Origins of the Cold War Outline

        The U.S.S.R is to blame for the Cold War, because of the Berlin Blockade, the U.S.S.R takeover of eastern European countries, Stalin's demands at Yalta and Potsdam, the U.S.S.R's refusal to take help from the Marshal Plan, and the U.S.S.R having very different goals than the U.S.A. However, some people say that the U.S.A is to blame for the Cold War because of the Truman Doctrine.

The Berlin Blockade

• By separating the U.S.S.R's zone,  Stalin clearly demonstrated that the U.S.S.R and the U.S.A were on bad terms to the world, which created more tension between the U.S.A and the U.S.S.R
• Stalin went against the wishes of Roosevelt  ,who wished that Germany be reunited, creating tension for the United States 
• By separating the U.S.S.R's zone, Stalin demonstrated his power over East Germany and demonstrated that he could easily operate without the Allies, creating fear and tension in the U.S.A
• By closing off East Germany from West Germany, Stalin demonstrated 

The Takeover of Eastern European Countries

• Stalin outlawed the democratic party in the eastern European countries, which forced the countries to be communist which created tension in the U.S.A
• By forcing the eastern European countries to be communist Stalin broke the promise he had made at Yalta, which created tension in the U.S.A
• By taking the eastern European countries and making them be communist the U.S.S.R spread communism, which was directly against the U.S.A's dream of spreading democracy. 

Stalin's demands and actions at Yalta and Potsdam

• Stalin wanted to cripple Germany to ensure safety from further invasions, while Roosevelt didn't want the Treaty of Versailles to happen all over again; these different goals created tension between the two leaders and thus tension between the two countries
• At Potsdam Stalin refused to give up any power that he had over the eastern European countries in his control, therefore the U.S.A believed that this was evidence that Stalin was planning on taking over Europe to build a Soviet Empire, which created fear and tension for the U.S.A and caused Truman to adopt a 'tough' attitude towards Stalin which amplified the tension between the two leaders and made it even harder to come to any agreements at Potsdam
• At Poland Stalin demanded the U.S.S.R's border to move into Poland, which created more tension and fear in the U.S.A that the U.S.S.R was aiming for world domination. 

 The U.S.S.R's refusal to take help from the Marshal Plan

• Stalin refused to take money from the Marshal aid
• Stalin demanded that the eastern European countries in his control not take any of the money from the Marshal Aid. 
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U.S.S.R having very different goals than the U.S.A.

• The U.S.S.R wanted to spread communism, while the U.S.A wanted to spread democracy
• The U.S.S.R wanted to have a closed market, while the U.S.A wanted to have a free market
•  The U.S.S.R wanted to keep Germany divided and weak, the U.S.A  wanted to reunited Germany

The U.S.A is to blame because of the Truman Doctrine

• The purpose of the Truman doctrine was to prevent the spread of communism  and Stalin's dream was to spread communism and so this created tension in the Soviet Union
• The Truman Doctrine was meant to make sure that the U.S.S.R didn't take over Greece or Turkey, which created tensuion in the U.S.S.R
• The Truman Doctrine demonstrated the U.S.A's distrust in the U.S.S.R which created tension in the U.S.S.R

The Berlin Blockade and Airlift

1. What is Source 37 (p. 75) saying about Josip Tito, leader of Yugoslavia?     
                Yugoslavia is a communist country and so, Source 37 is saying that Josip Tito,the leader of Yugoslavia, is betraying communism by taking money from the United States, because the money that Tito is accepting is money that is suppose to make countries stronger, and so make the countries strong enough to get rid of communism. 


2. Why do you think Stalin was so hostile to Tito?        
               Stalin was so hostile to Tito because, Yugoslavia, the country that Tito ruled, was the only eastern, communist, European country that did not follow Stalin's orders. And so, Tito began accepting money from the United States, something that Stalin had forbade the eastern, communist, European countries to do, which further angered Stalin.     


3. Look back at the map in Source 27 on page 71. How does the geographical position of Yugoslavia help to explain why Stalin did not take any direct action (such as sending in troops) against Tito?     
                  The geographical position of Yugoslavia helps explain why Stalin didn't take direct action   against Yugoslavia in that, Yugoslavia was one of the farthest away countries from the Soviet Union, therefore it would have taken much more time, food, supplies, and fuel to take any direct action against Yugoslavia. 


4. Read Source 40 (p. 77). What reasons did the Soviet Union give for cutting off West Berlin?       
                  The Soviet Union gave the reasons that there were technical difficulties, and so all traffic  had    to be stopped, and using a similar reason the Soviets stopped all barge traffic, finally the Soviets said that that there was a shortage of coal, and so, the Soviets had to disrupt electrical power from Soviet power plants to Western sectors. 


5. Why do you think the USA did not believe these were genuine reasons?           
                  The United States did not believe that these reasons were genuine because all of the reasons happened convenientally at the same time, relations with the Soviet Union had been shaky in recent times, and so the United States would have been more suspicious at any actions that the Soviet Union took, and  because all of these reasons were obviously the perfect cover for the Soviet Union to seperate West Germany from East Germany. 


6. How do Sources 41–43 differ in their interpretation of the blockade?            
                  The Sources differ in that Source 41, which was written by an American Historian, says that it was the Soviets fault that the blockade continued for many years, and Source 43, which was written by a Soviet Historian, says that the blockade continued for many years because the Americans "refused to yield".   


7.  Which do you think is the most useful source for a historian studying the Berlin Blockade?       
                  I think that Source 43 is the most useful source for a historian studying the Berlin blockade, because Source 43 shows the historian what it was like living in West Berlin during the blockade. However, the historian would have to be careful about trusting the source too much because the Source was written by a Soviet historian during the Cold War and so the author may have exaggerate how bad it was lving in West Berlin during the blockade. 



8.  Which source do you think gives the most reliable view of the blockade?    
                    I don't think that either source is more reliable than the other, because both sources were written when the Cold War was still going, and both sources were written by historians from the          opposing sides; Source 41 was written by an American historian , and Source 43 was written by a Soviet historian.