... as the growing lack of trust, American Imperialism and the Russian threat were also incredibly influential in the cause of the Cold War. The ideological differences between the USA and the USSR had existed since 1917, when the Bolshevik revolution and the Wilsonian Liberalism of 1918 laid down the rudiments of the polarised political, social and economic principles. The USSR's desire for communism was prominent as an issue in international relations when the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in October 1917. The Bolshevik revolution gave Lenin and his Red Army the opportunity to illustrate communist ideals by putting them into practice. Lenin called for a state-owned economy; an economy in which all industries and agriculture are owned by the government on behalf of the people, and a one-party state; a political system in which there is only one political party to represent the people - the communists - and elections were ...

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