Who was to blame for the Cold War?
The blame for the Cold War cannot be placed on one person -- it developed as a series of
chain reactions as a struggle for supremacy. It can be argued that the Cold War was
inevitable, and therefore no one's fault, due to the differences in the capitalist and
communist ideologies. It was only the need for self-preservation that had caused the two
countries to sink their differences temporarily during the Second World War. Yet many of
the tensions that existed in the Cold War can be attributed to Stalin's policy of Soviet
expansion. It is necessary, therefore, to examine the role of Stalin as a catalyst to
the Cold War.
Stalin's foreign policies contributed an enormous amount to the tensions of the Cold
War. His aim, to take advantage of the military situation in post-war Europe to
strengthen Russian influence, was perceived to be a threat to the Americans. Stalin was
highly effective in his goal to gain territory, with victories in Poland, Romania, and
Finland. To the western world, this success looked as if it were the beginning of
serious Russian aggressions. The western view of the time saw Stalin as doing one of two
things: either continuing the expansionist policies of the tsars that preceded him, or
worse, spreading communism across the world now that his "one-state" notion had been
fulfilled. It also must be mentioned that Stalin is seen as wanting "unchalleged
personal power and a rebuilt Russia strong enough to withstand 'caplitalist
encirclement.'"1
Admittedly, the first view of Stalin, as an imperialist leader, may be skewed. The
Russians claim, and have always claimed, that Stalin's motives were purely defensive.
Stalin's wished to create a buffer zone of Communist states around him to protect Soviet
Russia from the capitalist West. In this sense, his moves were not aggressive at all --
they were truly defensive moves to protect the Soviet system. His suspicions of Western
hostility were not unfounded: the British and U.S. intervention in the Russian Civil War
(1918-1920) were still fresh in Stalin's memory when he took power. Furthermore, Stalin
was bitter because he was not informed of U.S. nuclear capabilities until shortly before
the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Compounding tensions was the fact that
Stalin's request that Russia be allowed to participate in the occupation of Japan was
denied, even though Russia had declared war on Japan on 8th August (the bomb was dropped
on Hiroshima on 10th August) and had been responsible for annexing south Sakhalin as
agreed to at Yalta. This failure to be included in the Western world's politics created
an even deeper rift between the two superpowers.
Clashes between Stalin and the West first appear at the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences in
February and July 1946, respectively. Though the mood at Yalta was more or less
cooperative, Stalin agitated matters by demanding that all German territory east of the
Rivers Oder and Neisse be given to Poland (and thus remain under Soviet influence). Both
Roosevelt and Churchill refused to agree to these demands. The Soviet Union responded
bluntly, saying "..the Soviet Government cannot agree to the existence in Poland of a
Government hostile to it."2 The atmosphere at the Potsdam Conference was noticeably
cooler, with Truman replacing Roosevelt as the representative from the United States.
"Truman...had been kept in complete ignorance by Roosevelt about foreign policy,"3 which
meant that Truman was not aware of the secret assurances of security Roosevelt had made
to Stalin. His policy towards Soviet Russia, then, was much more severe than that of
Roosevelt. He was quoted as saying "We must stand up to the Russians...We have been too
easy with them."4 Both Truman and Churchill were annoyed because Germany east of the
Rivers Oder and Neisse were being occupied by Russian troops and were being run by the
pro-communist Polish government, who expelled over five million Germans. This went
directly against the agreements made at Yalta earlier in the year. The west viewed this
as an act of aggression on the part of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union responded with
a statement saying "Poland broders with the Soviet Union, what [sic] cannot be said of
Great Britain or the United States."5
From this point, the Cold War truly becomes a chain reaction. In March of 1946,
Churchill presented his 'Iron Curtain' speech at Fulton, Missouri, in response to the
spread of communism in eastern Europe. He called for a western alliance to combat the
threat. Stalin's response was hostile: rather than trying to negotiate a peaceful
settlement, Stalin continued to tighten his grip on eastern Europe. Communist
governments were installed in every area of eastern Europe (barring Czechoslovakia) by
the end of 1947. These governments were implemented by guerrilla tactics: elections were
rigged, non-communist members of the governments were expelled, with many being arrested
or executed, and eventually, Stalin dissolved all non-communist political parties.
Stalin began to implement a reign of terror using the Russian Army and his secret police
force. Moreover, Stalin had increased his influence in the Russian zone of Germany as if
it belonged to Russia. He allowed only the communist party and drained the area of its
vital resources.
The West reacted. It appeared to them that Russia's attitude went against all of the
promises that Stalin had made at Yalta -- namely, that Stalin would permit free elections
in the eastern European states. Russia argued that it needed to maintain a sphere of
influence in the area for security reasons: to this, even Churchill agreed in 1944.
Further, Russia argued that the areas had never had democratic governments, and that a
communist system would allow these 'backward countries' to progress and flourish.
Stalin's policy of expansion worried the West: in response, the West introduced the
Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, both of which sought to arrest the spread of
communism.
Stalin's aggressive tactics did not end with creating a sphere of influence. Stalin
re-established Cominform in September 1947. Cominform represented a union of all of the
communist states within Europe, including representatives from the French and Italian
communist parties. Even within this communist structure, Stalin had to exert his
influence. It was not enough for a state to be merely communist: it had to adopt the
Russian-style communism. Furthermore, the states within Cominform were expected to keep
trade within the Cominform member states, and were discouraged from making any contact
with the Western world. Russia strengthened the ties with the Cominform countries
through the Molotov plan, which offered Russian aid to the satellite states, and the
establishment of Comecon, which served to coordinate the economic policies of the
communist states. These actions on the part of Stalin only increased the rift between
the capitalist and the communist systems, and made future compromise and negotiations
more difficult.
Perhaps the most aggressive move that Stalin made, however, was the takeover of
Czechoslovakia in February 1948. Several key issues arose in this conflict. First, the
U.S. felt alienated when Czechoslovakia rejected Marshall Aid, which the U.S. blamed on
the influence of the communist party. Second, the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia was a
communist, the President and Foreign Minister were not. Finally, the fact that the
communists took power in Czechoslovakia by means of an armed coup sent waves of fear
through the western world, causing the 'iron curtain' to fall even further. The U.N. had
its hands tied, because there were 'free' elections (the candidates were all communist)
and there was no proof of Russian involvement. While it cannot be proved that Stalin
ordered the coup, the signals were clear: Stalin had likely encouraged the coup, and it
was not coincidental that Russian troops in Austria were moved up to the Czech border.
Czechoslovakia was the final east-west bridge, and with the fall of it, the 'iron
curtain' was complete.
The final hostile movement of Stalin of importance was the Berlin blockade and airlift.
When Russia grew dissatisfied with the economic disparity that had developed in Berlin,
it responded by closing all road, rail and canal links between West Berlin and West
German. The goal was to force western powers from West Berlin by reducing it to the
starvation point.
While the blame for the Cold War cannot be placed on a single man, Stalin's expansionist
policy was clearly an ever-present catalyst in the war. Certain Truman was not
blameless, but the U.S. was not expanding its empire -- the Soviet Union was. Whether
the expansion was for self-preservation, or whether it was merely imperialistic
expansion, is relatively immaterial. What Stalin's actions unarguably did was start a
string of chain-reactions within the western powers, and therefore, a good deal of the
blame must rest with him.
Bibliography
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Perspective: American, British and Canadian Relations with the Soviet Union 1941-1948.
London: MacMillan Press, 1988.
Davis, Lynn E. The Cold War Begins: Soviet-American Conflict over Eastern Europe. New
Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1974.
Dockrill, Michael. The Cold War: 1945-1963. London: MacMillan Education Ltd., 1988.
Halle, Louis J. The Cold War as History. London: Chatto & Windus, 1971.
Jonsson, Christer. Superpower: Comparing American and Soviet Foreign Policy. London:
Frances Pinter Publishers, 1984.
LaFeber, Walter. America, Russia, and the Cold War 1945-1990, 6th ed.. New York: McGraw
Hill, Inc., 1991.
Maier, Charles S., ed. The Origins of the Cold War and Contemporary Europe. New York:
New Viewpoints, 1978.
McCauley, Martin. The Origins of the Cold War. Essex: Longman Group Ltd., 1983.
Smith, Joseph. The Cold War, 1945-1965. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, Ltd., 1989.
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