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... rooms stationed there. He also gave money to the two governments. This policy was then called containment the prevention of communist expansion. Truman officially announced this policy in a speech on 12 March 1947; this speech has later been called the Truman Doctrine. With the Truman Doctrine came the Marshall plan, an attack on Communist roots.
This was an idea from General George Marshall. The idea was to give money to any country under threat from being taken over by the Soviet Union, so that they could prevent communism to spread into their country, with the money came a bond between that country and the USA, this bond enslaved the country under the USA and would mean that Western ideas would have to be considered there. Stalin however was not fooled, he forbade any communist countries from receiving Marshall Aid. Therefore they were not committed to the Usa's ideas. The countries of Europe however, were keen to be enslaved and between 1948 and 1952 the USA provided $ 13 billion to sixteen different countries. Stalin's refusal to allow communist countries from receiving Marshall Aid had a big effect on events in Germany after World War 2.
Germany's economy was ruined, the western powers did not want to restore Germany's military power, but they had to rebuild its industries and restore the economy. The western part of Germany was not included in the Marshall Plan, Stalin refused the Soviet zone to receive aid. The generosity of it was beyond belief (Ernest Bevin-British Foreign Secretary. ) One the one hand, Marshall aid was an extremely generous act by the USA. On the other hand, it was also motivated by American self-interest. The Americans remembered the disastrous effects of the Depression of the 1930 s and Truman wanted to do all he could to prevent another worldwide slump. Maybe the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan were just too good, to generous, taxpayers in the United States, their money was going towards helping other countries, although it was a very generous and kind thing to do, did they have to give so much money?
In response to the Marshall Plan, the Soviets set up two other organisations: The Communist Information Bureau, an organisation to strengthen relationships between communist nations, and the council for Mutual Economic Aid, which was a rival to the Marshall Plan. Berlin at this time was divided into zones, similar to those zones that split Germany. On the 24 th June 1948, Stalin decided to blockade West Berlin by cutting off road and rail links. To break this blockade, the Allies would have to send tanks to smash through the blocks. This would be seen as an act of war, and Stalin didnt believe that the Allies would go that far, he thought that the Allies were much more likely to abandon their zones and leave the whole of Berlin in soviet hands. To keep West Berlin going, the west sent supplies in planes across to there.
These supplies were sent by air to the three air bases in West Berlin, this operation was named The Berlin Airlift. This meant that now Stalin had options. To stop the supplies, he would have to shoot the planes down, even though they carried no threat to the Soviet Union, this would clearly show him as the aggressor. Just in case Stalin took this option, B- 29 Bombers were stationed in Britain, putting the Soviets in range of Atomic Bombs if necessary. The three western allies, overall made 275, 000 trips to West Berlin and delivered over 2, 000, 000 tons of supplies. Stalin's gamble had failed.
On 12 May 1949 he called off the blockade. Stalin's blockade had made the Allies stand their ground, taking measures to strengthen their control of Germany and their opposition to the Soviet Union. The formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) was a military alliance of the European powers and the USA and Canada. It was a defensive alliance, if any of these countries were attacked, these allies were sworn to help. NATO was a direct challenge to the Soviets, although the USSR had developed the Atomic Bomb. When NATO was expanded to include West Germany in 1955, the Soviet Union responded by setting up its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact.
Greece and Turkey joined in 1952 and West Germany in 1955. The Warsaw Pact: The countries in the Warsaw Pact were: Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania. The setting up of NATO and the Warsaw Pact consolidated the positions of the two superpowers. There are many points that suggest that the Americans and Allies were to blame. The self-interest behind the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine enslaved the countries that received Marshall Aid to Western ideas.
This meant that the USA would have a say in the way those countries were run. Americas Atomic diplomacy showed off their strength and power and annoyed Stalin. He thought that it was a threat to the USSR and got his scientists to design a Soviet atomic bomb in defence. Winston Churchill's Fulton Speech made the East believe that the West actually wanted a war.
The USA betrayed Britain and told the Soviets that this iron curtain had nothing to do with them. T. G. Paterson, J. G. Clifford and K.
J. Hagan wrote in 1977 The post-war period seemed an ideal opportunity to put into practice Americas idea of Peace and Prosperity. There was another factor of great importance the vital needs of the American Economy This suggests that these historians, in 1977 believed that the USA were actually being very selfish and not thinking of anyone else but themselves and how they could gain power. However there were faults on the Russian side too, The Russians expanded into Eastern Europe, this was one of the most important reasons in my view that the Cold War got worse. If the Soviets hadnt done this, the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan may not have even happened. Stalin did not keep the agreements that were made at Yalta.
This annoyed the other leaders, as Stalin was being selfish. Stalin also set up the Berlin Blockade with the idea that he could push western power out of Eastern Berlin. The cold War was the brave and essential response of free men to Communist aggression. (A. M. Schlesinger 1967) Schlesinger believes that the soviets were wrong.
The USA was trying to stop the USSR from going any further. He is a Traditionalist Historian. T. A. Bailey also believed that the Soviets were to blame, he thinks that they always had one more plan for world domination up their sleeves. Was the Cold War Inevitable?
The different political systems, this was always going to be a reason for the East and the West to fall out. Communists were bitterly opposed to Capitalists and vice versa. Also the events at the Potsdam Conference were nobody's fault really. The Soviets wanted Germany to be economically flattened, USA and Britain knew that this wasnt the case; Germany had to be picked up and on its feet again, just with restrictions and rules. These points made the Potsdam conference a slightly inevitable cause of the Cold War. Finally, were the East and the West as much to blame as each other?
Was it a compilation of both sides actions? Would some points even had been considered if the other sides actions before hadnt taken place? Both The Soviets and The Allies were suspicious of each other, they both thought that their way was right, and they were willing to fight for it. If Russia hadnt expanded into Eastern Europe, would the Cold War have actually ever been mentioned in a history lesson? Personally, I believe that both the East and the West were to blame and that each side encouraged each other to retaliate in its actions. The Berlin Blockade caused the Allies to harden up and stand their ground, this made them tougher and stronger than before.
Each side after WWII wanted to win diplomatic victories over their opponents. Post Revisionist Historians also believe that it was partly both alliances that caused the Cold War. Modern historians also tend to think this. M.
Leffler wrote in 1992 about how the USA were responding to things that the Soviets were doing, but these actions that the Soviets were taking were in response to Western actions. Each side was responding to responses to their own actions. My thoughts are shared with Lefflers, both sides were to blame. Each in their own way.
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Research essay sample on Who Was To Blame For The Cold War
