Cold War issues remain relevant to contemporary geopolitical relations between the US, Russia, and Europe. It is a complex topic involving the economy, military operations, and a robust ideological machine that operated both in the USA and the USSR. The Cold War is the heritage of the end of World War II. However, after the World War I, US President Woodrow Wilson took significant steps toward establishing a strict regime of non-acceptance of Soviet ideology and political isolation.
Historians understand Woodrow Wilson’s motivation to spread democracy in Russian territories. The views of the President and the desire to protect the working class, perhaps, outweighed common sense and allowed Woodrow Wilson to succumb to European influence, in particular the persuasion of the French government. It is how Woodrow Wilson acquired the status of “the world’s first cold warrior, armed with a sophisticated strategy for the defense of western civilization against communist totalitarianism—a strategy which triumphed in 1991” (Davis & Trani, 2018, p. 93). The landing of the American military on the territories of the USSR, where people waged a bloody civil war, became a manifestation of the confrontation between the US and the USSR.
The intervention near Arkhangelsk was a blow to the Soviet troops and the Bolshevik elites. The United States made it clear through this action that it would not tolerate the Bolshevik ideology (Trickey, 2019). The exhausted army and the impoverished society were not ready to fight in distant Arkhangelsk. Now such an act by the government would be considered unfair to American society. Meanwhile, a struggle of ideologies was brewing, and the United States was directly involved in this. The coalition of Europe and the United States was fueled by the fears of European countries that Soviet influence would suppress them. Unlike the US, Europe had objective reasons to fear for its security. Europe needed military and economic support, and Woodrow Wilson agreed to be the protector.
The end of the First World War harmoniously turned into the Civil War between the Bolsheviks and the champions of Tsarist Russia. It was a brutal war that had severe consequences for the entire USSR. At the end of this war, Joseph Stalin began to approach the formation of a complex cult of personality, which would be destroyed only in the 1960s with the rise of Nikita Khrushchev to power.
The cult of personality and ideological upsurge was accompanied by collectivization (creation of collective farms) and industrialization. The USSR and its citizens were torn apart by hunger and poverty and lived without hope for a better future (From World War I to World War II and Cold War. (n.d.)). The cruelty of Joseph Stalin is directly related to the work of the Soviet special services and the repressions of citizens. The intelligentsia (writers, poets, artists, scientists, and other figures of the arts) and ordinary citizens who had no education and devoted their lives to subsistence farming fell under these repressions. Collectivization in the aftermath only worsened the situation of Soviet citizens, and the United States remained confident in its course against the Bolsheviks. However, this will end two decades later, when the US (already with another president, Franklin Roosevelt) and the USSR will be able to create a powerful coalition in the fight against Nazism.
Woodrow Wilson’s actions at the end of World War I are not part of the Cold War but are rightly considered precursors by historians. Woodrow Wilson became the first American president to openly and eloquently speak against the Bolsheviks. He pursued the idea of protecting workers’ rights in the USSR and wanted to help Europe economically and provide military forces. The USSR was torn apart by poverty and hunger. Joseph Stalin built up his powers to form a personality cult and used the special services to repress Soviet citizens.
References
Davis, D. E., & Trani, E. P. (2018). The First Cold War: The legacy of Woodrow Wilson in U.S. – Soviet relations (1st ed.). University of Missouri.
From World War I to World War II and Cold War. (n.d.). The Free Speech Center. Web.
Trickey, E. (2019). The forgotten story of the American troops who got caught up in the Russian civil war. Smithsonian Magazine. Web.