To what extent did the cold war start because of ideological differences

To what Extent did the cold war start because of ideological differences between the US and the Soviet Union?

Churchill’s famous Iron Curtain Speech and the Truman doctrine where signs that the cold war had not only started but was underway. The cold war was a political and state of military power tension between the US and the Soviets, which never had a known begging or end. The cold war was known for the large disputes and close to nuclear warfare between Americans and the Soviets. The Cold war showed several ideological differences between the US and the Soviet Union which led to numerous cases of collateral damage and the fight for popular support and territory occupation. Some of the main cases that had several ideological differences where the Bombings in Japan, The Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the marshal plan, Berlin Blockade, and the Iron Curtain Speech
In august 1945 America dropped an atomic bomb on Japan, which many say was the beginning of the cold war. The bomb was dropped in Hiroshima on august 6th 1945 to bring the war to a quick end, but also to demonstrate power to the world. The Soviet Union and America’s relationship had begun to deteriorate after the Potsdam conference. They hoped that dropping the bomb would give them diplomatic leverage towards the Soviets. This point seems to be the start of the cold war, because it’s the first big step taken to stop the soviets and to prove to them that America is a larger power. After the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima some wondered by another was dropped 3 days later in Nagasaki if the Japanese would already surrender? The Soviet Union had agreed to attack japan 3 months after Germany surrendered at the Yalta conference, and was promised to have control over certain areas. At the Potsdam conference Truman disliked the idea of the Soviets received territory because for America a very high priority was to prevent communist ideology from spreading to the rest of the world. The bomb was dropped on Nagasaki to end the war earlier, and so the Japanese would surrender to the Americans, and not the Soviets.
The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences both were negotiations for the end of the Second World War, which would define the future years to come in Europe and parts of Asia. Poland was a difficult subject in the conferences because the borders would need to be recreated and the government would need to be re build. Another ideological difference was that the Soviets wanted the communist dominated Lublin committee in Poland to build the new government, while America and Britain supported the London poles who were the prewar government who fled to England in the beginning of World War Two. In the Potsdam conference Poland was agreed to have free elections so that the Lublin committee would not rule over Poland. Truman was unhappy how the USSR had the red army about to occupy several eastern European countries. One of the agreements of the Potsdam conference was that 25% of domestic industry that was not being used in the west would be given to the Soviet Union to make reparations. In 1946 America had decided to not give the 25% to the Soviet Union because it wanted to use it to re build the rest of Europe from the Second World War.
The Marshall Plan resulted in being a large change in Ideological differences between the US and the Soviet Union, because it threatened the soviets plan to conquer the rest of Europe. The marshal plan was created to give economic aid to European countries in need. The marshal plan showed a situation where America didn’t want the Soviet Union to join, and neither did the Soviet Union. The soviets saw the marshal plan as a way for the Americans to gain economic domination and dependence in Europe. Both sides saw the other as a threat, but both didn’t acknowledge it strongly, the marshal plan was offered to the Soviet Union but was rejected because of dollar imperialism. Dollar imperialism was a term that the Soviets gave to the Americans because they saw the Americans taking Western Europe into a sphere of influence (term used to describe area of control) just like the Soviets had Eastern Europe in a sphere of influence. The marshal plan was a success, from 1949-51 an approximation of 1.2 billion loans and a total of about 12 billion dollars of aid was given to the European countries. But the marshal plan also helped in making new mutual supporters where many didn’t fall to communism.
1948 was a time of strong disagreements between America and the Soviet Union, and many say that it was then that the cold war began. In the begging of 1948 the Czechoslovakian coup took place, the Soviet Union saw that the Czechs were starting to abandon Soviets, and join with the West. A coup began to draw Czechoslovakia into the Soviets sphere of influence. The Soviets and Americans both had mutual distrust against one another because they each saw the other as threatening their way of life and ideology. In April 1948 elections were held in Italy, where the Soviets had, had the most amount of votes. The Americans feared Italy becoming communist and began to intervene in any way possible, and eventually stopped Italy from becoming communist by using the church and the CIA. During 1948 the Berlin Crisis had taken place, where the division in ideologies and views could be clearly seen in Germany. When Britain and America joined forces and created what was called Bizonia. Slowly there began big differences and a large division was obvious. In the Yalta conference the Soviets were promised 25% of the western industry that wouldn’t be used for reconstructing Germany and in return the western zones would receive food and supplies. They didn’t receive much because the east had supply issues, and so the west stopped giving industry. The coal in the west of Germany was very important and the Soviets needed the coal, then 25 million tons were send to west Europe instead of the Soviet Union, rather than what was originally promised to occur.
The Iron Curtain Speech was known to be one of the most famous speeches of all time, it was held on the 5th of March 1946 and is known for a public demonstration of a war with the Soviets, where they are hidden from the truth. The Iron curtain speech is one of the most crucial moments of the origins of the cold war. The most known part of the speech and the origins of the title is “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” This speech tried to show to the world that they are keeping secrets from the world as opposed to the freedom that the west had hoped to show to the world. The Iron Curtain speech wanted to show that the Soviets Sphere of influence had grown to all corners of Eastern Europe and was expanding. The Soviets response to the speech was that of disgrace, they couldn’t believe that someone would say something like that, and was compared to Hitler, and the Soviets took measure because of the speech. Because the speech was public made a big difference, it was the first public attack towards the Soviets, and one of the largest steps toward the Cold War.
The Cold War started because of large ideological differences, but not only between the US and the Soviet Union, but rather the entire West against the East, which were being led by the US and Soviet Union. Both tried to oppose the other, and both say the other as an interference in their way of life. There was certainly a lot of Mutual distrust between the Soviets and the US, but it was because one was Capitalist and the other being Communist that created the largest split between the two powers.