Assess the reasons for the development of the Cold War

Between 1945 and 1947, Stalin’s dominance in Eastern Europe was rapidly increasing. He adopted ‘Salami tactics’ in which he ensures, slice by slice, that 7 Eastern European countries had Communist governments, with the first being Albania. In many cases, he either led non-Communist leaders in to exile, or had them arrested and sometimes even killed, a course of action he took in Czechoslovakia. It is widely believed that this was in response to the ‘Iron Curtain’ speech that Winston Churchill had given in Fulton, Missouri in March 1946, where Churchill had called for a western alliance to combat the threat. Stalin had called the speech a declaration of war, and defended his creation of the ‘Iron Curtain’, calling it a defensive measure. This worried USA to a great extent, as it had now become stark that Stalin was achieving what he desired: for communism to take precedence over capitalism. This severely conflicted with the ideologies of the Western Allies, who believed in the right to assemble their own political parties as well as freedom of speech and press. The distinctly contrasting ideologies meant there was no room for compromise – both sides feared each other to an extent as they believed each other had the power to diminish their political positions.

Another hugely contributing development which led to the Cold War was the rivalry for power which was prevalent at the time. It was inevitable that there would be some competition between both the Soviet Union and USA as a result of them both being two of the biggest powers in the world. After the Second World War, with the decline of Europe, power was largely shared between the Soviet Union and the United States. As one wanted 'to dominate the other, conflicts were inevitable. A true rift became visible between the two powers after USA had tested the atomic bomb for the first time in New Mexico, on 16th July 1945. An atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan on 10th August, and Stalin was only informed about this a matter of days before the event. Tensions arose when it came to Stalin’s knowledge that his request to allow the Soviet Union to participate in the occupation of Japan was denied, as it seemed likely that USA would be able to quickly defeat Japan themselves with such a powerful weapon at their disposal. Furthermore, it was agreed at the Yalta Conference, the Soviet Union was responsible for annexing Sakhalin, near Japan. Based on this, it may be argued by some revisionists that Stalin was no worse than Truman when it came to dismissing the agreements outlined in the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. This failure to be included in the Western world's politics created an even deeper rift between the two superpowers. Arguably, the use of atomic bombs by the USA was an act primarily used to both impress and intimidate the Soviet Union. In retaliation to the growing power of the USA, Stalin was now determined to make the Soviet Union a nuclear power as soon as possible as he now viewed the USA with even more suspicion; this constant competition for better weaponry was a key component of the Cold War.

Finally, the focus on ‘sharing’ German land after the Second World War can be viewed as a possible reason for the development of the Cold War. Germany was split into four sections, with one going to Britain, France, USA and the Soviet Union. Each of the four powers also gained a section of Berlin. However, Berlin was deep inside the Soviet sector in Germany, which resulted in problems on 24th June 1948. Although the Soviets ultimately could control what went into and out of Berlin, they had never restricted any transportation previous to this date. When the Western Allies decided to introduce the Deutschmark, as they wanted Germany to economically recover, into their respective sectors of Berlin, Stalin saw this as potential threat which could thwart Communism and allow for the dominance of Capitalism. The Americans and the British also intended to cut down the German reparations and expand the German industries, which Stalin despised. He wanted to destroy Germany rather than allow it to recover so then decided to close all raid and road likes from Berlin to West Germany. This action, which is referred to as ‘The Berlin Blockade’ prevented the transportation of any goods, including food, to the sectors of Berlin occupied by the Western Allies. Rather than attempting a clash with Soviet forces, the US Military Governor General Clay suggested that West Berlin could be supplied by an airlift, made possible by aircraft flying along the three ‘corridors’ allocated to the Western Allies by the Soviets in 1945. Initially, this prospect was met with scepticism but it was in fact extremely successful and continued on a daily basis up until 12th May 1949, when Stalin decided to reopen the borders. This event led to the split of East and West Germany. West Germany became the Federal Republic of Germany and East Germany became the German Democratic Republic.

Upon close analysis, it is undeniable that there was a wealth of contributing factors which led to the development of the Cold War. The vast majority of the reasons can be centred on the fact that the Western Allies had ideologies which hugely conflicted that of the Soviet Union. Truman and Stalin believed in extremely different things, and Stalin’s desire to spread Communism is arguably the main factor which led to the Cold War. It is important to consider that the USA did also possess a thirst for power; they seemed to show off the fact that they had far superior weapons to the Soviet Union and this resulted in the subsequent Arms race between both great powers. Broken promises from the Soviet Union in rgard to the Yalta and Potsdam conferences can be seen as one of the main reasons too – however, it can be argued that this was solely due to the nation not being included in the politics of the Western world. Both Western Allies and the Soviets had a mutual distrust of each other and it was inevitable that they were not going to co-operate with ease. Despite, all of the faults that USA made, it does boil down to the individuals who were central to the conflict: Stalin and Truman. Stalin strongly desired dominance and for Communism to become the leading political stance in Europe. He seemed to often state that his actions were purely defensive measure, as he saw a buffer zone as essential, yet he had clearly outlined his desire to expand the Soviet empire in speeches to his own people. Based on this, it can be argued that Stalin’s expansionist policy was the main catalyst to the Cold War, and whilst Truman was not blameless, it was the Soviet Union intending to expand its empire, not USA. Stalin’s inappropriate actions led to a chain-reaction of events which resulted in growing tensions and finally the Cold War. Therefore, the majority of the blame should be placed upon Stalin and the Soviet Union.