The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries - Past Paper 2 Questions

The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries - Past Paper 2 Questions "Mutual fears and aggression were the reasons for the breakdown of the grand alliance and the emergence of superpower rivalry between 1943 and 1949." To what extent do you agree with this statement? - ANS *Overall argument:* yes, supported by the post-revisionist view of John Lewis Gaddis fundamentally misinterpretation of each other. This was heightened by ideology, which was aggressive on both sides (orthodox and revisionist arguments). However, sometimes the USA and USSR were acting under a protectionist policy rather than aggressive (revisionist- USA underestimates USSR paranoia). Overall however, the role of Stalin key in fuelling the breakdown of relations (orthodox), created fear through aggressive policy and was the first to go against what little peace there was in 1945. *USSR AGGRESSIVE- ORTHODOX* -1945: Yalta Conference. The USSR would oversee free elections in nations it occupied, and oversee reorganization of the Polish government. *'Declaration of liberated Europe'*-Stalin + Roosevelt Agreement.