USA Response To Soviet Actions Flashcards
Development of tensions, 1945–1948
In 1945 Stalin acted to create a Soviet sphere of influence or buffer zone in Eastern Europe. The USA became increasingly concerned by the ruthless tactics of the USSR to ensure communist control of government in most countries in Eastern Europe. The analyst George Kennan stated as a result of the strong Russian sense of insecurity and communisms need to spread the Soviets were impervious to the logic of reason and could only listen to the logic of force. President Truman and American opinion were also influenced by Winston Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech in March 1946
In March 1947 the Truman Doctrine marked a significant change in the USA’s attitude to the spread of communism in Europe. It recognised that communist control of Eastern Europe was a reality but committed the USA to taking a more active role in preventing the spread of communist control. This was the policy of containment
The Marshall Plan was developed soon afterwards. It provided Europe with $13 billion for economic reconstruction. The western zones of Germany and Berlin prospered under the Marshall Plan. The Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan worsened relations between the USA and the USSR and contributed to the development of the Cold War.
Berlin and NATO
A key example of the USA’s new approach was its response to Stalin’s attempt in 1948 to force the western allies to leave West Berlin by blocking access to road, rail and canal links to the rest of Germany. The Berlin Airlift was the USA’s response. The airlift lasted 324 days, with up to 13 000 tons daily of food and fuel supplied by air. The Airlift made the USA realise its key role in the defence of Western Europe and in 1949 it set up NATO. NATO was based on the principle that a Soviet attack on one member would be treated as an attack on all of them. The creation of NATO led the USSR to create its own military alliance in Eastern Europe in 1955, called the Warsaw Pact.
Increasing tensions, 1950–1961
In the 1950s the Cold War continued. President Eisenhower and his Secretary of State, publicly adopted a tough stance against the spread of communism. However, the USA did not provide help to Hungary in 1956 in case it triggered war with the USSR. The USA recognised that Hungary was in the USSR’s sphere of influence
The city of Berlin was the only place where people from east and west had open contact during the Cold War in the 1950s. The difference in living standards between East and West was clearly seen in Berlin. During the 1950s over 2 million East Germans used Berlin as an escape route to the ‘Golden West’
The USA refused to agree to Khrushchev’s attempts to sign an agreement that would give the USSR control of West Berlin. Khrushchev feared that the loss of young, skilled workers would destabilise East Germany. In August 1961, East German police built a concrete wall to stop all movement between the Soviet sector and the West. The USA protested but made no attempt to remove the wall.
