Not only that, but Russia had increased their army to the biggest in the world, and the USA did not appreciate it because it increased the chances of further actions taken by the USSR. However, the Americans successfully tested an atomic bomb a day before the conference without notifying Stalin and this also caused controversy because it was a powerful weapon which could easily threaten and intimidate the strength of any country.
In 1947 Harry Truman created the Truman Doctrine because it came to a point where the spread of Communism was going to far and that America was becoming a threat under it. Therefore the principles of the Doctrine were to stop Communism from spreading any further by the method of ‘Containment,’ followed by economic restoration through the Marshall Plan. These ideas go against all of Stalin’s actions which again caused the development of the Cold War because it meant that Stalin had to deal with a plan which could potentially reduce the influence and power of communist parties in Western Europe. Due to the Truman Doctrine, Greece was the target country for America to help prevent it from being taken over by Communists because not only was it next closest from being taken, but it was next door to Turkey which was the gateway to the Middle East. A sum of $400 million was sent as economic aid for Greece and Turkey, and the money helped Greek government defeat the communist rebels which served as a warning sign to the USSR to keep out of Turkey which marks the political conflict.
Back at the Potsdam Conference, USA and USSR disagreed over what to do with Germany because they had opposite motives and plans for the country and this led to the event of the Berlin Blockade from 1948-48. The Western powers (Britain, USA and France) wanted to help restore Britain’s economy however this was exactly what Stalin did not want because he wanted to make sure that Germany had no chance to ever invade the USSR again since 20,000,000 Russians had died during the war, so Stalin believed he was owed a massive compensation. The negative and unwanted response which Stalin received caused him to react by putting a Soviet government in the Western part of Germany, then completely close railways, roads and canal links carrying vital supplies into West Berlin. This shows us how difficult and impossible it is for the USSR and the USA to work together. Stalin did this because he hoped to force them out of Berlin. Yet, the situation for him grew worse when the Allies decided to send over aid. The continuous ignorance of each other’s actions such as this, cause the Cold War to develop.
In April 1949, during the Berlin Blockade, the tension between the Superpowers was clearly present because NATO was formed. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) was an alliance of a group of non-soviet controlled countries (UK, France, USA etc.) in an agreement to work together which included the promise of helping America. From this, we can tell that it contributed to the development of the Cold War because there was a fear that a war would happen between the USA and USSR. This fear was particularly felt during the ‘Berlin Airlift’ when the Allies were sending aid over to the soviet-controlled side of Berlin, because nobody knew how the USSR would react.
Also, to prove the difficult relationship between the Superpowers, Stalin described NATO as an ‘aggressive alliance’ aimed at the Soviet Union, which demonstrates his disapproving tone.
By 1949, we can see definite changes when we compare the relationship between the USA and the USSR since the Potsdam Conference. Their ignorance for one another has caused such events such as the Berlin Blockade and the Truman Doctrine to occur which develop this Cold War, however it was tension and uncertainty which built up the Cold War, but it never turned into a physical war.
The fact that the USA believes only in the system of Capitalism and the USSR in Communism, is the root to the development of the Cold War, because this proves how they cannot agree or efficiently work together due to their ideologies, and because of this it separated them and they ended up as enemies instead.