The relationship between the USA and USSR dramatically changed between the years 1943-56.

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How Did Relationship Change Between 1943-56 Russia and USA

The relationship between the USA and USSR dramatically changed between the years 1943-56. In this essay I will be exploring factors and events that lead to this relation change including the Potsdam Conference, Secret Telegrams, The Berlin Blockade, and the Marshall Plan. I will then asses which of these were the most important.

The first signs of tension between these two superpowers were shown during the Potsdam Conference in 1945. This was the final meeting of the three leaders of the Grand Alliance. They addressed the question of the government of Europe following the German surrender. There was a large disagreement on reparations in Germany; the USSR wanted to impose heavy reparations whereas America wanted to be rebuilt. The Allies compromised whereby each ally would control a zone and takes reparations from that. Stalin argued that his zone was poorer so the Western Allies agreed to give him a quarter of their industrial equipment. During the conference Truman tried to assert his authority by using the development of the atomic bomb as the master card as it gave him the power to destroy entire enemy cities without risking American life. Stalin refused to be pushed around and showed no special interest, when secretly he was developing his own weapon. Their relationship was further strained when Stalin had broken his word and did not set up a capitalist government in Poland like he had promised. Already bitter divisions between the America and the USSR had shown, which some thought would lead to war. This was a very important event as this is where the division between the two countries was first shown. Before the conference America and Russia were on friendly terms however by the end of it they had started to go downhill and this would only get worse as I analyse more factors.

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After the Potsdam conference in 1946 it had become increasingly clear that Europe had been divided between capitalism in the west lead by Churchill and communism in the east lead by Stalin. President Truman supported Churchill and it was clear that both sides saw Stalin as an opponent. This then lead to the secret telegrams. Stalin and Truman were concerned about the breakdown of the Grand Alliance and asked for secret reports from their embassies to help them understand their opponents. The Long Telegram informed Truman that Stalin wanted to destroy capitalism and that there could be no peace while ...

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