The Cold War--The Real Intentions of the Superpowers Term Paper

The Cold War--The Real Intentions of the Superpowers - Term Paper Example The intentions of the super powers engaged in the Cold War were not simply to defend their territories and interests but they went beyond their defence and took it as an opportunity to spread and establish their influence all over the world. The origins of the cold war could be traced back inside the complex relationship of the two main powers of the world United Stated and Soviet Union after the WWI. These post war relations led to the cold war that tool almost half a century. There are some events also where the origins of the cold war could be traced like different events preceding the WWI and Russian revolution of 1917 is also regarded as the factors that work for the base of the cold war however the tension between the two superpowers of the world was the most important factor that led them towards the cold war (Findley and Gerber, 2007). The important reason behind the cold war was the ideological conflict between communism and capitalism that actually began in 1917 and led tow ards the Russian Revolution after which the relationship between US and Russia were significantly affected. Some of the experts also believe that the cold war began as a result of the legacy of different heritages of empire building between the Russia and America. Both of these countries were hav9ing the intention to build their empire however they are totally different (Painter, 1994). During the war, USA used to a maritime power that was based on the trade and commerce development whereas Russia used to a bureaucratic and land-based power. Moreover there was also an imperial rivalry between Britain and Russia due to which also there was tension between the UK and Russia. In nineteenth century tsar adopted the policy of improving the maritime access of Russia by the main disadvantage of Russia was that despite having large territory they can make use of little sea cost because big portion of their sea cost used to be freeze though out the year (Brands, 1993). Great Britain, on the other hand was significantly progressing towards expansion of maritime. However the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 was a great concern for Great Britain because it added to the strength of Russia. The other political and territorial expansion policies of Russia were rising worried on Britain side and there were great worried regarding the safety of the frontier areas due to the fear of Russian expansion. Along with the clash of ideologies the two countries USA and Russia also have certain issues of conflict between them. There had been limited trade and diplomatic relationship between these two countries even before the cold war time. US took part in the efforts of crush Bolshevism from 1918 to 1920 that was not liked by Russia and on the other hand Russia work efficiently for the promotion and spread of communism across its own borders that was not liked by US and thus both of these countries has great disagreements with each other. Till 1933, US did not recognize USSR and th ey see Soviet system as a threat. Thus this was the background from where the origin of the cold war can be traced and understood and it shows that the super powers were not simply looking for the expansion and defence of their territory but they want the world community to recognize and accept their ideologies and supremacy