Describe the events of the Berlin Airlift between June 1948 and May 1949

Source F illustrates an American cartoon, showing the Truman Doctrine choking Stalin. There is a pipe with the Soviet sybol of the hammer and the sickle on the front, and a cork with the words 'Truman's Doctrine', that has jammed itself into Stalin's pipe. The fact that the source is a American cartoon is significant, and it shows me that the US were aware that Stalin would be against and shocked at the idea of the US becoming more involved. I believe that the Truman Doctrine was among the main reasons for the start of the Cold War.

Truman’s Speech was an event of immense importance in the Cold War, and it set out many of the principles by which the USA was to fight the Cold War for the next 30 years.

The Truman Doctrine stated that the US would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent the communist takeover. Truman requested $400 million from congress to aid the region, but did not use any military forces. The doctrine stated that Americans should “support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed  minorities or by outside pessures”. The Doctrine also showed that the US were willing to be more involved in European affaires, as the idea of 'containment' was brought up in the Doctrine, and created tension between the USSR, as they wanted to spread their communist influence. Furthermore, Turkey was a neighbour of Greece and the USSR, and it controlled the Dardanelles and had come under attack from the Soviets. The again enhanced the hostility between the superpowers and helped contribute to the Cold War, as the USSR felt threatened, and it showed them that the USA was not going to revert to isolation, and that they would aim to stop the spread of communism throughout the world. Many Communists felt that this was a decleration of war against Communism, and so regarded as the start of the Cold War, however there are many other reasons that contributed to the final cause.