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Ryan Garner

Mrs. Amann

HIS 1012

12 June 2017

The United States: Starters of the Cold War

One of the most obscure parts of the Cold War was its origins. The Cold War did not

have a definite start or end date, unlike the vagueness in which nation, the United States (US) or

the Soviet Union (USSR), was more responsible for the conflict. This is underrated in the study

of US History, as the United States is often viewed as a moral hero, who has not done any

wrong, however, the United States is the most responsible for Cold War, by forcing the Soviet

Union to adopt a hostile attitude. US responsibility for the Cold War is demonstrated through

tense relations caused by the United States with the Soviet Union before the Cold War, bellicose

rhetoric from American officials following the end of World War II, and American

misinterpretation of Soviet actions in the post-war period, which all contributed to the Soviet

Union adopting the American attitude of belligerency, which caused the Cold War.

One cause of the Cold War was the hostile US attitude towards the Soviet Union before

World War II. The United States had created tension immediately after the Soviet Union was

formed through the “[refusal of] recognition to the USSR for 16 years” following the Russian

Revolution (The Cold War Erupts). The American refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part

of the international community coupled with a delayed entry into World War II, “which resulted

in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians” (Cold War History). These pre-World War II

actions portrayed a hostile attitude towards the Soviet Union. To contribute to this perceived

hostility, US actions during World War II conveyed betrayal and lack of trust towards the Soviet
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Union. President Franklin Roosevelt “promised the Soviets in early 1942 that he would open a

second front on the European continent by the end of the year” (Kennedy & Cohen 812) – a

broken promise which stressed US-Soviet relations. Adding to this stress was the early

termination of Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union before the war had ended (The Cold War

Erupts). However, the most explosive action by the US in souring US-Soviet relations was

President Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan, an action that “was designed to

make Moscow more accommodating in postwar relations” (Origins: Did the Soviet Union Start

the Cold War?). According to Everett Thiele, the United States had intended to drop the atom

bombs “to send the message to Stalin that the U.S. would not be squeamish about using this

horrendous new weapon.” The United States eagerness to prove its strength to the Soviet Union

through brandishing its “big stick” (Thiele) resulted in high tensions between both nations. To

even further sour relations, the United States denied a Soviet request for a reconstruction loan,

while simultaneously approving a similar loan to Great Britain (Kennedy & Cohen 840). This

trust breaking action, along with a hostile attitude towards the Soviet Union resulted in the

United States pushing the Soviet Union into a state of hostility, which inevitably lead to the Cold

War.

Following the end of World War II, President Harry Truman shifted the foreign policy of

the United States to the policy of containment. This shift in policy was in part responsible for a

reciprocation of belligerence from the Soviets. The new US policy, as Thiele argued, “relied on

the threat to use nuclear weapons to maintain military superiority.” This hostile attitude the

United States adopted reflected opinions from George Kennan’s Long Telegram, which

advocated for a combative approach to the Soviet Union. The adoption of Kennan’s ideas into

the policy of containment signaled an overall shift in US rhetoric towards the Soviet Union, as
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the United States became more bellicose. In addition to the government adopting a belligerent

stance, President Truman also spoke in a bellicose tone during a meeting with Vyacheslav

Molotov, the Soviet foreign minister, just two weeks after taking office, in which Truman “gave

[Molotov] a dressing-down over Poland. ‘I’ve never been talked to like that in my life,’ was the

stunned Molotov’s comment” (Thiele). In addition to a shift in foreign policy, the United States

also sought to exclude the Soviet Union from the Marshall plan, by forcing the USSR to accept

outside control and government reform in order to receive aid. The United States “made the

terms deliberately difficult for the USSR to accept”, and through the Marshall Plan’s extreme

terms forced the Soviet Union to refuse the “Martial Plan” (Kennedy & Cohen 847). The hostile

approach the United States adopted with the Soviet Union resulted in a response of hostility from

the USSR, as “once the elements of Truman’s containment policy were in place, Moscow

became much less accommodating” (Origins: Did the Soviet Union Start the Cold War?). As US

rhetoric towards the Soviet Union became increasingly more hostile, the United States had

pushed the Soviet Union to adopt a more hostile attitude towards the United States in response,

increasing the inevitability of the Cold War.

During the post-World War II negotiations, the Soviet Union sought one thing: security.

Within 30 years, the Russian heartland had twice been invaded German soldiers, and thusly, the

Soviet Union was “determined to maintain control of eastern Europe in order to safeguard

against any possible renewed threat from Germany.” However, the United States’ efforts to

revitalize Germany clashed with the Soviet Union’s determination to ensure that the USSR

would be safe from another European invasion (Cold War Erupts). The United States, however,

misinterpreted the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe as an attempt to control the world (Cold

War History). Contrarily the Soviet occupation was intended to insure “that countries like Poland
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could not serve as a springboard for an offensive against the [Soviet Union]” (Cold War Causes:

What Caused the Cold War?), as Stalin was “deeply fearful of another blitzkrieg” (Kennedy &

Cohen 845). However, the United States viewed the Soviet creation of a buffer zone as the

framework for European domination (The Cold War Erupts). Recent information supports the

idea that the United States misinterpreted the Soviet Union’s plans, and suggests that “leaders in

the Kremlin sought cooperation with the United States,” and that “Stalin never did anything that

might provoke a war with the United States.” In fact, while the United States saw the Soviet

Union responsible for Eastern Europe’s conversion to communism, recent released information

reveals that the occupation was not ideologically motivated, but arose from “pragmatic political

and security concerns.” The US claim that the Soviet Union pushed Eastern Europe to turn to

communist dictatorships has validity, as recent information revealed that Stalin wanted Eastern

Europe to only remain “friendly” to the Soviet Union, and that “in many cases local

communists . . . played a far more decisive role in establishing communist regimes in Eastern

Europe than did Stalin” (Origins: Did the Soviet Union Start the Cold War?). The United States’

misinterpretation of Soviet actions lead to US responses that caused the Soviet Union to grow

more hostile towards the United States, which strained the two nations’ relations until the Cold

War became inevitable.

The United States is responsible for the Cold War, as their hostile actions and attitude

pushed the Soviet Union to become hostile, locking both nations into a permanent state of

belligerency known as the Cold War. The United States pushed the Soviets to hostility through

tense US-Soviet relations which stemmed from US actions. Bellicose rhetoric and actions

towards the Soviet Union following the end of World War II also contributed to creating the

situation in which there was no reprieve between the two nations. Finally, US actions that
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threatened Soviet security, and the misinterpretation of Soviet need for security resulted in

relations being stressed to extreme levels. The realization that the United States is responsible for

the Cold War is significant to US History, because it breaks a commonly held conviction among

Americans that the United States hasn’t done anything wrong in history.
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