history of the cold war
... and four days later Germany declared war, the Grand Alliance had become a reality. The Grand Alliance issue of Eden and Stalin in August 1941 to call a treaty to end the war was postponed for 4. reasons of Russian demands contradicting those of the British-American, which were set by the Atlantic Character. Although the Russians felt it was being directed against them instead of facial powers, Eden did not agree with the terms stated by the USSR thus lead into two themes that would repeat themselves throughout the Cold War. One “the west would continually attempt to mollify Stalin and assuage his fears of hostility and encirclement”. Second “Stalin would continue to combine cold-blooded realism with diplomatic audacity”. This leads us into aspects of the new American foreign policy of Containment. The New American Foreign Policy of Containment In this process it we must understand Stalin’s three government objectives in Eastern Europe. One “To install the governments friendly to the U.S.S.R. and to communism, two, 5. create a buffer zone between U.S.S.R. and Germany, and three to exploit Eastern Europe economics for the economic reconstruction”. The U.S. and Great Britain also had a set of goals but they were different. One was to “enable Eastern European countries to elect democratically any government they chose, and two, open Eastern European countries to free trade, thereby helping them modernize and also helping the U.S. to find markets for its manufactured goods”. These were key because both side’s objectives were not infidel, and neither Washington nor London was insensible to Stalin’s security zone. Another major issue during this time was the “Long telegram” of George Kennan. This was key because it developed a global policy for American history outside of war for the first time. Kennan was a Sovietologist in the U.S. State Department, and his development of the “long telegram” was the essential basis of American Containment. It paved the way for the United 6. States to understand Soviet conduct and also offered a means of dealing with it. The most important point of the long telegram was frankly that if “Americans stood up to the Russians, they would back down”. I found this to be strange for the reason of Russians would back down only to force believing that in the end they would always win because they figured that Marxism would always work out over a longer period of time. As we move on I will inform you of the significance of the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine This doctrine astonished “aid to the governing bodies of Greece and Turkey in actions of military and economic assistance in which over the next forty years was a guide for U.S. diplomacy”. It was policies of the United States developed to support free people who are resisting attempted conquer by armed minorities or by outside pressures. This sanction of aid to Greece and Turkey by Republican Congress indicated the 7. beginning of a long and enduring bipartisan cold war foreign policy. The Truman Doctrine raised questions regarding its origins, long-term consequences, and the relationship between domestic and foreign policy. However, one thing was for certain, the Truman Doctrine signaled America’s post war embrace of global leadership and ended its longstanding policy of isolationism. What many fail to realize it that this was an American declaration of Cold War, this was proven when aid was denied to a communist group in Czechoslovakia and also limited the aid provided to the Nationalist China. Throughout this period in the 1940s up until the Truman Doctrine in 1947 despite the Anglo-American diplomatic victories; Iran and the Dardanelle’s in Eastern Europe still remained threatened by Stalin. Another key component of the Cold War was the Marshall Plan which I will illiterate on next. The Marshall Plan 8. The Marshall Plan was basically a policy to counter Soviet expansion. It “promoted democracy” on internationalist and nationalist lines. It was not a plan to create an empire, buy rather restore a balance of power. Officially down the line it would be named the “European Recovery Program”. What a various amount of readers fail to realize it that the U.S.S.R. also was included in this plan but could not comply with the requirements of giving up economic information to the United States in order to receive aid. This act of rebellion later was key in the decision of Molotov creating an economic recovery plan for Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R. This was important during the Cold War because it brought Czechoslovakia and Poland to join their plan instead of American’s. As a threat to the Soviets the Marshal Plan was extremely dangerous for reasoning of 9. “threatening their grip on Eastern Europe, and also fostering Germany economic recovery on a basis of a strong Europe renewing the German threat to Soviet Security”. During this time round September 1947 the war-torn economies of Europe were able to rebuild. Again this was vastly important during this time because the plan was able to show Americans that Soviet expansion could be contained by counterforce. It was all a matter of shifting geographical and political points. As we move on, I will continue to show factors that influences U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the Cold War dealing with the North Atlantic T...