Analysis : ' Riding On The Coat Tails Of Wwii '

On February 22, 1946, there was a telegram given to the US State Department of officials from an American Foreign Service officer stationed in Moscow, George Kennan, depicting information of the beliefs of the Russians against capitalism. In summary, it stated “Stalin and the Soviets believe that communism is better than capitalism,” and that “ Stalin and the Soviets believe they will win.” The telegram also had stated, “The United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.” [Doc A]. This demonstrates that the intentions of the USSR are that of destroying capitalism by the warning given by George Kennan to try to stop the spread of communism from gaining too much power and the belief that they themselves would win. This demonstration was heard and the following year in July, the actions to stop communism began. The Truman Doctrine declared the support for developing countries against the communist threat. And again in the following year, there was another policy against the communist threat; the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan “gave over twelve billion dollars [over 140 billion today] in aid to help rebuild European democracies like France and West Germany.” [Background Essay]. This was an opposition against the persuasion of becoming a communist country in Europe. This all shows the American plan of containment against the USSR by economic and military support for the developing countries, to limit the power of the

Harry S. Truman was President of the United States from 1945-1953. President Truman presidency was marked throughout by important foreign policy initiatives. Central to almost everything Truman undertook in his foreign policy was the desire to prevent the expansion of influence of the Soviet Union. At the end of World War II it was immediately apparent that Russia was trying to draw as many countries as it could into its influence, if not total control. The United States became extremely alarmed as country after country did indeed fall under Russia’s

Truman and Stalin expanded strains in Europe and East Asia in the years quickly taking after World War II, the Cold War itself was unavoidable. The relationship during the war amongst the United States and the USSR during World War II was still conserve to defeat the previous many years of intuition and unease amongst the two countries. In addition, as both astonishing groups looked to accomplish their after war security targets, They're intentions were to retaliate against Germany in 1945.

“The Middle East, which has been converted by Russia ,Would today be prized more than ever by international communism.” Thesis: While all Cold War presidents wanted to stop communism,they all had different ideas on how to accomplish that issue.President truman used economic aid. President Eisenhower focused on military aid.President Kennedy used military use.

In order to deal with the postwar tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union, President Truman, who had only recently became president and lacked experience, implemented a new foreign policy to deal with the Soviet Union. (pg. 1006) As illustrated in the primary source titled “The Truman Doctrine,” The Truman Doctrine outlined America’s foreign policy related to the Soviet Union around a declaration of “war on communism, [the Soviet Union’s ideology that clashed against the U.S.’s], everywhere.” (pg. 1006, Truman Doctrine) Truman intended to implement “containment,” in which the spread of communism would be stopped. (pg. 1032) This declaration officially began the Cold War, a conflict that despite involving no actual direct warfare, devastated the relationship between the two countries. (pg. 1001) Many Soviet and American beliefs clashed with each other. (pg. 1022) For instance, American and Soviet views on individual liberties, religious freedom, human rights,

Since the beginning of the Cold War in the late 1940s, American national strategy has been dedicated to the containment of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (Soviet Union) and its soviet-inspired communism. Following the end of World War II, relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were strained. The distinct differences in the political systems between these two countries facilitated animosity and mistrust, often to the brink of war. The Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, spread communism throughout Eurasia in an attempt to establish Soviet hegemony and secure his power domestically. President Harry S. Truman embraced the framework of George F. Kennan’s controversial containment policy to limit the Soviet’s influence, often at the expense of the United States.

Towards end of the Second World War II was not just the end of long hard fought battle, but also the start of an oversensitive and vibrant stage that moved culture on all levels. The post war phase, as it became known, formed the world we live in; the era was created itself both by the war that had lead it, and dominant forces that encased it. As the energy of primarily different ideas Socialism and Equality collapsed with improvements in science as for instinct nuclear bomb, a hazardous situation resulted that produced an atmosphere of fear throughout the world and particularly, inside American walls.

America’s tension with the Soviet Union grew stronger during World War II, but it was clear that this alliance would be short lived and following it would be the race between Democracy and communism. The countries represented the extremes in social ideology; American Capitalism with monetary pursuit and rugged individualism, and the USSR’s Communist preaching redistribution of wealth under temporary totalitarian rule (that never left power). The tension had been building up since the Russian Revolution with America not recognizing the Bolshevik Government until 1933, and was brought to its tipping point during WWII as the USSR had been denied its, proper second front, its development of atomic weapons, and ultimately the denial of reconstruction loan while Britain’s was approved. Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill met at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. They made strategic plans to defeat Germany and began discussing crucial postwar issues. All this build up caused Stalin to pursue his own goals instead, as was demonstrated when the war was over when Soviets refused to recognize Poland’s conservative in exile and instead instituted a communist government as it had been continuously doing in Eastern Europe. With the European Allies exhausted of their resources. It fell upon America and F.D.R’s successor, Harry Truman, to engage the USSR and its spreading communism, beginning the Cold War. However as America for the majority of its existence had remained an isolationist

Once World War II ended, the U.S and the Soviet Union broke their ties as Allies against the Axis Powers and their grievances toward one another culminated into an overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and hostility. Apprehensive Americans wanted their freedoms protected and with the expansion of Soviet communism, this would limit American’ sense of security and protection. As a result of this rise of communist expansion, the U.S sought to contain this Red Scare and attempt to stop the perceived communist threat to world peace and stability. President Harry S. Truman thus established the Truman Doctrine in which the United States would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from outside

The end of World War II was not just the end of a war, but also the beginning of a tense and dynamic period that affected society on all levels. This “postwar” period, as it became known, shaped the world, as we know it today; likewise, the period was shaped itself both by the war that had preceded it, and the powerful forces that surrounded it. As the energy of fundamentally different ideologies, Communism and Democracy collided with advances in science such as the nuclear bomb, a dangerous environment ensued that created an atmosphere of paranoia throughout the world and especially, within America.

From the time of dropping of the atomic bombs on Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki up to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the diminishment of the Berlin Wall. Permeated ways of thinking are highlighted through the creation of texts in the time period of 1945 through to 1991 influenced by Cold

The traditional, orthodox interpretation places the responsibility of the Cold War on Stalin’s personality and on communist ideology. It claims that as long as Stalin and the authoritarian government were in power, a cold war was unavoidable. It argues that Stalin violated agreements that he had made at Yalta, imposed Soviet policy on Eastern European countries aiming at political domination and conspired to advocate communism throughout the world. As a result, United States officials were forced to respond to Soviet aggression with foreign policies such as the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. Yet revisionists argue that there was “no proof of Stalin promoting communism outside Russia” and that Stalin’s decisions were first and foremost, pro-Soviet and not of communist intentions. Up until 1947, it is evident through Marshall Plan as well as statements and interviews made by Stalin that he was still thinking of cooperation with the United States, Britain and France. Despite post-war conflicts and instability of Soviet-American relations, the USSR’s initial embrace of the Marshall Plan at its announcement expressed

Annotation: This influential essay, “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” was originally published by an author using the pseudonym “X” although the author was a U.S. State Department official George F. Kennan. His article discusses U.S. anti-communism, the origins of Truman’s Doctrine containment policy and the deferment of the Soviet Union.

The historian’s belonging to this school see the Truman doctrine from 1947 as the point when the Cold War started. They put the responsibility for the Cold War on the Soviet Union and its expansionist policy. According to them, this is the reason, why Soviets broke promises from the negotiations during the World War II, especially the Yalta agreement. On the other hand, the U.S. politicians wanted to continue the cooperation between the Allies even after the defeat of the Axis. They put a lot of hope to the newly created organization – United Nations – and the principle of collective security. However, the U.S. needed to react to the Soviet aggression in Europe. They adopted the policy of containment. The orthodox scholars view this policy as necessity because without it “the Soviet Union would have become the master of all Europe, instead of only the eastern Europe” .

Introduction: The Second World War was arguably the most significant period of the 20th century; occurring from 1939 - 1945. The most destructive war in all of history, its exact cost in human lives is unknown, but casualties in World War II may have totalled 50 million service personnel and civilians killed. The primary combatants were the Axis nations and the Allied nations. The Allies were the victors. Two superpowers, the USA and USSR, emerged from World War II to begin a Cold War with each other that would define much of the rest of the century. Adolf Hitler; a fanatic nationalist, militarist, racist, and anti-Semite, became Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and quickly transformed Germany into a totalitarian fascist state. His efforts to