Historians have debated the origins of the Cold War, what is your view on the Cold War?
Number of words: 3,888
The Cold War was an ongoing political and ideological battlefield between the USSR and the USA. This
conflict escalated into an arms race and a division in Europe in which the East sided with the USSR and
the West sided with the USA. However, historians have struggled to come to terms with an agreement
on what caused the Cold War. Martin Sherwin argued in 1973 that the USA was to blame for the Cold
War as he assessed the desire for diplomatic control through the 1943 atomic-energy partnership.
Arthur Schlesinger claimed in 1967 that the USSR was to blame for the Cold War as he criticised the
personality of Stalin after World War II. Whereas John Gaddis expressed in 1996 that both countries
were to blame for the Cold War while examining the desire for diplomatic control through the 1946
rigged East German Elections. The origin of the Cold War lies on the official communist establishment in
East Germany, the 1946 rigged East German elections. Gaddis is the most convincing historian as he
supports this view by examining both perspectives of the debate, the desire for diplomatic control and
writes in a period that supports his credibility.
Martin J. Sherwin
Sherwin utilises the diary of Henry L. Stimson as evidence to support his claim that the desire for
diplomatic control through the 1943 atomic-energy partnership caused the Cold War. Stimson
emphasises the global dominance the atomic bomb had stating that it would either lead to the “doom of
civilisation or the perfection of civilisation”.1 The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were
produced through the partnership, killed approximately 200,000 people. 2 This reinforces the power the
USA yielded internationally, building them as a substantial threat in terms of military equipment since
the atomic bombs could be used as a tool to gain political and military power over foreign countries.
There is strength in this claim as General Douglas MacArthur took charge of the Supreme Command of
Allied Powers (SCAP) and helped Japan with remilitarisation, economic growth and political reform. 3 This
shows that the partnership restored foreign relations as Japan had no choice but to cooperate with this
transformation, reinforcing the atomic bombs influence. Stimson was President Roosevelt’s and
Truman's chief advisor on atomic policy.4 Thus, Stimson being involved in the atomic-energy partnership
gives him a more accurate judgement since he had witnessed the creation and research of atomic
bombs. Stimson's statement was written on the 31st of May 1945 5, months prior to the atomic bombs
being dropped in August 1945.6 This reveals signs of uncertainty in his claim as it was based on a
prediction of what could eventually transpire. A prediction is simply too inadequate to dissect the origins
of the Cold War as its lack of factual evidence of how the partnership evolved leaves no room to debate
against or for this belief, bringing this argument to a dead end. Although, as stated before the USA did
gain diplomatic control over Japan. So, any existing fear that Japan would become a leading nation was
alleviated by the USA, making the USAs chances of achieving global sovereignty increase. However, this
partnership started and ended with Japan as the USA had never used the atomic bomb to control
1
(Sherwin,1973, Pg965)
2
(History.com Editors,2009)
3
(Office of the historian, n.d)
4
(The editors of enclyopaedia Britannica, 2023)
5
(Sherwin, 1973, Pg965)
6
(Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia, 2023)
, another country again. The limited diplomatic control that came with the partnership triggered the USA
to be deprived of implementing and promoting their capitalist ideologies onto further nations which
would have given their country huge success over the communist expansion. This shows that the atomic-
energy partnership was a waste of potential diplomatic control as only one country was affected by this.
Correspondingly, Gaddis uses diplomatic control as a factor to investigate the origins of the Cold War.
However, Gaddis is more convincing than Sherwin as he elaborates on how the rigged elections
established diplomatic control over East Germany as well as Eastern Europe, forming the satellite states.
Sherwin published the notion that the USA creating the Atomic-energy partnership caused the Cold War
in 1973. The revisionist perspective being the most favoured in this period mirrors Sherwin’s perspective
as the USA was currently going through many controversies. Hate and mistrust against America emerged
in 1972 when the Watergate scandal exposed President Richard M. Nixon for covering up a burglary at
the Watergate office-apartment-hotel complex. 7 This displays the image that his response to the
outbreak of the Cold War showed signs of being emotionally driven based on anger and the disconnect
between the people and America at the time. Whilst views that consider personal feelings may be useful
in revealing what Americans thought about the Cold War, it disregards the debate's main aim, which is
to discover When the Cold War began. Furthermore, the timing of Sherwin’s writing makes him less
convincing since the Cold War was still progressing in 1973. There were hidden documents on the
partnership to prevent Soviet espionage from discovering private information. Illustrating a lack of
knowledge to support how the partnership could have led to the Cold War since he would have to rely on
outdated information with a lack of depth and analysis. In addition, Sherwin was an academic scholar as
he received his doctorate in history in 1971 8, which prepared him to deeply analyse his research and
acquire a well-thought-out judgement in 1973. Nevertheless, Sherwin being an author grants him a
typical argument on the partnership. Since his occupation had no association with the government, he
had to use public information, limiting the unique essence of his argument. Overall, this moulds Sherwin
into a less convincing historian as the period he writes in does not make him credible. Gaddis is exempt
from this hindrance as he declares his judgement in a period that supports his credibility.
Sherwin considers one perspective that blames the USA for the Cold War due to the atomic energy
partnership as he states that the “policies of the United States contributed to the origins of the Cold
War”.9 The atomic energy partnership being one of the policies in the 1942 Manhattan Project was
created. 10 Within this project, the atomic energy partnership was formed when President Franklin D.
Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill concluded through the Quebec agreement that both of
their countries would share this research. 11 The USSR joining this partnership would have brought quick
and immense growth to the creation of the atomic bombs that were used to attack Japan. This is due to
the Soviet conducting atomic research in 1940.12 The fact that the USA did not grasp this opportunity to
7
(Perlstein, R., 2023)
8
(Gregg Herken, 2021)
9
(Sherwin. M. L, 1973, Pg968)
10
(U.S department of energy – Office of history and Heritage resources, n.d)
11
(U.S Department of Energy – Office of History and Heritage Resources, n.d)
12
(Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d)
