Historical interpretations of the origins of the Cold War

A. Stalin and the Soviets were to blame for the cold war. The setting up of communist governments in Eastern Europe (satellite states) indicated Stalin’s intention to spread a Soviet sphere of influence into central Europe and perhaps beyond if not stopped by the western allies. Stalin wanted to take advantage of a weakened Europe and, in particular, of Germany. Stalin’s blockade of Berlin showed his ruthlessness as he held a city hostage in order gain complete control over it, and probably to force the allies out of Germany altogether.

B. The US used provocative measures to establish its influence in Europe after the war. The Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan and NATO revealed US intentions to wield their economic and military power to keep western Europe under its implicit control and to keep up the pressure on the Soviets putting them on the defensive. A US monopoly on nuclear weapons until 1949 when the Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb made Truman more aggressive and forced the Russians to try and ‘catch up.’ In 1948, the introduction of a new currency in the western zones of Germany to reunify the country economically and, ultimately politically, without Soviet cooperation, showed that the allies were unwilling to compromise on Germany.

C. Both sides were responsible for starting the cold war. Soviet and US leaders were quick to assume the worst of each other, believing that the other’s actions were intended to undermine their respective systems. The cold war was not inevitable, but the result of fear and misinterpretations due to mistrust and, in some cases, aggressive policies by the opposing side. Circumstances more than ideology were to blame.

The evolution of historical interpretations of an event or topic is Historiography. When were these different views written? By whom? Why do interpretations differ? Why do they change over time?