To what extent did Cold War start because of US actions?

USA and USSR had different plans for post-war Europe that directly challenged each
other’s interests mainly due to the actions of USA. At the Yalta conference in 1945, none
came with plans for a peace that would be merciful to the Germans and in the end,
Germany was divided into 4 zones; Berlin was also divided into 4 zones. Emergency relief
was to be provided to the liberated people of Europe and practical steps were to be taken
to help them set up democratic and self-governing nations. However, there was tension
about two things: the kind of government that would be set up in Eastern Europe, in
particular Poland, as the terms ‘democracy’ and ‘free election’ meant different things to
the Communist and democratic bloc; and secondly, reparations of the war needed to be
settled. At the Potsdam conference in July 1945, the three superpowers, Britain, USA and
Soviet Union met together to further discuss and resolve the issues mentioned at the
Yalta Conference. These post-war plans directly undermined and threatened each other’s
interests. The introduction of the Marshall Plan seeking to make Europe rich and strong
again and prosperous enough to resist Communism, by providing financial help was an
opportunity for the USA to expand its sphere of influence and seek trading markets and
to enhance its economic interests. However, the USSR wanted to strengthen its own
security by building and securing its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe through the
establishment of satellite states. During the war, Stalin had trained eastern European
Communists in Russia, and after Potsdam they returned to their own countries and began
taking over as government ministers. After the war, Stalin began establishing a ring of
satellite states around the USSR through the use of Salami tactics. This defensive
measure by the USSR was interpreted by the USA as an aggressive plan to dominate the
world. The Containment Policy, aimed at keeping communism within its borders, provided
Greece and Turkey with monetary aid of $400 million. The USA saw the policy of
containment as necessary to limit the aggressive ambitions of the USSR and to protect
the ideals of freedom and democracy, but USSR saw this as USA actively building an
empire of its own in Europe. As a result, tensions between the two superpowers
intensified and motivated the superpowers to take practical steps to undermine each
others’ influence which was further catalysed by USA’s policy of containment.

However, long-term ideological differences as well as feelings of mistrust of each other

also played key roles in the reason for the start of Cold War.

Long-term ideological differences which existed between the USA and the Soviet Union
before World War II led them to become Cold war enemies. The conflicting ideologies of
capitalism and communism led to competing visions for both parties. While capitalist USA
believed in political self-determination and valued the importance of individual rights in a
free market economy, communist Soviet Union aimed to incite world revolution and
destroy capitalism through a worldwide class struggle. These differences led them to view
each other as a serious threat to their security. For example, Russia (the leading country
in the Soviet Union) viewed American intervention in the Russian Civil War on the side of
the anti-communist forces as an attempt to undermine the survival of communism in
russia. As fundamental differences existed between superpowers, the alliance struck
between the superpowers, the alliance struck between both parties during World War II
was only temporary and this further escalated to the starting of Cold War.

Furthermore, the feelings of mistrust of each other served as huge factors in the start of
Cold War. For example, towards the end of World War II, at the Yalta Conference,
relations between the two superpowers worsened when USSR became uneasy about US
keeping atomic bombs. The Manhattan Project was not made known to Stalin until the
first successful test, arousing Soviet suspicions and the advancement into nuclear bombs
had in turn tilted the balance of power in favour of the US, making USA less willing to
compromise with USSR, which therefore deepened the historical mistrust. When the
Communists came to power in the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, they lost the trust
of the USA and other Western nations as the Communist government called for a world
revolution. Poor relations escalated because of the involvement of the West in the russian
Civil War, by providing aid to the anti-Bolshevik White armies. Uneasy wartime alliances
also created competing views as each fought and guarded for their own interests. Stalin
had urged the Allies to open a second front in France to relieve the pressure of Germany’s
continuous attacks on the USSR. While Britain and France had invaded Italy by 1943, the
Second Front was only opened with D-day landings in 6th June 1944. Stalin felt that the
Allies did so to minimise their own losses and that the Allies were hoping for Germany
and USSR to weaken and destroy each other. This historical feelings of mistrust carried
itself into the postwar development of Europe as each superpower used its power to
entice the European countries into their ideological camp, and thus was a trigger in the
outbreak of Cold War.

Therefore, US actions started the Cold War to a small extent as it played a minor role as
a short-term factor which only further worsened relations. However, ideological
differences were long-term, fundamental factors to the outbreak of Cold War and feelings
of mistrust served as a trigger to the outbreak of underlying suspicions towards each
other, which then escalated to the start of Cold War.