The Rise Of The Super Power Essay

, Research Paper

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 fought; or that one of the great powers would need to attempt a leap

to superpower status (Dukes 101). One of two ways war could have been avoided was

for the United State or Russia to have taken powerful and vigorous action against

Germany in 1939. Robert A. Divine holds

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