origins of the cold war -> developing tensions up to 1948 - Kennan's Long Telegram

Question 1

who was George Kennan and what was he known for?

Answer 1

• the charge d’affaires in the US embassy in Moscow
• the ‘father of containment’ and therefore the architect of US foreign policy for the duration of the Cold War
• he inspired the Truman Doctrine (1947) and the Marshall Plan (1948)

Question 2

what did Kennan favour for the US’ stance to the Soviet Union?

Answer 2

• Kennan had long favoured the USA adopting a hardline policy against the USSR
• before Yalta, he supported the idea of splitting Europe into spheres of influence -> defining a line across which Soviet communist influence could not cross
• after Yalta, recognised Roosevelt’s failings of a grand plan for international cooperation and the creation of a democratic post-war world structure
• for Kennan, communism was uncompromising in its ideological threat to the first world

Question 3

Why did Kennan view the USSR as an ideological threat?

Answer 3

• Kennan believed it was in communist and Russian nature to impose its ideology on the rest of the world
• Believed USSR opposed Western democratic values
• ‘[It is] desirable and necessary for our traditional way of life to be destroyed.’

Question 4

Explain Kennan’s belief that the USSR would undermine Western powers:

Answer 4

• believed Stalin wanted to replace the fear of Germany and Japan with a fear of the US and Britain
• would legitimise the Stalinist regime
• believed the primary culprit for this was the Soviet Union due to its intent to demonise the West for domestic political reasons
• Believed USSR would set Western powers against each other
• Believed USSR would weaken the power and influence the West had on its colonies

Question 5

what did Kennan suggest for the direction of US foreign policy in February 1946?

Answer 5

• argued that the USA must be prepared to threaten the use of force and ensure unity among its allies
• urged the USA to adopt a proactive role, particularly in Europe

Question 6

who did Kennan’s views resonate with?

Answer 6

Kennan’s conclusion that Soviet foreign policy was aggressive and ideologically driven resonated with Harry S. Truman’s growing uncertainty that the Soviet Union was not only an enemy of Western democratic values but also a threat to the USA’s security

Question 7

How did the USSR respond to the Long Telegram?

Answer 7

• In September 1946 the Soviet ambassador in Washington, Nikolai Novikov
• Concluded that the USA’s foreign policy was based on economic imperialism
• It aimed to ensure that other states were dependent upon it to ensure the USA’s global supremacy in September 1946

Question 8

What was the significance of the Long Telegram in terms of the US approach to foreign policy?

Answer 8

• Aligned with Truman’s views that the USSR were an ideological and security threat to the US
• The Long telegram marked another step in America’s shift from traditional isolationism in favour of taking a lead role in international affairs
• Became the basis of US foreign policy of containment