoms of each other, the balm of sisterly consolation." The humor of these characters lies in their unawareness of the claims of spontaneity in certain situations. They can produce, instead, rote and "institutional" responses. In fact, Mr. Collins admits to Mr. Bennet that he arranges beforehand "such little elegant compliments as may be adapted to ordinary occasions." Elizabeth's attitude is very different. In an early conversation, she and Miss Bingley form a temporary alliance to poke fun at Darcy. Elizabeth desires to "Tease him?laugh at him," and to Miss Bingley's demure and pompous refusal cries: "Mr. Darcy is not to be laughed at! That is an uncommon advantage, and uncommon I hope it will continue, for it would such a great loss to me to have so many such an acquaintance. I dearly love to laugh." Elizabeth is a defender of banter as a means of proving the worth of a person or idea. And when Darcy later defends himself by pointing out that "the wisest and best of men, nay, the wisest and best of their actions, may be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke." Elizabeth replies, "Certainly there are such people, but I hope I am not one of them. I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can." When Darcy somewhat pontifically distinguishes between pride and vanity, "Elizabeth turned away to hide a smile..." Yet another points in the novel, Elizabeth's view of humor does not prevail as laughter becomes, on occasions, everything the grave Darcy suggests it to be. Mr. Bennet, for example, employs his wit as an assertion of superiority required by his sense of defeat: "For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?" No less subversive is Lydia's laughter, however different her loud buffoonery is from her father's cool satire. Lydia's laughter is excessive and silly, and beyond this, her hyperboles ("Aye," "Lord,"), her grammatical failures ("Kitty and me were to spend the day there"), and her constant inattention to the decorum required of the occasion (as when she interrupts Mr. Collins in his

Compare Contrast Essay Samples - How to Find a Quality Online Resource

Compare Contrast Essay Samples - How to Find a Quality Online ResourceA lot of students today are searching for ways to compare contrast essay samples online, as they want to learn more about this topic that they might need. It is just good to know that the process of finding a quality online resource to get more information on contrast essay samples is not that hard.Most of the materials online these days are easy to understand, and you will be able to get your homework done easily. However, it's up to you to make sure that the resources that you find are actually good. It's also important that you are getting everything that you need in order to do the assignments.In a side note, it would be best to have everything ready before you go searching for a resource. You need to have a good outline of what you want to do, as well as a list of the types of essays that you would like to learn more about. The more information that you have already, the better it is for you to find a comparis on essay sample to help you.This may sound like a waste of time to some, but it really isn't. This will let you know what you need to do in order to learn the specific type of material that you are looking for. If you don't get this straight from the start, you won't be able to find one that is easy to use.Another thing that you need to remember is that there is not only one way to get the information that you need. You can get the information from different resources, so it is good to get everything that you need from a few different sources. This will allow you to choose what you think is the best resource for you.Now, most of the online resources that you will find online have a variety of lessons that you can take advantage of. This makes it easier for you to get a number of different lessons, so you will be able to mix and match the material that you are learning.In short, when you compare contrast essay samples, it doesn't matter what type of papers you are learning, just know that you will be able to learn from a number of different resources. This will let you keep track of everything and then find a resource that suits your needs best.