Transcript The Cold War: Who`s to Blame?

The Cold War: Who’s to Blame?
IB HOTA 12
Topic #5: The Cold War
Origins of the Cold War
 Coexistence with other political & social system was
impossible
 Intense Arms Race
 Ally themselves with regimes and movements that went
along with their stated political ideology and beliefs
 Intense Propaganda ~ West depict USSR as a totalitarian
equivalent of Nazi Germany while USSR painted capitalism
as warmongering system
Problems of international relations
after the Second World War
 Towards the end of WWII, the harmony that existed between the
USSR and the USA began to wear
 Soon relations became so difficult that, although no actual
fighting took place between the two opposing sides, the decade
after 1945 saw the first phase of The ColdWar.
 Instead of allowing their mutual hostility to be expressed in open
fighting, the rival powers attacked each other with propaganda and
economic measures, with a general policy of non-cooperation, a massive
conventional and nuclear arms race and by numerous proxy wars—
A proxy war is a conflict between two nations where neither
country directly engages the other.
Both superpowers gathered allies
around them:
USSR
USA
 Between 1945 and 1948, the
 The USA hastened the recovery
USSR drew under its zone of
influence most of the states
inWestern Europe, with the rise
of communism in those
countries.
 A communist government was
established in North
Korea (1948) and the communist
bloc seemed further
strengthened in 1949 when the
communists in China under Mao
won the long-drawn civil war.
of Japan and fostered her as an
ally, and worked closely
with Britain and fourteen other
European countries., providing
them with vast economic aid in
order to build-up an anticommunist bloc.
 Whatever one bloc suggested or
did was viewed by the other as
having ulterior and aggressive
motives.
What caused the Cold War?
 1. Differences in Principle
 The basic cause of the conflict lay on the differences of principle
between the communist states and the capitalist states:
The Communist System of
organizing the state and society was
based on Marxist ideas; he believed
that the wealth of a country should
be collectively owned and shared by
everybody. The economy should be
centrally planned and everyone
would get what they need and
everyone should work for the
collective good.
The Capitalist System
operates on the basis of private
ownership of a country’s wealth.
The driving forces behind this
system are private enterprise in
the pursuit of making profits.
Thus individuals are encouraged
to work hard by the promise of
individual reward.
What caused the Cold War?
 3. US and British politicians were hostile to the Soviet
government
 During the war, relations between the USA and USSR had been
good, and Roosevelt was inclined to trust Stalin.
 After Roosevelt’s death in 1945, his successor, Truman was more
suspicious and toughened his attitude towards the communists.
 Many believe that the dropping of the atomic bombs in Japan was
intended to show Stalin what would happen to Russia if he dared to
go too far.
 Meanwhile, Stalin suspected that the USA and Britain were still
keen to destroy communism: their delay to launch D-Day was
deliberately calculated to bring the USSR to the exhaustion
point.
So which side was to blame?
 Why did antagonism develop between East and West after WWII?
 The answers to this question can be grouped into three rather
loose schools of thought: Orthodoxy, Revisionist and PostRevisionists.
 Three questions are particularly important to define each school:
 Who was responsible for the Cold War?
 Who was most active in the years immediately following
WWII?
 What are the primary motivating forces for each of the
superpowers?
Features / Reasons of Cold War
 Post-Revisionism:
 Revisionism:
 Orthodoxy:
 There is truth in both

The
United
States
is
 The Soviet Union is
arguments. The Soviet
responsible:
United
States
responsible: Soviet
Union under Stalin was
needs
to
have
markets
and
Insecurity drove them to
paranoid and difficult to
resources
to
feed
its
confront the United
deal with. The United
economy. The Soviet
States was driven in large
States. There was nothing
Union impeded these goals
part by the fear of another
the US could have done.
depression. Other issues
and therefore had to be
The Ideological perspective
played a serious role in
confronted. Economic
here is that Communism is a
the origins of the Cold
Issues drive US policy. The
danger/aggressive.
War: Domestic Policy,
Ideological perspective here is
 Russian Menace ~
Security, Allies, and
that Capitalism is the
Russian expansionism &
perceptions. The
danger/aggressor.
Ideological perspective here is
Soviet communism,
 US Imperialism ~ US
that all post-revisionist
which west struggled to
spreading capitalism around do not agree. Ideology
contain
still drives their views
the world and willing to
regarding the degree of
use military force to
responsibility each side has.
achieve objectives
Preparing for the debates….
 Each group will be assigned as to what they will be debating and
you will fall into one of these categories:
Pro-America
Pro-Soviet Union
Blaming the USSR
Blaming the United States
 Period 1:
 Period 2:
 Period 4:
 Group A1-3 people
 Group A1-4 people
 Group A1-3 people
 Group A2-3 people
 Group A2-4 people
 Group A2-3 people
 Group B1-3 people
 Group B1-4 people
 Group B1-3 people
 Group B2-4 people
 Group B2-4 people
 Group B2-3 people
 Group C1-4 people
 Group C1-4 people
 Group C1-3 people
 Group C2-4 people
 Group C2-5 people
 Group C2-4 people
Preparing for the debates….
 Now that you are in your groups and have been given an outline,
let’s discuss what is required of you.
 You are required to do write up [5points]
 ALL students must participate in the debate. [5 points]
 To receive full credit to must speak at least twice during the debate.
 If you only speak once, or do not speak at all, your grade will reflect your
participation or lack there of.
 The debate will be STRUCTURED
 Two sides speak alternately for or against a particular contention
usually based on a topical issue, which in this case is Who is to blame for
the Cold War.
 Unlike the arguments you might have with your family or friends
however, each person is allocated a time they are allowed to speak for
and any interjections are carefully controlled.
Preparing for the Debates: Basic Debating Skills
 Style—Style is the manner in which you communicate your
arguments. Content and strategy are worth little unless you deliver
your material in a confident and persuasive way.
 Speed—It is vital to talk at a pace which is fast enough to sound
intelligent and allow you time to say what you want, but slow enough
to be easily understood.
 Tone—Varying tone is what makes you sound interesting. Listening
to one tone for an entire presentation is boring.
 Volume—Speaking quite loudly is sometimes a necessity, but it is by
no means necessary to shout through every debate regardless of
context. There is absolutely no need speak any more loudly than the
volume at which everyone in the room can comfortably hear
you. Shouting does not win debates. Speaking too quietly is clearly
disastrous since no one will be able to hear you.
Preparing for the Debates: Basic Debating Skills
 Clarity—The ability to concisely and clearly express complex issues is
what debating is all about. The main reason people begin to sound unclear
is usually because they lose the “stream of thought” which is keeping them
going. It is also important to keep it simple. While long words may make
you sound clever, they may also make you incomprehensible.
 Use of notes—Notes are essential, but they must be brief and well
organized to be effective. There is absolutely no point in trying to speak
without notes. Of course, notes should never become obtrusive and
damage your contact with the audience, nor should they ever be read from
verbatim. Most people sketch out the main headings of their speech, with
brief notes under each.
 When writing notes for rebuttal during the debate, it is usually better to
use a separate sheet of paper so you can take down the details of what
the other speakers have said and then transfer a rough outline onto the
notes you will actually be using.
During the Debate
 Debate opens with one team (chosen by the flip of a coin)
presenting their arguments, followed by a member of the
opposing team. This pattern is repeated for the second speaker in
each team. Finally, each team gets an opportunity for rebutting
the arguments of the opponent. Speakers should speak slowly and
clearly.
 The judge (that would be me, Miss Cummings) and members of
the audience (the rest of the class) should be taking notes as the
debate proceeds.
 There cannot be any interruptions. Speakers must wait their
turns.