How and why did the Cold War emerge between 16945 and 1949?
The two superpowers, USA and USSR, are both responsible for the development of tensions between 1945 and 1949 leading to the cold war. No common enemy after World War II to hold their alliance together. American's responsibility: Truman doesn't tell Stalin about the atomic bomb, but tells Churchill: USA drops two bombs- one on Aug 6th and the second on Aug 9th, one day after Russia declares war on Japan. Truman's aim was therefore to put pressure and intimidate USSR. Thus, tensions intensified, ,especially since Russia didn't possess the bomb. Truman's containment policy also responsible for the increase of tensions: – In March 1947, he requested about 400 million dollars for aid to Greece (communists were trying to overthrow the monarchy) and Turkey (under Stalin's pressure). Quite successful5Greek communists lose, and Turkey will eventually come into Western bloc joining NATO° – Marshall Plan in June 1947: economic and financial help to any European country, to promote its recovery (13000 million dollars flowed to 16 countries). But it was also to slow Soviet expansion: communism less likely to gain control in a prosperous Europe. – Formation of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) formed, against Soviet threat in April 1949 USSR's responsabililty: Stalin starts to create tensions at the Potsdam conference in June 1945: he occupies the OderNeisse Line at East of Germany, establishes a pro-communist government and expells around 5 million Germans. In addition, he didn't keep his promise to allow some London Poles to join Lublin's government. This wasn't agreed at Yalta and irritates the Americans, creating tensions. Also, Stalin didn't let many countries have « free elections », as established at Yalta: he kept interfering in the Eastern European elections, to make sure that communists would win => by 1947, every state in East Europe has become a fully communist government, (except Czechoslovakia) because of Soviet influence (and except communist Yugoslavia under Tito). More tensions added after his speech in February 1946, in which he stated that communism and capitalism could never live peacefully together: the relations were then worsened, as the Western forces took the Soviets and their expansion as a threat. Comminform set up by Stalin in Septembre 1947, and Comecon and Molotov Plan applied in 1949: its aim was to tighten Stalin's grip on these countries and increase their influence. This puts pressure on Western bloc. Also, Western forces felt under pressure after the communist take over in February 1948 in Czechoslovakia: « iron curtain » complete. All these different tensions led to an important climax: the Berlin Blockade. In June 1948, the three united Western forces introduced a new currency in their zone: Russia decides to block all rail and road links between West Berlin and the rest of Germany in June 1948. However, supplies fled to the population: Russia ends blockade in May 1949. Relations between the two sides even worst.
