From 1918 to 1936: Origins of the Cold War

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From 1918 to 1936: Origins of the Cold War

Summary:

Discover how events from 1918 to 1936 shaped the origins of the Cold War, exploring early tensions, shifting powers, and the clash of ideologies.

How Did the Cold War Develop Between 1918 and 1936?

The Cold War is most often depicted as a post-1945 confrontation between two superpowers—the United States and the Soviet Union—yet the roots of this conflict lie much deeper, embedded in the turbulent years following the First World War. The period from 1918 to 1936, though frequently overshadowed by the dramatic events of the later twentieth century, saw the emergence of severe ideological and political fault lines across Europe and the wider world. These years did not simply see the picking up of debris from a shattered continent, but also the sowing of seeds which would blossom into the defining rivalry of the twentieth century: the Cold War. Although outright hostilities had not yet begun, the years between the two world wars were marked by nascent antagonism—mistrust, ideological opposition, and diplomatic manoeuvring—that laid the most significant groundwork for later conflict. This essay will explore how the developments of 1918–1936 constituted the formative stage of the Cold War, through the lens of shifting power structures, the aftermath of revolution, the clash of capitalism and communism, and the gradual escalation of suspicion and enmity.

The Aftermath of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles

The end of the Great War in 1918 ushered in turmoil as much as peace. Four great multinational empires—Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, German, and Russian—collapsed in quick succession, fundamentally reshaping the geopolitical map of Europe. This disintegration gave rise to new, fragile states such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and the Baltic republics. Each of these new countries became a potential flashpoint for conflict, caught as they were between larger, more assertive powers and beset by volatile nationalisms.

Nowhere was the instability clearer than in the fate of Russia. The October Revolution of 1917 had led to the emergence of the world’s first socialist state, while Western powers—deeply sceptical of Bolshevik promises and terrified by their revolutionary doctrine—initially refused to recognise the new regime. The Treaty of Versailles, meanwhile, aimed to construct a durable peace but sowed seeds of bitterness, most notably in Germany and Russia. Excluded from peace negotiations and ostracised from the new League of Nations, the Soviet Union found itself diplomatically isolated, wary that Western powers harboured ambitions of reversing the revolution.

This mutual suspicion quickly crystallised into active antagonism. Britain and France considered Bolshevism a contagious threat, while the Soviets came to view Western nations as out to strangle the birth of socialism. Thus, even before the banner of the Cold War was raised, its underlying logic—fear, mistrust, and ideological rivalry—was powerfully at work.

The Russian Revolution and the Rise of Soviet Communism

The Russian Revolution truly shook the foundations of European politics. For centuries, Russia had been under the autocratic rule of the Tsars, but the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, swept this away with the radical promise of a state governed by workers and peasants. This was not simply a domestic upheaval—it was seen as the vanguard of an international proletarian revolution, an ambition Lenin made no great effort to hide.

The Western response was swift and alarmed. Britain, France, and even Japan and the United States, intervened in the Russian Civil War (1918–1921), arming the anti-Bolshevik “White” forces and, in some cases, landing their own troops on Russian soil—the so-called "interventionist expeditions." While the direct military campaigns were largely ineffective and quickly wound down, the memories of foreign bayonets on Russian soil left a deep and abiding mark on Soviet leadership. Stalin, who would later come to rule Soviet Russia with an iron fist, never forgot the lesson that the West regarded Soviet communism as a mortal enemy.

From its earliest days, the Soviet regime established the Communist International (Comintern, 1919), an organisation explicitly designed to foment revolution abroad. British governments, particularly after incidents such as the Zinoviev Letter—an alleged Soviet directive urging subversive activities in Britain—became convinced that the USSR was committed to undermining their states from within as well as without. Memories of the 1926 General Strike, which many on the right blamed on communist agitation, served to keep anti-Soviet feelings alive in the UK throughout the interwar years.

Ideological Divisions and the Creation of Rival Camps

The confrontation between communism and capitalism shaped the behaviour of every major power in the aftermath of 1918. The Soviet vision of state-planned economies and classless society clashed headlong with the liberal parliamentary democracies rooted in individual rights and private property.

In Britain, the interwar years saw a surge in anti-communist sentiment. Parliamentary debates routinely featured the 'Red Menace', and the security services—MI5, for example—kept close tabs on home-grown communists and suspected Soviet agents. When Ramsay MacDonald’s Labour government fell apart in 1931, stories about Soviet influence—though largely unfounded—were never far from the headlines.

The Soviets, for their part, harboured equal distrust. Surrounded by hostile or unpredictable neighbours, the USSR pursued alliances wherever it could, most famously with Germany after the Treaty of Rapallo in 1922. This agreement, which allowed both countries to develop secret military technologies barred by Versailles, shocked France and Britain. The treatment of the Soviet Union as a pariah not only forced it into this pragmatic alliance but convinced the Politburo that the capitalist world was fundamentally unreformable and, eventually, implacably hostile.

Key Events Widening the Divide

Several critical events in this period magnified antagonism. The Polish-Soviet War (1919–1921) underlined how fragile the new Eastern European order was, as Poland fought off a Soviet attempt to reclaim lost territories—an episode celebrated as a near-miracle in Polish history but remembered in Moscow as evidence of Western-backed aggression.

Meanwhile, the rise of fascism in Italy under Mussolini, and later Hitler in Germany, added another layer of complexity. While both regimes loathed communism and positioned themselves as bastions against its westward spread, the Western democracies' policy of appeasement led the Soviets to suspect, rightly or wrongly, that capitalist Europe might one day welcome fascism as a bulwark against socialism. Add to this the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, which threw millions out of work across the capitalist world—contrast with the USSR’s narrative of untroubled industrial progress and five-year plans—and it is clear how both sides found ample ammunition for their mutual accusations.

Military and Intelligence Manoeuvres

The interwar years also saw increasing military and intelligence preparation on both sides. Though the horrors of the Great War made talk of re-armament politically toxic in the UK and France, both the Soviets and their rivals steadily expanded their intelligence networks. MI6, for example, began monitoring Soviet diplomatic missions across Europe, while the Soviets recruited agents such as the “Cambridge Five”—young British intellectuals who spied for Moscow, their careers beginning or foreshadowed in the very decade in question.

Aerial reconnaissance grew more sophisticated, and plans for defensive fortifications (the Maginot Line in France, for instance) reflected a growing unease. The paranoia characteristic of the later Cold War was thus foreshadowed in these years through an ever-intensifying culture of secrecy and suspicion.

Culture, Propaganda, and the Battle for Hearts and Minds

Propaganda, too, emerged as a weapon of choice. Soviet films and posters celebrated the “worker’s paradise,” while in Britain, the print press railed against the communist “threat.” The Russian state orchestrated exhibitions and sporting events to display the benefits of socialism, in a precursor to later Olympic rivalries. Public discourse in Britain veered between fascination for the Soviet experiment—seen in the Bloomsbury Group’s flirtations with Marxism—and vociferous opposition, especially from the Church and the Conservative press.

Attempts at International Reconciliation—and Their Collapse

Both sides made fitful, half-hearted attempts at reconciliation. The League of Nations, founded with high ideals in 1919, pointedly excluded the USSR until 1934, by which time it was already clear that the League was a flawed instrument. Disarmament talks in Geneva, or the Locarno Treaties (1925), which aimed to secure European borders, failed to resolve the fundamental mistrust. Non-aggression pacts—for example, between the USSR and Poland—tended, when tested, to snap.

In 1935, a last flicker of hope appeared as the Soviets joined mutual assistance pacts with France and Czechoslovakia. But these alliances were more symbolic than practical, undermined by lingering suspicion on all sides.

Conclusion

The Cold War did not appear fully formed in 1945; rather, it was the product of dynamics and confrontations traceable back to the aftermath of World War I. The period from 1918 to 1936 witnessed the crystallisation of ideological rivalries, the outworking of diplomatic hostilities, and the emergence of cultural and military antagonisms that made subsequent peace all but impossible. The failure to address the root causes of mistrust—be they in the bruising legacy of the Treaty of Versailles, the trauma of revolution, or the competing social visions for the modern world—meant that suspicion and preparation for conflict became ingrained habits. By the time the world teetered on the edge of another catastrophic war, the makings of the Cold War were, tragically, already in place. The later superpower standoff was not an aberration, but the dark harvest of seeds sown between the wars. The reluctance to come to terms with new realities, and the growing chasm between East and West, made the Cold War, if not inevitable, then at least highly likely—its origins lying in the tempestuous decades after 1918.

Frequently Asked Questions about AI Learning

Answers curated by our team of academic experts

What were the origins of the Cold War from 1918 to 1936?

The origins lay in post-World War I instability, ideological opposition between capitalism and communism, and growing mistrust between Western powers and the Soviet Union.

How did the Treaty of Versailles contribute to Cold War origins between 1918 and 1936?

The Treaty of Versailles excluded the Soviet Union, increasing its diplomatic isolation and fostering suspicion and resentment that contributed to future East-West tensions.

Why was the Russian Revolution important for the Cold War's beginnings from 1918 to 1936?

The Russian Revolution established the first socialist state, alarming Western countries and prompting intervention, which deepened lasting hostilities and ideological divisions.

How did shifting power structures after 1918 affect the origins of the Cold War?

The collapse of empires and creation of fragile new states made Europe unstable and set the stage for future conflict between competing ideologies and powers.

What role did ideology play in the development of the Cold War between 1918 and 1936?

Clashing ideologies of capitalism and communism created deep mistrust, with each side viewing the other as a fundamental threat to its way of life.

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