上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化” On the Causes of the Cold War 「键入文档副标题] 2011级材料科学与工程学院 材料科学与工程专业 5110519131 赵瑞杰 2012/12/3 [在此处键入文档摘要。摘要通常为文档内容的简短概括。在此处键入文档摘要。摘要 通常为文档内容的简短概括。]
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化” On the Causes of the Cold War [键入文档副标题] 2011 级材料科学与工程学院 材料科学与工程专业 5110519131 赵瑞杰 2012/12/3 [在此处键入文档摘要。摘要通常为文档内容的简短概括。在此处键入文档摘要。摘要 通常为文档内容的简短概括。]
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 ON THE CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR Abstract: The Cold War,led by the Communist Camp of the Soviet and the Capitalist Camp of the US was once a nightmare to the human race.The origin of the Cold War was complicate.This paper would concentrate on the ideology,nuclear weapon and international security to discuss the outbreak of the War. Key words: the Cold War;the United State;the Soviet Union;ideology;nuclear weapon;international security Well as the saying puts it,1,000 Hamlets of 1,000 readers is especially.When it comes to the causes of the Cold War,opinions vary from school to school.So far,with the development of the study of the history of the Cold War,it have witnessed four major opinions on the origin of the Cold War,they are,the orthodox opinions in the 1950s,the revisionists'opinions in the 1960s, the post-revisionists during late 1970s and early 1980s and the internationalists in early 1990s. Before I come to introduce my opinions,I would like to present short introductions on each of these major opinions of different times. The orthodox,as they had studied the Cold War at the beginning,they believed that it was Stalin and the Soviet's unreasonable expansionism in Eastern Europe which provoked the reasonable counterattack of the US that led to the outbreak of the Cold War.Later,the Revisionists came out and started to attack the opinions of the orthodox.What the Revisionists believed was that Truman and his Governments,which appealed the nature of the capitalism, had pushed the weaker Soviet into this war.Apparently,both these opinions were parochial, which led to the outcome of the post-revisionists.In their perspectives,in an ideological bipolar world,a state would use its military forces to impose societies similar to its own in order to ensure its security.1 With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union,many documents during the Cold War period had been declassified,which led to the study of the"new" Cold War,and the opinions of the internationalists.One representative of the internationalist is John Lewis Gaddis,whose opinions gave more emphasis on the interaction of nation-states,and based more on the declassified documents of Russia and the Eastern Europe Countries. I have been studied several materials of the Cold War,and combing with the acknowledge I acquire from the book A Panoramic History of American Civilization for Colleges2 and the course I have attended this semester Contemporary Diplomacies of China3,I eventually come to drew my conclusions on the causes of the Cold War. First and foremost,the confrontation of ideology is the foundation of outbreak the Cold War. During the Second World War,even though the social systems and ideology differed from 1 Based on US declassified documents on US diplomacy,military and national security at the beginning of CW 2 Written by Matthew Wei,Peking University Press,2008. 3 Presented by Zheng Hua from School of International Policies and Affairs 1
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 1 ON THE CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR Abstract: The Cold War, led by the Communist Camp of the Soviet and the Capitalist Camp of the US was once a nightmare to the human race. The origin of the Cold War was complicate. This paper would concentrate on the ideology, nuclear weapon and international security to discuss the outbreak of the War. Key words: the Cold War; the United State; the Soviet Union; ideology; nuclear weapon; international security Well as the saying puts it, 1,000 Hamlets of 1,000 readers is especially. When it comes to the causes of the Cold War, opinions vary from school to school. So far, with the development of the study of the history of the Cold War, it have witnessed four major opinions on the origin of the Cold War, they are, the orthodox opinions in the 1950s, the revisionists’ opinions in the 1960s, the post-revisionists during late 1970s and early 1980s and the internationalists in early 1990s. Before I come to introduce my opinions, I would like to present short introductions on each of these major opinions of different times. The orthodox, as they had studied the Cold War at the beginning, they believed that it was Stalin and the Soviet’s unreasonable expansionism in Eastern Europe which provoked the reasonable counterattack of the US that led to the outbreak of the Cold War. Later, the Revisionists came out and started to attack the opinions of the orthodox. What the Revisionists believed was that Truman and his Governments, which appealed the nature of the capitalism, had pushed the weaker Soviet into this war. Apparently, both these opinions were parochial, which led to the outcome of the post-revisionists. In their perspectives, in an ideological bipolar world, a state would use its military forces to impose societies similar to its own in order to ensure its security.1 With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, many documents during the Cold War period had been declassified, which led to the study of the “new” Cold War, and the opinions of the internationalists. One representative of the internationalist is John Lewis Gaddis, whose opinions gave more emphasis on the interaction of nation-states, and based more on the declassified documents of Russia and the Eastern Europe Countries. I have been studied several materials of the Cold War, and combing with the acknowledge I acquire from the book A Panoramic History of American Civilization for Colleges 2 and the course I have attended this semester Contemporary Diplomacies of China 3 , I eventually come to drew my conclusions on the causes of the Cold War. First and foremost, the confrontation of ideology is the foundation of outbreak the Cold War.During the Second World War, even though the social systems and ideology differed from 1 Based on US declassified documents on US diplomacy, military and national security at the beginning of CW 2 Written by Matthew Wei, Peking University Press,2008. 3 Presented by Zheng Hua from School of International Policies and Affairs
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 the Soviet to the USA,facing the common threat form the Germany-Italy-Japan Fascist Alliance, the Soviet Union and the USA had to join together and formed the Anti-fascist Alliance.However, things changed with the victory of the Anti-fascist Alliance and the end of the Second World War. On the one hand,the Second World War had impaired the power of the UK to a large scale, which made this country changed from the world-best one to a second-rated one.The weakened UK came to realized only united with the USA,could the British keep his seat in Europe and fight against the Soviet power in the Eastern Europe.Therefore,on the 5th of March 1946,Winston Churchill,Prime Minister of the UK delivered a long speech,The Sinews of Peace,in Futon, Missouri.He declared,"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic,an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of the Central Europe.Warsaw,Berlin,Prague,Vienna,Budapest,Belgrade,Bucharest,and Sofia,all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another,not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and,in many cases,increasing measure of control from Moscow."4 This famous speech was universally acknowledged as the First Shot of the Cold War. Also,on 12th March 1947,Truman broadcast his message in the United State Congress,that he divided the world into two parts,the freedom and totalitarian,and that all the countries in the world were forced to choose one form the other.Then in the name of aiding Greek and Turkey, he asked the Congress to prove 400 million dollars aiding to these two countries.This was the Truman Doctrine,which was the public rapture of the US and the Soviet Union.What's more,the Truman Government launched the Marshall Plan in July 1947,which seemingly intended to revive the Europe,but in fact aimed at controlling and consolidating the capitalism in the Europe so as to restrict the expansion of the Communism in Eastern Europe.Besides,the US Government advocated carrying out the policy of National Self-determination in the Eastern Europe,allowing the local people to elect their own government,which apparently intended to impair the influence of the communism in these areas and succeeded non-communism there.As in Asia,the US assisted Japan to establish similar democratic policy system,and helped the Chiang Kai-shek Government to exterminate the Communist Party,which indicated that the US's ambition to take control of the Asian Area. On the other hand,the Soviet Union,which had developed its military power during the Second World War,successfully established a series of soviet-friendly communist countries in the Eastern Europe.To fight back the Marshall Plan carrying out in the Europe,the Soviet Union announced the Molotov Plan in July.What's more,at the Warsaw Meeting in December,the Soviet put forward the concept of "Communist Camp led by the Soviet Union"and"Capitalist Camp led by the US".Meanwhile,the Europe Communist Information Bureau was established, which symbolized the outbreak of the Cold War. Secondly,nuclear weapon accelerated the outbreak of the Cold War. The first atomic bomb of the US was exploded on 16th July 1945.Hearing this news,Truman was very excited and told Byrnes,"it's time for us to achieve our goals."5 Thus,we can see Truman had been waiting for a chance to carry tough measures upon the Soviet Union.As Truman wrote in his memoirs,"We have achieved our absolutely secret and the boldest strategy, 4Quote from A Panoramic History of American Civilization for Colleges,Matthew Wei,Peking University Pres5,2008P255-256 5(美)小查尔斯·米在波兹坦的会晤三联出版社，1978,290页 2
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 2 the Soviet to the USA, facing the common threat form the Germany-Italy-Japan Fascist Alliance, the Soviet Union and the USA had to join together and formed the Anti-fascist Alliance. However, things changed with the victory of the Anti-fascist Alliance and the end of the Second World War. On the one hand, the Second World War had impaired the power of the UK to a large scale, which made this country changed from the world-best one to a second-rated one. The weakened UK came to realized only united with the USA, could the British keep his seat in Europe and fight against the Soviet power in the Eastern Europe. Therefore, on the 5 th of March 1946, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the UK delivered a long speech, The Sinews of Peace, in Futon, Missouri. He declared, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of the Central Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and , in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow.” 4 This famous speech was universally acknowledged as the First Shot of the Cold War. Also, on 12 th March 1947, Truman broadcast his message in the United State Congress, that he divided the world into two parts, the freedom and totalitarian, and that all the countries in the world were forced to choose one form the other. Then in the name of aiding Greek and Turkey, he asked the Congress to prove 400 million dollars aiding to these two countries. This was the Truman Doctrine, which was the public rapture of the US and the Soviet Union. What’s more, the Truman Government launched the Marshall Plan in July 1947, which seemingly intended to revive the Europe, but in fact aimed at controlling and consolidating the capitalism in the Europe so as to restrict the expansion of the Communism in Eastern Europe. Besides, the US Government advocated carrying out the policy of National Self-determination in the Eastern Europe, allowing the local people to elect their own government, which apparently intended to impair the influence of the communism in these areas and succeeded non-communism there. As in Asia, the US assisted Japan to establish similar democratic policy system, and helped the Chiang Kai-shek Government to exterminate the Communist Party, which indicated that the US’s ambition to take control of the Asian Area. On the other hand, the Soviet Union, which had developed its military power during the Second World War, successfully established a series of soviet-friendly communist countries in the Eastern Europe. To fight back the Marshall Plan carrying out in the Europe, the Soviet Union announced the Molotov Plan in July. What’s more, at the Warsaw Meeting in December, the Soviet put forward the concept of “Communist Camp led by the Soviet Union” and “Capitalist Camp led by the US”. Meanwhile, the Europe Communist Information Bureau was established, which symbolized the outbreak of the Cold War. Secondly, nuclear weapon accelerated the outbreak of the Cold War. The first atomic bomb of the US was exploded on 16 th July 1945. Hearing this news, Truman was very excited and told Byrnes, “it’s time for us to achieve our goals.” 5 Thus, we can see Truman had been waiting for a chance to carry tough measures upon the Soviet Union. As Truman wrote in his memoirs, “We have achieved our absolutely secret and the boldest strategy, 4 Quote from A Panoramic History of American Civilization for Colleges, Matthew Wei, Peking University Press,2008 P255-256 5 (美)小查尔斯·米 在波兹坦的会晤 三联出版社， 1978， 290 页
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 we now possess a martial weapon which can turn the direction of both history and civilization.5" The successful development of the atomic bomb had bestowed the US a trump card against the Soviet Union,allowing the US to achieve its ambition before the Soviet Union developed its own nuclear weapon.Hoover,president of the US claimed,"So far,we,and only we America have possessed the atomic bomb,we can impose our policies to the world.7"Taking the atomic bomb as its backup force,the United State showed his ambition of dominating the world without any concealing.Thus,the atomic bomb had become the accelerator of the outbreak of the Cold War. Thirdly,the concern of international security also contributed to the outbreak of the Cold War. Both these countries,the US and the Soviet Union were lack of a sense of safety after the Second World War.What made the anxious was not the military invasion of the Soviet Union,but the post-war economic condition and the tendency of psychological politics would lead to the Soviet's decision to exert its influence outside the span of the traditional security benefit.Also, the US government believed that time is beneficial to the Soviet,and it would soon take the place of the previous Germany and Japan.Besides,the revolutionary nationalists would seek inspiration and supports from the Soviet Union,which would attract some countries into the path of the Soviet.What they also worried about was that the Communists in France,Italy and many other countries might take the regime legally or even illegally,which would strengthen the power of the Soviet Union to a large scale.In all,to the perspectives of the decision maker in D.C,this kind of international situation and the domestic policies of other countries made the post-war world filled with threat and danger. And the Soviet Union was no exception.With the end of the Second World War,the Soviet Union carried out a series of defensive expansion in the Eastern Europe,the Near and Middle East,and the Far East out of the security concern based on the history and reality.From the historical point of view,the Soviet Union had suffered from the large scale of invasion from the West for several times.Especially during the period between the First World War and the Second World War,the West Europe had launched invasions to this country twice,and even the worse, the Second World War had brought this country a tremendous damage.In order to maintain the security of the country,Stalin tried hard to expand the Eastern boundary,meanwhile assisting the Soviet-friendly countries in Eastern Europe,making the previously dangerous allay become a safe boundary. However,the decision-maker in D.C.thought this series of actions of the Soviet Union was, beyond any doubt,out of the needs of expansion.When Truman came to power,he claimed that the Soviet Union had totally betrayed the promise of executing free election in the East Europe, and that the US would adopt tougher measures to force the Soviet Union to cooperate under the wills of the East.Least than two weeks after Truman's being in the White House,the Soviet Foreign Minister,Vycheslav Molotov addressed at the Los Angeles Conference,execute your promises in the treaty,or we won't negotiate with you.3 Thus,severe mistakes occurred as the both sides trying to pursuit their own benefit,which got worse and worse as time moved by. In all,the origin of the outbreak of the Cold War was complicated.Some scholars even 6论冷战根源，周倩，剑南文学：经典阅读，2012(3) 7论冷战根源，周倩，剑南文学：经典阅读，2012(3) 8浅析冷战形成的原因，刘红伟，陕西社会科学论丛，第三期，2011 3
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 3 we now possess a martial weapon which can turn the direction of both history and civilization.6” The successful development of the atomic bomb had bestowed the US a trump card against the Soviet Union, allowing the US to achieve its ambition before the Soviet Union developed its own nuclear weapon. Hoover, president of the US claimed, “So far, we, and only we America have possessed the atomic bomb, we can impose our policies to the world.7” Taking the atomic bomb as its backup force, the United State showed his ambition of dominating the world without any concealing. Thus, the atomic bomb had become the accelerator of the outbreak of the Cold War. Thirdly, the concern of international security also contributed to the outbreak of the Cold War. Both these countries, the US and the Soviet Union were lack of a sense of safety after the Second World War. What made the anxious was not the military invasion of the Soviet Union, but the post-war economic condition and the tendency of psychological politics would lead to the Soviet’s decision to exert its influence outside the span of the traditional security benefit. Also, the US government believed that time is beneficial to the Soviet, and it would soon take the place of the previous Germany and Japan. Besides, the revolutionary nationalists would seek inspiration and supports from the Soviet Union, which would attract some countries into the path of the Soviet. What they also worried about was that the Communists in France, Italy and many other countries might take the regime legally or even illegally, which would strengthen the power of the Soviet Union to a large scale. In all, to the perspectives of the decision maker in D.C, this kind of international situation and the domestic policies of other countries made the post-war world filled with threat and danger. And the Soviet Union was no exception. With the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union carried out a series of defensive expansion in the Eastern Europe, the Near and Middle East, and the Far East out of the security concern based on the history and reality. From the historical point of view, the Soviet Union had suffered from the large scale of invasion from the West for several times. Especially during the period between the First World War and the Second World War, the West Europe had launched invasions to this country twice, and even the worse, the Second World War had brought this country a tremendous damage. In order to maintain the security of the country, Stalin tried hard to expand the Eastern boundary, meanwhile assisting the Soviet-friendly countries in Eastern Europe, making the previously dangerous allay become a safe boundary. However, the decision-maker in D.C. thought this series of actions of the Soviet Union was, beyond any doubt, out of the needs of expansion. When Truman came to power, he claimed that the Soviet Union had totally betrayed the promise of executing free election in the East Europe, and that the US would adopt tougher measures to force the Soviet Union to cooperate under the wills of the East. Least than two weeks after Truman’s being in the White House, the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vycheslav Molotov addressed at the Los Angeles Conference, execute your promises in the treaty, or we won’t negotiate with you.8 Thus, severe mistakes occurred as the both sides trying to pursuit their own benefit, which got worse and worse as time moved by. In all, the origin of the outbreak of the Cold War was complicated. Some scholars even 6 论冷战根源， 周倩， 剑南文学：经典阅读， 2012（3） 7 论冷战根源， 周倩， 剑南文学：经典阅读， 2012（3） 8 浅析冷战形成的原因， 刘红伟， 陕西社会科学论丛，第三期，2011
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 believed that the religion of these two countries also contributed to the War.However,I don't find it make sense.As the Soviet Union was a Communist Country,the position of the Eastern Orthodox would not be put in such an important place when the communists making their decisions,leave alone their historical influence when considering the fact that most of the communists were strict atheists and firm materialists.The same way goes to the point view if some believed that the Christian religion of the US contribute to the Cold War.Scholars thought the American believed that they were the Chosen People of Jehovah,thus they wanted to be a model kingdom to the world.I think this is funny and make no sense either.I don't mean the concept of the Chosen People,who knows whether if this is God's will,but it won't be possible for all the Christian to remind the teaching of the God,love your enemy as yourself.Therefore,if the Americans were really strictly lean to God's teaching,I don't believe whether the Cold War would take place. When I look back on the history of the Cold War,I always feel it thrilling.Two super power in this planet threatening each other with the atomic bomb,restricting of the communication of both side and bringing a grave and nervous atmosphere to the world.It were very likely,if one live at that time,the Third World War would take place the next morning he got up,and an atomic bomb were exploded the other day he went to sleep.The entire human race didn't feel at ease at that time.Truly,this history reminds me of lots of things,not only in terms of the diplomacy of a country,but many other things about my living in the world.First of all,the importance of communication is beyond words.Both the US and the Soviet failed to know what each other was thinking about at that time,which led to many mistaken decisions,one of which was the Korean War.As to an individual,if one do not convey his thoughts to other,trust is less likely to build between him and others.Also,it will make people feel uncomfortable and even unsafe to stay with him.What's more,I also learn that one should respect the differences between him and others and seek the similarities.We can see that the great difference in ideology was not accepted by both sides during the Cold War,each of them believed the other was worse and should compromise,which ended up to be fierce confrontation of both sides Well as the saying goes,every leaf is different.It won't be possible to have all the people accept each other's principle.Therefore,due respect should be shown to others when confronting with the differences so as to build up a harmonious relationship. Even though it have been a period of time since the Cold War ended,the study and researches about the outbreak of the Cold War and the war itself is still developing around the world.Since it had once been a tragedy to the human race,it must have its unique value and teaching,which worth our concentration and studying. Reference: 刘伟红， 《浅析冷战形成的原因》陕西社会科学论丛：第3期： 魏啸飞，《美国文明史英文教程》北京大学出版社，2008，P253 雪莲，《美苏“冷战“的起源》，赤峰学院学报（汉文哲学社会科学版）第32卷第2期， 2011 周倩， 《浅论冷战根源》剑南文学：经典阅读2012年第三卷 4
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 4 believed that the religion of these two countries also contributed to the War. However, I don’t find it make sense. As the Soviet Union was a Communist Country, the position of the Eastern Orthodox would not be put in such an important place when the communists making their decisions, leave alone their historical influence when considering the fact that most of the communists were strict atheists and firm materialists. The same way goes to the point view if some believed that the Christian religion of the US contribute to the Cold War. Scholars thought the American believed that they were the Chosen People of Jehovah, thus they wanted to be a model kingdom to the world. I think this is funny and make no sense either. I don’t mean the concept of the Chosen People, who knows whether if this is God’s will, but it won’t be possible for all the Christian to remind the teaching of the God, love your enemy as yourself. Therefore, if the Americans were really strictly lean to God’s teaching, I don’t believe whether the Cold War would take place. When I look back on the history of the Cold War, I always feel it thrilling. Two super power in this planet threatening each other with the atomic bomb, restricting of the communication of both side and bringing a grave and nervous atmosphere to the world. It were very likely, if one live at that time, the Third World War would take place the next morning he got up, and an atomic bomb were exploded the other day he went to sleep. The entire human race didn’t feel at ease at that time. Truly, this history reminds me of lots of things, not only in terms of the diplomacy of a country, but many other things about my living in the world. First of all, the importance of communication is beyond words. Both the US and the Soviet failed to know what each other was thinking about at that time, which led to many mistaken decisions, one of which was the Korean War. As to an individual, if one do not convey his thoughts to other, trust is less likely to build between him and others. Also, it will make people feel uncomfortable and even unsafe to stay with him. What’s more, I also learn that one should respect the differences between him and others and seek the similarities. We can see that the great difference in ideology was not accepted by both sides during the Cold War, each of them believed the other was worse and should compromise, which ended up to be fierce confrontation of both sides. Well as the saying goes, every leaf is different. It won’t be possible to have all the people accept each other’s principle. Therefore, due respect should be shown to others when confronting with the differences so as to build up a harmonious relationship. Even though it have been a period of time since the Cold War ended, the study and researches about the outbreak of the Cold War and the war itself is still developing around the world. Since it had once been a tragedy to the human race, it must have its unique value and teaching, which worth our concentration and studying. Reference: 刘伟红， 《浅析冷战形成的原因》 陕西社会科学论丛； 第 3 期； 魏啸飞， 《美国文明史英文教程》 北京大学出版社， 2008， P253 雪莲， 《美苏“冷战“的起源》， 赤峰学院学报（汉文哲学社会科学版） 第 32 卷第 2 期， 2011 周倩， 《浅论冷战根源》 剑南文学：经典阅读 2012 年第三卷