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How far was the USA responsible for the start of the Cold War? - Coggle…
How far was the USA responsible for the start of the Cold War?
USA RESPONSIBLE (POLITICALLY)
TRIZONIA
GB+FR+USA merged together
Stalin did not like this
broke agreements made at Yalta 1948
they agreed to split Germany into 4 zones
it partly lead to the Berlin Blockade
this was his response to Western agression
1947
Truman doctrine
Soviet union saw as a threat
this then lead to tension between USA and USSR because the USSR could not compete with USA because they were still weakened from the WW2
aim was to contain communism
containment policy
any country that was threatened with communism was given money to get out of poverty
1947
churchill's Iron Curtain speech
1946
Truman was standing next to Churchill as he made his speech
Truman did not contradict what Churchill was saying
NATO
1949
creation of an alliance of defense against any attack
Stalin saw this as an alliance against him
he feels victimised
becomes more suspicious
Nuclear bomb
used 2 in one week
by USA
it lead to nuclear rivalry
USA was responsible for starting the Cold War because of their political actions.
one way this is shown is the creation of the truman doctrine.
in 1947, president Truman came up with the Truman doctrine to contain communism.
after the WW2, many eastern european countries were in poverty and truman believed that people in poverty were more likely to support comunism because it promised 'greater things'
to contain communism Truman promised the countries to help them out of poverty so that communism could not spread
the soviet union saw this as a threat because this meant that he could not expand his soviet sphere of influence.
this then lead to tension between USA and USSR because the USSR could not compete with USA because they were still weakened from the WW2
another way this is shown is the formation of trizonia
in 1947, Britain, France and america joined zones in germany.
this broke the Yalta agreement about Germany being split into 4 zones
stalin did not like this
and this partly lead to the berlin blockade because Stalin was responding to Western aggression
there fore USA's political actions lead to the cold war.
USA RESPONSIBLE (ECONOMICALLY)
marshall plan
USA gave money to countries affected by communism
$13.5 billion
it meant that Stalin had less power
Stalin saw it as an economic threat to his ' sphere of soviet influence'
Stalin feared American dominance in Europe
saw it as "dollar imperialism"
1948
economic aggression
contained communism by giving money to countries in poverty so that communism would not spread in these countries
'coca colonisation'
spread American influence around the world
Another reason USA was responsible for the cold war was because of economic aggression
DEUTSCHMARK
USA created own currency-DEUTSCHMARK- available in the USA, Gb and FR zones
this angered Stalin as it broke agreements made and he did not know about
it was worth 4x more than the current currency in Berlin
further US economic aggression could be seen as the new currency in Berlin
creates unfairness in Germany
more German people want the Deutschmark
this lead to division in Germany
furthermore this new currency was decided at a secret meeting in London that Stalin was not invited to
USA is also responsible beacuse of their economic aggression
in 1948, marshall plan was put into action.
Truman gave a total of 13.5 billion dollars to 16 countries
this stopped communism from spreading because the countries economies were stronger and did not need to rely on communism to get stronger.
Stalin saw this as an economic threat to his
NOT USA-USSR RESPONSIBLE (BROKE YALTA AGREEMENT IN EASTERN EU)
Red army
they stayed in the countries they liberated
GB FR USA left so the countries had no protection
this pressured eastern countries in EU to go communist
Czech coup
1948
it meant that the terms agreed at Yalta about free elections were destroyed by the USSR
Stalin took over an elected government
and rigged elections from then on to ensure a Communist/Soviet government
coalition government thrown out
this proved to the West that they could not trust Stalin or the Soviet Union
However, it wasn't USA it was the USSR that was responsible for the Cold War
Poland
there was a coalition government
in 1947 Stalin rigged the elections so there was a communist government
this causes distrust, fear and anger in GB towards the soviet union
this lead to a breakdown in communications
this broke Yalta agreements about a free and fair election
NOT USA-USSR RESPONSIBLE (BERLIN)
Berlin blockade 1947
Stalin cut off 2million people from electricity, gas and coal. there was 36 days worth of coal left and 14 days worth of food
all access to Berlin was cut off: roads, trains, boat
USA+GB responded with the largest air operation in history
lasted 11 months
planes were coming at 90s intervals
this goes against Yalta agreements about a fair, 4 way split, in Germany
Stalin is trying to force GB+USA+FR out of Germany
this lead to the formal German split of East and West in 1949 which symbolises the Cold War
Furthermore, USSR could also be seen as responsible for the Cold War because of their actions in Berlin.
THIS CAUSED THE COLD WAR BECAUSE...