Mary Reynolds Essays - International Relations, Communism In Russia

Mary Reynolds April 24, 2000 Dr. Boitano U.S. Foreign Policy The Rise of the Superpower Russia and the United States grew to become the main superpowers in the arena of international relations during a specific time in history. The emergence of these two countries as superpowers can be traced back to World War II. In order to be a superpower, a nation needs to have a strong economy, an overpowering military, immense political power, and a strong national ideology (Aga-Rossi 65). It was World War II, and its results that caused each of these countries to experience such a plurality of power (Ovyany 97). Before the war, both nations were fit to be described as great powers, but it would be incorrect to say that they were superpowers at that point. To understand how the second World War impacted these nations so greatly, the causes of the war must be examined. The United States gained its strength in world affairs from its status as an economic power. Prior to the war, America was the world's largest producer. During the same time in Russia, Stalin was implementing his "five year plan" to modernize the Soviet economy. From these situations, similar foreign policies resulted. It is important to discuss the leaders and their strategies during this time to understand how these countries became superpowers. Many U.S. citizens believed that America entered the war in order to save capitalist investments in Europe. Whether this is the case or not, President Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Act of 1935, making it illegal for the United States to ship arms to the antagonists of any conflict (Aga-Rossi 68). The act also stated that the antagonists could only buy non-armaments from the U.S., and even these were only to be bought with cash (Aga-Rossi 69). In contrast, although Stalin was interested in European affairs it was only to the extent to keep Russia out of war. Stalin wanted to consolidate Communist power and modernize the country's industry. The Soviet Union was committed to collective action for peace, as long as that commitment did not mean that the Soviet Union would in turn face a potential Nazi attack. Examples of this can be seen in the Soviet Union's attempts to achieve a mutual assistance treaty with Britain and France. These treaties, however, were designed more to create security for the West, as opposed to keeping all three signatories from harm. At the same time, Stalin was attempting to polarize both the Anglo-French, and the Axis powers against each other. The important result of this was the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, which petitioned Poland and allowed Hitler to start the war (Divine 31). Another side-effect of Stalin's policy of playing both sides was that it caused incredible distrust towards the Soviets from the Western powers after 1940. Author Robert A. Divine adds, "this was due in part to the fact that Stalin made several demands for both influence in the Dardanelles, and for Bulgaria to be recognized as a Soviet independent" (31). The seeds of superpowerdom lies here, R.J. Overy wrote "stability in Europe might have been achieved through the existence of powers so strong that they could impose their will on the whole of the international system, as has been the case since 1945" (215). At the time, there was no power in the world that could achieve such a feat. Britain and France were in sovereign decline, and more concerned about colonial economics than the stability of Europe. Both imperial powers assumed that"empire-building" would necessarily be an inevitable feature of the world system. German aggression could have been stifled early, had the imperial powers acted simultaneously. The memories of World War One, however, were too powerful and the general public would not condone a military solution at that point (Morrison 35). After the economic crisis of the 1930's, Britain and France lost much of their former international standing. As the world markets plummeted, so did their relative power. The two nations were determined to maintain their status as great powers, without relying on the U.S. or Russia for support of any kind. They went to war only because further appeasement would have only served to remove from them their little remaining world standing and prestige (LeFerber 127). The creation of a non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany can be viewed as an example of imperial decline as well. The common desire of many of the great European powers for a change in the world state system meant that either a massive war would have to be