The Second World War had cost the Soviet Union as many as 27 million lives. They were determined that they would not be attacked again from the west. To ensure their protection they established friendly, communist governments on their borders. This fear and hostility was not simply a product of events at the end of the wars. The two superpowers had conflicting ideologies and worldviews, and both came to the conclusion, the in the late 1940s, that the two ideologies could not live side by side.
The Development of the cold war can also be explained by the invention of catastrophic weapons. In an age of nuclear weapons, conflict could not be allowed to become a war. Therefore the Cold War was developed as a ‘proper’ war would not take place. Cold War was developed through the fighting through propaganda, exercising of economic power, particularly by the Americans, and the building-up of military strength in an arms race. Occasionally, the cold war would turn ‘hot’ in some part of the world, but the soviet and Americans never faced one another over a battlefield.
Development of the Cold War, in the five years between 1945 and 1950, could be argued as taking place for a number of reasons , and most importantly, due to various individuals.
On one hand, it can be said that the development of the Cold War, between 1945 and 50, was definitely impacted and heightened through provocative, and aggressive actions on foreign policy, taken by Stalin. An example of Stalin’s confrontational actions, in terms of foreign policy, is his part in the events of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences ; two meetings which were intended to sort through post war issues and reach a place of peace and calm for the allies. The issue of Poland was the one least simple to solve due to Stalin’s insistence on the fact that it should be put in Soviet hands as they were responsible for releasing it from Nazi occupation. This issue was made harder to solve due to Stalin’s refusal to compromise, which then led to the ideologies differences between the USSR and USA.
Agreements were made, however Stalin’s antagonistic character and inability to keep to those arrangements were made clear at Potsdam in July 1945 – especially highlighted by new American president, Harry Truman, a man of a much harsher nature and with stronger stand against communists than his predecessor Roosevelt.
Stalin’s aims were of an aggressive, dominative nature and to be wary of by the allies. It supports the idea that Stalin was looking to convert Poland to communism, thus explaining his reluctance to uphold free elections as agreed at Potsdam, and suggesting Western powers had a right to be defensive and take harsher action in their dealings with the USSR.
Another key example of Stalin’s aggressive foreign policy is his part in the events of the Berlin Blockade. As agreed at Yalta, a post war Germany and Berlin were split into Western and Eastern zones; recognised that this could not be a long term solution, the West wanted to rebuild Germany and create a stable democracy and economy – Stalin on the other hand was more concerned with making Germany pay to the full extent. Continuing disagreements over the economic future of Germany meant that the West decided to introduce a new currency, the deutsche mark, to help economically prosper their zones, including Berlin, without informing the east.
Stalin was extremely angered by this and soon he took action by stopping all road, rail and canal links with West Berlin, as well as shutting down power stations resulting in great suffering amongst the city. Airlifts managed to keep western Berlin from starvation and destruction and Stalin eventually conceded, however the damage was already done. Though the USA had indeed made the wrong decision in not informing the USSR of their new currency, it can be argued they at least wanted to help their zones – Stalin’s actions in cutting of power stations and transportation links helped no one but again developed the tension between the USSR and US. It is fair to say his actions in the blockade greatly contributed to Cold war and frosty superpower tensions.
Stalin’s confrontational approach to foreign policy was clearly a driving force in cold war and his role cannot be denied nor overlooked. However ,it could be argued the USA were provoked into a harsher stance in the period of 1945-50, through Stalin’s aggressive expansion, it cannot be denied that the callous actions of Truman also contributed to the development of Cold War. Truman was a noticeably harsher leader than Roosevelt. Truman intended to make it clear to the Soviet Union that Yalta commitments must be kept and that communism was not going to be compromised and sympathised with like it had been up until that point. The Potsdam conference indicated Truman’s nature and his lack of tolerance for communism and Stalin’s aggressive ruling.
Truman further contributed to development of cold war through his tough introduction of the Truman Doctrine – a policy seen as unnecessarily aggressive and intrusive into European affairs, as well as an indirect attack on the Soviet Union and communism.
The policy stated that the USA would aid any country or government under attack of armed minorities – the underlying message being that they were prepared to intervene any apparent spread of communism. Truman used his doctrine to send American aid and military advisers to Greece to defeat the communists – his assistance was clear to all, to be a design to have wider application: creating a division and choice between two alternatives, communism and democracy. To Russia and Stalin this doctrine was a great insult, as well as evidence of American imperialism, a view very much reinforced with the launching of the Marshall Plan.
The Marshall Plan was another area of American foreign policy, which demonstrated an abrasive and unforgiving attitude on Stalin, the USSR and their apparent expansion into Eastern Europe. The motives behind it could be said to have been vital in the rising tensions between superpowers, that were soon to develop into a full blown cold war. Through the plan, the USA supplied aid to many European countries, giving destroyed nations a chance to rebuild their economies. Truman made sure that it was highly publicised - he wanted the US to appear to be the strong saviours, who all should strive to be like.
The spreading of capitalism through propaganda was seen as both an attack on communism, as well as an act of hypocrisy, considering that Stalin had been so long condemned for promoting the spread of communism through Europe. Truman’s development of the Marshall Plan, excluded the Soviet Union and alienated them greatly, creating feelings of distrust and even hate between the two.
The ever developing cold war not only owed responsibility to the two superpower leaders, Stalin and Truman, and their foreign policy, but also to other factors outside of their control. For example the famous ‘Iron Curtain’ speech, delivered by Churchill in March 1946, in which he harshly called for firmer action by the West against the threat of communism. In his speech, Churchill declared that ‘from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent’, Churchill had called for an alliance between the two countries, suggesting they meet this expansion with an equal level of aggression and intimidation. This hostile view surrounding the USSR outraged Stalin and the speech created an increase in animosity between the superpowers and without a doubt contributed to the outbreak and development of cold war.
In conclusion, the development of the cold war is better explained by the actions and suspicion the two superpowers have for one another. Stalin was responsible for the development of Cold War, due to both his disloyalty to important agreements made between the superpowers at Yalta and Potsdam and his clear and successful attempts at Eastern European expansion, as well as his spiteful actions during the Berlin Blockade. At the same time , Truman was also an aggressive leader who successfully spread ideology through his Marshall Plan and openly promoted the condemnation of Communism across the world. Adding other factors such as Churchill’s speech and opinions on communism as well as the American fears of McCarthyism, into the situation meant that Cold War was unavoidable from any angle and could not have been due to one person or event.
by
tiffowong (student)
