The second presentation for Paper 3, "The origins of the Cold War after 1917 and before 1940". Suitable for Cambridge Examination starting May/June and November 2016. It contains: the start of the hostility in 1917; the Cossacks; Lenin and the Great War; USA, Wilson and Germany; a synthesis of the American perspective; World War 1, the Great Depression and the World War 2; from wartime allies to Cold War enemies.

1. HISTORY CAMBRIDGE A2
PAPER 3
PRESENTATION 4
COLD WAR
THE ORIGINS OF
THE COLD WAR
AFTER 1917 AND BEFORE 1940

2. POWERPOINT BASED ON
• Michael L. Dockrill, The Cold War. NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
• JPD Dunbabin, The Cold War. The Great Powers and their Allies. Pearson
Longman; United Kingdom, 2008.
• Mike Sewell, The Cold War. London: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
• Ralph B. Levering, [et al.], Debating the Origins of the Cold War. American
and Russian Perspectives. Oxford: Rowman& Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2001.

3. 1917: THE START OF THE HOSTILITY
• Following the October Revolution in 1917, the US government was
hostile to Soviet Russia. The United States extended its embargo of
Germany to include Russia.
• The United States sent troops to Siberia in 1918 to protect its interests
from Cossacks (see next slide); thousands of troops were landed at
Vladivostok and at Arkhangelsk.
• Beyond the Russian Civil War, relations were also dogged by claims of
American companies receiving compensation for the nationalized
industries they had invested in. This was later resolved with the U.S.
promising to take care of such claims.

4. THE COSSACKS
• During the Russian Civil War, Don and Kuban Cossacks were the first
nations to declare open war against the Bolsheviks. By 1918, Cossacks
declared the complete independence of their nations and formed the
independent states, the Ukrainian State, the Don Republic, and the
Kuban People's Republic. The Cossack troops formed the effective core of
the anti-Bolshevik White Army (Anti-Bolshevik White movement).
• With the victory of the Red Army, the Cossack lands were subjected to
Decossackization. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Cossacks
made a systematic return to Russia. Many took an active part in Post-
Soviet conflicts and Yugoslav Wars. In Russia's 2010 Population Census,
Cossacks have been recognized as an ethnicity.

7. LENIN AND THE GREAT WAR
• U.S. hostility towards the Bolsheviks was not only due to countering the
emergence of an anti-capitalist revolution. The Americans, as a result of
the fear of Japanese expansion into Russian held territory, and support of
the Czech legion (who were supportive of the allied cause), sent a small
number of troops to Northern Russia and Siberia.
• Once Lenin had gained control after the October Revolution and after the
overthrow of the social democratic provisional government, one of his
first actions was the halting of Russian involvement in the Great War and
thus fulfilling German goals. The aftermath was significant because
Germany could now reallocate most of its troops towards the Western
Front since the Eastern Front no longer posed a high substantial threat.

9. USA, WILSON AND GERMANY
• The US attempts of hindering the Bolsheviks were not on the militaristic level
as to secret and legitimate financial aid towards Bolshevik enemies and in
particular the White Army (supplies and food).
• President Woodrow Wilson had various issues to deal with and did not want
to intervene in Russia with total commitment due to Russian public opinion
and the belief that many Russians were not part of the growing Red Army
and in the hopes the revolution would eventually fade towards more
democratic realizations. An aggressive invasion would have allied Russians
together and depicted the US as an invading conquering nation. Following
World War I, Germany was seen as the puppeteer in the Bolshevik cause
with indirect control of the Bolsheviks through German agents.

11. A SYNTHESIS OF THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE
• In between 1917 and 1940 there were uneasy US-Soviet relations dominated
by 3 important aspects explaining this uneasiness:
• There were major developments in world affairs and in American life, in that
period of time
• Because of the ongoing political problems, public opinion was a vital part in
forming the official view
• The 2 different approach that America takes in conducting its foreign affairs
1. REALISM – combining a careful calculation of interests
2. IDEALISM – strong appeal to core principles

12. WORLD WAR 1, THE DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR 2
• The impact of World War 1 and its aftermath was huge on both sides,
contributing to a policy of “taking care of the domestic business” and
“protecting our own interests at any cost”.
• Also, the Great Depression between 1929 and 1934 brought sweeping
changes both in world affairs and in the role of the federal government,
unions and the Communist party in America.
• There were also uneven relations during World War 2. Americans’
widespread and intense anger toward the USSR and toward the domestic
communists began when Hitler and Stalin signed the nonaggression pact on
August 23, 1939.

14. FROM WARTIME ALLIES TO COLD WAR RIVALS
• It was just a matter of time (1945-1946) after which America and Soviet
Union become enemies.
• All the differences (political, social, economic, strategical, cultural, etc) were
exacerbated during Roosevelt’s final months. While Wilson was regarded as
a visionary intellectual and Roosevelt as a charismatic, skillful politician who
juggled conflicting ideas and pressures, Truman was viewed as a “man of
the people”.