Who was to blame for the cold war?Was it the fault of the US or the USSR? Explain your reasons.
...a significant change in the foreign policy of the US. It declared that the US would assist any nations to fight against communism. This was known as the containment policy. Greece also successfully put down the communist revolt. The west regarded the success as a victory of the capitalist bloc over the communist bloc. It increased the Soviet- Western distrust. The US prepared a plan to rebuild European economy because she needed to trade with Europe. The US also feared that if the Europeans remained in poverty, they would turn to communism. Truman saw European economic recovery as the perfect antidote to stop the spread of communism. In 1947, George Marshall, the US Secretary of State, introduced an economic recovery programme for Europe. It was the Marshall Plan. The Plan succeeded in bringing economic recovery to Europe. Seventh European states joined together to form the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC). This made the leader of the USSR, Joseph Stalin suspicious. It also increased Soviet- American hostility because it led to economic competition between the two blocs. To counter the blockade of Berlin in 1948-1949, the US airlifted food and daily supplies to western Berlin through three air corridors. The Berlin airlift showed the unity and determination of the West in checking USSR expansion. In 1949, the US and the western powers formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to defeat USSR aggression. It speeded up the armament race. USSR also had faults to blame for cold war. She expanded into Eastern Europe during and after the Second World War. She gained some land from Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czechoslovakia and Rumania. She turned Albania, Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland into her satellites. The Soviet control of Eastern Europe alarmed the West. It made the US and the West discontented with her. USSR spread the communist ideologies to the European states. To limit Western influence (capitalism) on the Soviet satellites, the USSR tightened all kinds of control and imposed news blockade. No contacts with the west were allowed. As a result, the east was completely isolated from the west. Greater suspicion arose between the tow sides and they became involved in a cold war. In 1946, USSR spread the communism to Greece, and the Greek communist fought with the Greek government. It made Britain and US anger and adopted the Truman Doctrine to resist the communism. The US tried to rebuild European economy, and they set up OEEC to stop the communism affect the Europe. USSR tried to counteract the US influence and prohibited the Eastern European countries from joining the Marshall Plan. She also set up the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform) in 1947 to strengthen her control over Eastern Europe. In 1949, she set up the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) to coordinate the economic development of the Soviet satellites. At the same time, the Foreign Minister of the USSR, Vyacheslav Molotov signed trading agreements with Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria to provide them with economic aid so as to counteract the US. This was known as the Molotov Plan. It divided Europe economically into two. It made two blocs became more suspicious. Germany was divided into four zones after the Second World War. Similarly, Berlin, which was in the Soviet Zone, was divided into four sectors. The reunification of Germany was difficult as USSR wanted to waken Germany. The USSR demanded that the whole Berlin should be placed u...