“Compare and contrast the roles of Truman and Stalin in the course and development of the Cold War”
The cold war was a silent war that was mainly fought through proxy wars by the Soviet Union and the US. With the dropping of the atomic bombs and the surrender of Japan in 1945, the foreign policy of both of the countries changed rapidly to increase influence across the world. Two leaders who had a critical role in changing the shape of the cold war was Harry S. Truman and Josef Stalin. With their decisions and foreign policies they were able to shape the cold war through the years. Despite a war not ever actually being fought between these two countries, Truman and Stalin made policies, such as the Truman doctrine and the Soviet Union’s expansion of communism in east Europe, which increased tensions during the cold war and ultimately brought further development of the cold war. Truman’s ideology was capitalist and Stalin’s ideology was communist. This great contrast in ideologies played a big part in the decisions that helped pave the way for the cold war.
The ideologies of these two leaders were fundamental in the development of the cold war because throughout the cold war Stalin and Truman found it very hard to agree with each other and come up with solutions. As Truman said in the conference “I’m sick of babying the Soviets”. When Truman knew he had the atomic bombs, this led to him being more aggressive in the conference, by dropping the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August) Truman was able to prevent Stalin from entering the war in the pacific. Stalin was angered by this because he saw it as the US showcasing there knew weapon, and threatening the safety of the Soviet Union. This started the nuclear arms race between the US and the Soviet Union which as a result increased the tensions between the two countries and changed the course of the Cold war.
The Truman doctrine in 1947 was written to revise the fight against communism. The goal of Truman was not to eradicate the USSR but to contain communism and prevent it from spreading around the world. This was a large turning point in the development of the Cold war as for the first time, the US was trying to prevent communism from spreading across the globe. The USSR saw this as a threat and thought that the US wanted to expand their influence into the eastern communist countries. In the Potsdam conference Harry S. Truman, Josef Stalin and Clement Atlee agreed to divide berlin between the four occupying powers. On March 1948 Stalin ordered the blockade of West Berlin, this was a direct violation of what they agreed in the conference. The failure of the Berlin blockade led to the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in April 1949, which was an intergovernmental military alliance between North America and West Europe. The admittance of West Germany in 1955 into the NATO pushed Stalin to create a military alliance between the USSR and the eastern bloc. In 1955 the Warsaw pact was created and it was the first time that East and West Europe were divided militarily, as well as economically and politically.
The Marshall Plan in 1948 was created to give economic assistance to west European countries. The plan was to help advance Europe’s economy and stop communism. This was Truman’s foreign policies that helped the US emerge from its Isolationism. “The Marshall plan was beginning to draw the western European nations closer together” – Ambrose. This showed that the countries were uniting together to fight against one common cause, the expansion of Communism. The Molotov plan in 1947 was very similar to the Marshall plan but it gave economic assistance to countries in Eastern Europe that were economically allied with the USSR. By enforcing economic plans in these countries Truman and Stalin were able to regrow and repair these war torn countries. It ultimately helped the countries in Europe become strong again.
The NSC-68 which was presented to Harry S. Truman in 1950 was a classified document in which the main thesis was that the Soviet Union’s goal was to spread the influence of Communism and become the dominant power in the world. NSC-68 asked for the US government to put more money into the armed forces to contain Communism. Although classified, when Truman signed the document on June the 25th, 1950, shortly after North Korea attacked South Korea, The NSC-68 helped change the development of the cold war as it changed the US’s foreign policies completely and changed to a different approach. The NSC-68 document helped to outline the government actions in the US for the next twenty years.
Although there will never be a definite answer, there is a great debate among historians to whether Truman’s actions played a larger role in the development of the cold war or if Stalin’s actions were more influential. The USSR and Stalin can be seen as being more significant as Stalin’s aggressive communist expansionism changed the course of the Cold War by increasing tensions between Eastern and Western European countries as Eugene V Rostow said “The cold war was caused by the USSR's 'imperial appetite’. But the US can also be seen as being more prominent in the advancement of the Cold War. By enforcing the Marshal Plan and forming the NATO, Stalin was almost forced to establish his own organisation of military alliances to prevent a war from happening. All these things considered we can see that Truman and Stalin both had a big and equal role in the development of the Cold War.
Throughout the cold war most of the actions that Truman or Stalin took, were to help expand their ideology throughout the globe. With policies such as the Marshal Plan and the dropping of the two nuclear bombs we can see that Truman influenced the development of the Cold War. Despite this, Stalin’s formation of the Warsaw Pact and the blockade of West Berlin were also key turning points in the Cold War. All things considered, we can see that ultimately Stalin and Truman’s policies and actions helped develop into what we now know as, the Cold War.
The ideologies of these two leaders were fundamental in the development of the cold war because throughout the cold war Stalin and Truman found it very hard to agree with each other and come up with solutions. As Truman said in the conference “I’m sick of babying the Soviets”. When Truman knew he had the atomic bombs, this led to him being more aggressive in the conference, by dropping the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August) Truman was able to prevent Stalin from entering the war in the pacific. Stalin was angered by this because he saw it as the US showcasing there knew weapon, and threatening the safety of the Soviet Union. This started the nuclear arms race between the US and the Soviet Union which as a result increased the tensions between the two countries and changed the course of the Cold war.
The Truman doctrine in 1947 was written to revise the fight against communism. The goal of Truman was not to eradicate the USSR but to contain communism and prevent it from spreading around the world. This was a large turning point in the development of the Cold war as for the first time, the US was trying to prevent communism from spreading across the globe. The USSR saw this as a threat and thought that the US wanted to expand their influence into the eastern communist countries. In the Potsdam conference Harry S. Truman, Josef Stalin and Clement Atlee agreed to divide berlin between the four occupying powers. On March 1948 Stalin ordered the blockade of West Berlin, this was a direct violation of what they agreed in the conference. The failure of the Berlin blockade led to the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in April 1949, which was an intergovernmental military alliance between North America and West Europe. The admittance of West Germany in 1955 into the NATO pushed Stalin to create a military alliance between the USSR and the eastern bloc. In 1955 the Warsaw pact was created and it was the first time that East and West Europe were divided militarily, as well as economically and politically.
The Marshall Plan in 1948 was created to give economic assistance to west European countries. The plan was to help advance Europe’s economy and stop communism. This was Truman’s foreign policies that helped the US emerge from its Isolationism. “The Marshall plan was beginning to draw the western European nations closer together” – Ambrose. This showed that the countries were uniting together to fight against one common cause, the expansion of Communism. The Molotov plan in 1947 was very similar to the Marshall plan but it gave economic assistance to countries in Eastern Europe that were economically allied with the USSR. By enforcing economic plans in these countries Truman and Stalin were able to regrow and repair these war torn countries. It ultimately helped the countries in Europe become strong again.
The NSC-68 which was presented to Harry S. Truman in 1950 was a classified document in which the main thesis was that the Soviet Union’s goal was to spread the influence of Communism and become the dominant power in the world. NSC-68 asked for the US government to put more money into the armed forces to contain Communism. Although classified, when Truman signed the document on June the 25th, 1950, shortly after North Korea attacked South Korea, The NSC-68 helped change the development of the cold war as it changed the US’s foreign policies completely and changed to a different approach. The NSC-68 document helped to outline the government actions in the US for the next twenty years.
Although there will never be a definite answer, there is a great debate among historians to whether Truman’s actions played a larger role in the development of the cold war or if Stalin’s actions were more influential. The USSR and Stalin can be seen as being more significant as Stalin’s aggressive communist expansionism changed the course of the Cold War by increasing tensions between Eastern and Western European countries as Eugene V Rostow said “The cold war was caused by the USSR's 'imperial appetite’. But the US can also be seen as being more prominent in the advancement of the Cold War. By enforcing the Marshal Plan and forming the NATO, Stalin was almost forced to establish his own organisation of military alliances to prevent a war from happening. All these things considered we can see that Truman and Stalin both had a big and equal role in the development of the Cold War.
Throughout the cold war most of the actions that Truman or Stalin took, were to help expand their ideology throughout the globe. With policies such as the Marshal Plan and the dropping of the two nuclear bombs we can see that Truman influenced the development of the Cold War. Despite this, Stalin’s formation of the Warsaw Pact and the blockade of West Berlin were also key turning points in the Cold War. All things considered, we can see that ultimately Stalin and Truman’s policies and actions helped develop into what we now know as, the Cold War.