American History: Cold War, Essay Example

The relations between the United States and the Soviet Union was often quite tense during the years of World War II, but when the war ended, the Soviet Union as one of the victors over Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich insisted that there must be governments friendly to it in most of the nations of Eastern Europe. However, this Soviet policy did not go along with the conditions set out by the agreements at the Yalta Conference, so the United States protested which resulted in Stalin saying that the Soviet Union was not trying to determine the types of governments in Western Europe, thus making the United States appear to be hypocritical. Nonetheless, the Soviets created what came to be called the Eastern bloc under communist rule, while other parts of Europe came under the control of the United States and its allies, especially Great Britain.

In 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared that the Soviet Union had plans to advance into Central Europe without starting another war and had created an “Iron Curtain” that divided East from West. The main problem was Germany with the Soviets wishing to create a form of communistic government and the United States wanting to form a federal republic in which some areas would be free of communist influence. But things rapidly got out of hand and ended with the Soviet Union refusing to ship goods and other materials into the U.S./Britain controlled zone of Germany. Thus was born the Cold War that lasted for almost fifty years.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman was unsure of exactly how to proceed in relation to the Soviet Union and its control of Eastern Germany. But in a speech to the US Congress, Truman announced that the United States must be ready to assist any free nation threatened by external aggression or internal subversion. In essence, Truman was speaking of the Soviet Union and its campaign to spread communism throughout Europe. This resulted in the Truman Doctrine that basically was an attempt by the United States to contain communism to those areas in Europe already under the control of the Soviet Union. Most members of the US Congress clearly understood Truman’s concerns and openly supported him, while others felt that the doctrine was too much of a commitment for the US. However, when the US Congress voted to send aid to Greece and Turkey in order to prevent the spread of communism in these nations, it had in effect approved of the Truman Doctrine.

One other pressing problem in Europe after World War II was economic chaos, and in another message to the US Congress, Truman warned that when hope vanishes, people are more willing to accept totalitarian rule under the domination of the Soviet Union. In the spring of 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall told the people of the US that Europe was on the verge of collapse and in an address at Harvard University, Marshall declared that the US was ready and willing to offer the necessary financial assistance to support the economic recovery of Europe but only if Europe requested it as a cooperative and joint action of all participating countries. As a statesman, Marshall was well aware of the fact that if the economy of Europe deteriorated, the Soviet Union would seize the chance to strengthen its grip in Europe which would aid in the spread of communism.

Thus, President Truman asked the US Congress to approve a large financial package for Europe; in response, the Soviet Union created a communist government in Czechoslovakia which in effect forced the US Congress to accept the conditions of the Marshall Plan which helped to create expanded markets in Europe for American products and lowered the chances that communism might spread to Italy or France. By 1952 when the Marshall Plan expired, the United States had contributed billions of dollars for the economic security of Europe, but the Cold War continued unabated until the late 1980’s when the Soviet Union collapsed, opening the door to freedom for millions of Europeans and bringing together East and West Germany under a democratic form of government.