Truman Doctrine March 12, 1947 I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes. The free people of the world look to use for support in maintain their freedoms. If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world. And we shall surely endanger the welfare of this nation. Truman, Harry S. The Truman Doctrine. American Rhetoric Top 100 Speeches Online. http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/harrystrumantrumandoctrine.html. Accessed March 21, 2016. Soviet Response to the United States' Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb August 1945 And of course Stalin gave the word that the Soviets would join the war in the Pacific. And Stalin was the guy who monitored all those preparations. He was the Commander in Chief. So those weeks were extremely busy weeks. So for him to give proper thinking to how this bomb could be, could affect the future, he had constraints in time. And also he was not sure of American intentions. For instance, would they use the bomb? The fact that the Americans used the bomb meant a lot. That meant that they were ready to use it again, perhaps against another enemy, against another target. And also that meant that Americans wanted not only to test this weapon, but they wanted to end the war quickly to show to the whole world that they won the war. So why this, why then they discussed with Stalin that deal about Soviet intervention? What about Soviet role? So for him, the fact that the bomb affected the end of the war was much more important at that particular time than the fact that the bomb existed. It existed as a political potential. But Hiroshima made it a real potential and changed in his eyes the correlation of forces. American Experience Staff Writer. Vladislav Zubok on: The Soviet Reaction to Hiroshima, the Race for the Super Bomb. PBS.org.. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/filmmore/reference/interview/zubok1.html; Accessed 15 April 2016. Letter to President Truman from Marshall Joseph Stalin April 24, 1945 You, apparently, do not agree that the Soviet Union has a right to make efforts that there should exist in Poland a government friendly toward the Soviet Union, and that the Soviet government cannot agree to existence in Poland of a government hostile toward it. Besides everything else, this is demanded by the blood of the Soviet people abundantly shed on the field of Poland in the name of liberation of Poland. I do not know whether there has been established in Greece a really representative government, and whether the government in Belgium is really democratic. The Soviet Union was not consulted when these governments were being established there. The Soviet Government did not lay claim to interference in these affairs as it understands the whole importance of Belgium and Greece for the security of Great Britain. Stalin, Joseph. Correspondence between the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Presidents of the USA and the Prime Ministers of Great Britain during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 1945. Marxists Internet Achieve. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/correspondence/01/45.htm; Accessed May 7, 2016.
Map of Europe 1949 Political Cartoon About Churchill s Iron Curtain March 1946 A British cartoon published in a newspaper in March 1946. It shows Churchill looking under the Iron Curtain which has split Europe in two. Use the GCSE citation here.
Soviet Ambassador Telegram September 27, 1946 The foreign policy of the United States, which reflects the imperialist tendencies of American monopolistic capital, is characterized in the postwar period by striving for world supremacy. This is the real meaning of the many statements by President Truman and other representatives of American ruling circles; that the United States has the right to lead the world. All the forces of American diplomacy the army, the air force, the navy, industry, and science are enlisted in the service of this foreign policy. For this purpose broad plans for expansion have been and are being implemented through diplomacy and the establishment of a system of naval and air bases stretching far beyond the boundaries of the United States, through the arms race, and through the creation of ever newer types of weapons.... During the Second World War... [American leaders] calculated that the United States of America, if it could avoid direct participation in the war, would enter it only at the last minute, when it could easily affect the outcome of the war, completely ensuring its interests. In this regard, it was thought that the main competitors of the United States would be crushed or greatly weakened in the war, and the United States by virtue of this circumstance would assume the role of the most powerful factor in resolving the fundamental questions of the postwar world. Novikov, Nikolai. September 27, 1946 Telegram from Nikolai Novikov, Soviet Ambassador to the US, to the Soviet Leadership. Wilson Center.org. http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/110808.pdf?v=c46f797bf3d939c2c328ac98eb778f09; Accessed May 4, 2016. The Marshall Plan June 1947 Aside from the demoralizing effect on the world at large and the possibilities of disturbances arising as a result of the desperation of the people concerned, the consequences to the economy of the United States should be apparent to all. It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist. Such assistance, I am convinced, must not be on a piecemeal basis as various crises develop. Any assistance that this Government may render in the future should provide a cure rather than a mere palliative. Any government that is willing to assist in the task of recovery will find full co-operation I am sure, on the part of the United States Government. Any government which maneuvers to block the recovery of other countries cannot expect help from us. Furthermore, governments, political parties, or groups which seek to perpetuate human misery in order to profit therefrom politically or otherwise will encounter the opposition of the United States. Marshall, George. The Marshall Plan. Historywhiz.com. http://www.historywiz.com/primarysources/marshallplanspeech.html; Accessed April 29, 2016. The Yalta Conference February 1945 They agreed: The Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan once Germany had surrendered; to divide Germany into four zones: US, British, French, and Soviet; to divide Berlin into four zones in the same way; to hunt down and try Nazi war criminals in an international court of justice; to allow countries that had been liberated from occupation by the German army to have free elections to choose the government they wanted; to join the new United Nations Organization in order to maintain peace once the war ended ;and that earn Europe would be a Soviet sphere of influence. (Superpower Relations and Vietnam 1945-1990, 14). Waugh, Steve and John Wright. Superpower Relations and Vietnam 1945-1990. London: Hodder Education, 2006.
American Capitalist Expansion Joyce and Gabriel Kolko Surrounded by this vast upheaval, the United States found itself immeasurably enriched and, without rival, the strongest nation on the globe. It emerged from the war self-conscious of its new strength and confident of its ability to direct world reconstruction along lines compatible with its goals. And these objectives, carefully formulated during the war, were deceptively simple: Essentially, the United States' aim was to restructure the world so that American business could trade, operate, and profit without restrictions everywhere. On this there was absolute unanimity among the American leaders, and it was around this core that they elaborated their policies and programs. They could not consider or foresee all the dimensions of what was essential to the attainment of their objective, but certain assumptions were implicit, and these in turn defined the boundaries of future policy options. American business could operate only in a world composed of politically reliable and stable capitalist nations, and with free access to essential raw materials. Such a universal order precluded the Left from power and necessitated conservative, and ultimately subservient, political control throughout the globe. This essential aim also required limitations on independence and development in the Third World that might conflict with the interests of American capitalism. Use my book citation. Berlin Blockade June 24, 1948 2. The Cabinet were informed that no progress had been made in the quadripartite discussion on the possibility of introducing a single currency for the whole of Berlin, and that early on the previous day it had been announced that the new currency for the Soviet Zone would be introduced into the whole of Berlin. The Military Governors of the Western Zone had countered this by announcing that the new currency for the Western Zones would be introduced into the western sectors of Berlin. Early that morning the Soviet authorities had stopped all rail traffic between Berlin and the Western Zones and all electricity supplied from the eastern to the western sectors of Berlin. It was not yet clear whether these restrictions were designed as a tactical reply to the action taken by the Western powers on the currency question or whether they were the first move in a major offensive to force the Western Powers to withdraw from Berlin. Our Military Governor had been asked for a full report on the situation and this was expected by noon. The Cabinet recognized that a very serious situation might develop in Berlin; and it was important that the Western Powers should take their stand on a position which they were confident of being able to sustain. The Minister of State undertook to arrange that the Foreign Secretary should be fully informed of the situation without delay. As soon as the promised report on the situation was received, he would also consider, in consultation with the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister, whether the British *Military Governor in Berlin should be recalled to London for consultation with Ministers. *Each sector of Germany had a military governor so there was a British Military Governor, an American Military Governor, and a French Military Governor. These Governors met regularly with the civilian mayor of West Berlin. British Cabinet. The Cold War: Berlin 1948-1949. The National Archives. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/coldwar/g4/cs1/s2.htm; Accessed May 4, 2016. The Cycles of American History 1986 Kennan s argument was that ideology was the instrument of Soviet power, not vice versa, and that the basic motive behind Soviet expansion lay in the desire to guarantee the internal security of the regime itself. Schlesinger Jr., Arthur M. The Cycles of American History. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986.
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. June 24, 1948 The Cold War had now begun. It was the product not of a decision but of a dilemma. Each side felt compelled to adopt policies which the other could not but regard as a threat to the principles of the peace. Each then felt compelled to undertake defensive measures. Thus the Russians saw no choice but to consolidate their security in Eastern Europe. The Americans, regarding Eastern Europe as the first step toward Western Europe, responded by asserting their interest in the zone the Russians deemed vital to their security. The Russians concluded that the West was resuming its old course of capitalist encirclement; that it was purposefully laying the foundation for anti-soviet regimes in the area defined by the blood of centuries as crucial to Russian survival. Each side believed with passion that future international stability depended on the success of its own conception of world order. Each side, in pursuing its own clearly indicated and deeply cherished principles, was only confirming the fear of the other that it was bent on aggression. Schlesinger, Arthur M. The Russian Revolution Fifty Years After. In Foreign Affairs; October 1967. Berlin Airlift June 28, 1948 4. The Foreign Secretary informed the Cabinet of the latest developments in the situation in Germany. In view of the suggestions published in the Soviet-controlled press in Berlin, the Foreign Office had issued a statement over the week-end confirming the Government's intention to maintain their position in Berlin and the United States Government were being asked to make a similar statement. There could be no question of yielding to Soviet pressure; if the Western Allies were forced out of Berlin, the project of Western Union would be fatally weakened. Every effort must be made to increase the existing food stocks for the civil population in the British sector of the city. This could now be done by air alone, and steps had been taken to expand the air services into the city. It seemed possible that the Soviet Government might try to secure an agreement on Four-Power control of the Ruhr in return for permitting the resumption of rail and water traffic into the Western Zones. There was no foundation for their allegation that we were failing to carry out the terms of an agreement on this issue British Cabinet. The Cold War: Berlin 1948-1949. The National Archives. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/coldwar/g4/cs1/s2.htm; Accessed May 4, 2016. Mr. X Article July 1947 [I]t lies in the nature of the mental world of the Soviet leaders, as well as in the character of their ideology, that no opposition to them can be officially recognized as having any merit or justification whatsoever... [There is] a basic opposition between Communism and capitalism.... In these circumstances it is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies. Kennan, George. The Sources of Soviet Conduct. The History Guide: Lectures on Twentieth Century Europe. http://www.historyguide.org/europe/kennan.html; Accessed May 5, 2016. The Cold War, Walter Lippman Post July 1947 My objection, then, to the policy of containment is not that it seeks to confront the Soviet power with American power, but that the policy is misconceived, and must result in a misuse of American power. For as I have sought to show, it commits this country to a struggle which has for its objective nothing more substantial than the hope that in ten or fifteen years the Soviet power will, as the result of long frustration, break up or mellow. In this prolonged struggle the role of the United States is, according to Mr. X, to react at a series of constantly shifting geographical and political points to the encroachments of the Soviet power.... Thus, for the best of reasons and with the best of motives they came to the conclusion that they must wage a diplomatic campaign to prevent Russia from expanding her sphere, to prevent her from consolidating it, and to compel her to contract it. But they failed to see clearly that until the Red Army evacuated Eastern Europe and withdrew to the frontiers of the Soviet Union, none of these objectives could be achieved. Lippman, Walter. The Cold War. Primary Sources Workshops in American History. https://www.learner.org/workshops/primarysources/coldwar/docs/lippman.html; Accessed May 5, 2016.
President Harry S. Truman Meets with his Foreign Policy Advisors April 23, 1947 [T]his difficulty over Poland could not be treated as an isolated incident, that there had been many evidences of the Soviet desire to dominate adjacent countries and to disregard the wishes of her allies.... [F]or some time the Russians had considered that we would not object if they took over all of Eastern Europe into their power. He said it was his profound conviction that if the Russians were to be rigid in their attitude we had better have a showdown with them now than later.... [W]e were faced with a possibility of a real break with the Russians but... if properly handled it might be avoided The President said that he had no intention of delivering an ultimatum to Mr. Molotov but merely to make clear the position of this Government. Mr. Stimson observed that he would like to know how far the Russian reaction to a strong position on Poland would go. He said he thought that the Russians perhaps were being more realistic than we were in regard to their own security. Truman, Harry S. Meeting with his Chief Foreign Policy Advisers, 23 April 1945, Discussing Alternative Approaches to the Soviets. In Crisis in US Foreign Policy: An International History Reader edited by Richard Hendel. New York: Vail-Ballou Press, 1996. Winston Churchill s Iron Curtain Speech March 5, 1946 From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in some cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow. Athens alone -- Greece with its immortal glories -- is free to decide its future at an election under British, American and French observation. The Russian-dominated Polish Government has been encouraged to make enormous and wrongful inroads upon Germany, and mass expulsions of millions of Germans on a scale grievous and undreamed-of are now taking place. The Communist parties, which were very small in all these Eastern States of Europe, have been raised to pre-eminence and power far beyond their numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control. Police governments are prevailing in nearly every case, and so far, except in Czechoslovakia, there is no true democracy. Churchill, Winston. The Iron Curtain Speech. The History Guide Lectures on Twentieth Century Europe. http://www.historyguide.org/europe/churchill.html; Accessed May 4, 2016. Stalin s Reply to Winston Churchill March 14, 1946 Secondly, the following circumstance should not be forgotten. The Germans made their invasion of the U.S.S.R. through Finland, Poland, Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The Germans were able to make their invasion through these countries because, at the time, governments hostile to the Soviet Union existed in these countries. As a result of the German invasion the Soviet Union has lost irretrievably (permanently) in the fighting against the Germans, and also through the German occupation and the deportation of Soviet citizens to German servitude, a total of about seven million people. In other words, the Soviet Union s loss of life has been several times greater than that of Britain and the United States of America put together. Possibly in some quarters an inclination is felt to forget about these colossal sacrifices of the Soviet people which secured the liberation of Europe from the Hitlerite yoke. But the Soviet Union cannot forget about them. And so what can there be surprising about the fact that the Soviet Union, anxious for its future safety, is trying to see to it that governments loyal in their attitude to the Soviet Union should exist in these countries? How can anyone, who has not taken leave of his wits, describe these peaceful aspirations of the Soviet Union as expansionist tendencies on the part of our State?... Stalin, Joseph. Joseph Stalin: Reply to Churchill, 1946. Modern History Source Book. http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1946stalin.html; Accessed March 21, 2106.
The Formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization April 4, 1949 It is often said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded in response to the threat posed by the Soviet Union. This is only partially true. In fact, the Alliance s creation was part of a broader effort to serve three purposes: deterring Soviet expansionism, forbidding the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe through a strong North American presence on the continent, and encouraging European political integration. The aftermath of World War II saw much of Europe devastated in a way that is now difficult to envision. Approximately 36.5 million Europeans had died in the conflict, 19 million of them civilians. Refugee camps and rationing dominated daily life. In some areas, infant mortality rates were one in four. Millions of orphans wandered the burnt-out shells of former metropolises. In the German city of Hamburg alone, half a million people were homeless. In addition, Communists aided by the Soviet Union were threatening elected governments across Europe. In February 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, with covert backing from the Soviet Union, overthrew the democratically elected government in that country. Then, in reaction to the democratic consolidation of West Germany, the Soviets blockaded Allied-controlled West Berlin in a bid to consolidate their hold on the German capital. The heroism of the Berlin Airlift provided future Allies with some solace, but privation remained a grave threat to freedom and stability. A Short History of NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. http://www.nato.int/history/natohistory.html; Accessed Mary 8, 2016. The Soviet Union Explodes an Atomic Bomb September 23, 1949 Hydrogen Bomb. Atomic Heritage Foundation. http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/hydrogen-bomb-1950; Accessed on May 8, 2016. The Potsdam Conference August 2, 1945 It is not the intention of the Allies to destroy or enslave the German people. It is the intention of the Allies that the German people be given the opportunity to prepare for the eventual reconstruction of their life on a democratic and peaceful basis. If their own efforts are steadily directed to this end, it will be possible for them in due course to take their place among the free and peaceful peoples of the world.... In accordance with the Agreement on Control Machinery in Germany, supreme authority in Germany is exercised, on instructions from their respective Governments, by the Commanders-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the French Republic, each in his own zone of occupation, and also jointly, in matters affecting Germany as a whole, in their capacity as members of the Control Council. Occupation and the Emergence of Two States (1945-1961). German History in Documents and Images. http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/docpage.cfm?docpage_id=2977; Accessed on May 8, 2016.