Cold War Interpretations
Origins of the Cold War
‘The Cold War was not inevitable; yet it became a reality because of the innate needs of the Soviet Union and the United States.’
From: M. McCauley The Origins of the Cold War, 1983.
'Stalin's dictatorship remained as harsh - and as reliant on purges - as it had always been; but with the onset of McCarthyism in the United States and with irrefutable evidence that espionage had taken place on both sides of the Atlantic, it was not at all clear that the western democracies themselves could retain the tolerance for dissent and the respect for civil liberties that distinguished them from the dictators, whether of the fascist or the communist variety.'
From: John Lewis Gaddis The Cold War, 2006.
'Fundamentally the cold war was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, fuelled on both sides by the belief that the ideology of the other side had to be destroyed. In this sense...co-existence was not possible...'
From: John W. Mason The Cold War, 1945-1991, 1996.
'The Cold War was caused by the military expansionism of Stalin and his successors. The American response… was basically a defensive reaction. As long as Soviet leaders clung to their dream of imposing Communism on the world, the West had no way (other than surrender) of ending the conflict.'
From: Michael Hart The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, 1986
'An analysis of the origins of the Cold War which leaves out those factors - the intransigence of Leninist ideology, the sinister dynamics of a totalitarian society and the madness of Stalin - is obviously incomplete. It was these factors which made it hard for the West to accept the thesis that Russia was moved only by a desire to protect its security and would be satisfied by the control of Eastern Europe;'
From: Arthur Schlesinger Origins of the Cold War, 1967.
'Misunderstanding and uncompromising visions of national security on both sides helped lead to the Cold War.'
From: Sam Walton Who was at fault for the Cold War?, 2011.
'Particularly after the atom bomb was created and used, the attitude of the United States left the Soviets with but one real option; either acquiescence in American proposals or be confronted with American power and hostility. It was the decision of the United States to employ its new and awesome power in keeping with the Open Door policy, which crystallized the Cold War.'
From: William Appleman Williams The Tragedy of American Diplomacy, 1962.