[Pyroxz0rz]

Hi, I'm having some trouble on what to include in this question.

To what extent is it fair to say that the Cold War had already begun before 1945?

Can someone please help me by giving me some ideas or at least giving me tips on how to structure it?

Thanks in advance

[Mrs Faithorn]

Pyroxz0rz, on Apr 26 2006, 04:07 AM, said:

To what extent is it fair to say that the Cold War had already begun before 1945?

Can someone please help me by giving me some ideas or at least giving me tips on how to structure it?

In order to support the view that the Cold War had begun before 1945 (the end of WWII) then you will need to go back to the period after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and consider the mistrust that already existed between the Russians and the 'Western Powers' (USA and Britain especially) before WWII broke out in 1939. You'll need to look at the basic causes of that distrust (ie conflicting ideologies and political systems) as well as the support that the USA and Britain gave to the anti-Communist White Armies during the Russian Civil War of 1918 -1921. You might also mention the reluctance of the British to enter into any sort of alliance with Stalin in the late 1930s and how this reluctance then led to the Nazi-Soviet pact of August 1939. There is a clear argument for saying that the Alliance between the Russians and the Western Allies of 1941 - 1945 only existed as a means to defeat Hitler and that once the common enemy (Germany) had been defeated the underlying causes of distrust just surfaced again.

As for structuring the essay you need to divide your essay into two halves:

• In the first you could show how and why relations deterioratated in the period from 1945 - 1949 (ie how what we normally call the 'Cold War' began).
  
• In the second half you could show how really WWII was just a temporary 'halt' in the basic underlying distrust and antagonism between the two sides (as I explained above).
  
• Finally you will need to reach a clear and direct conclusion to the question ..."To what extent .....?" This means that you will need to give a direct answer eg. "It's completely fair/It's not at all fair/It's partly fair". That decision must be yours and a logical conclusion to what you have said in the main part of your essay.

One final point ..... do make clear (in your introduction?) how you are defining the term 'Cold War'.

I hope that helps?

[Pyroxz0rz]

Thank you very much, now I know how to answer this question