In fact, many people believe it was the final factor that led to disintegration of Soviet/U.S. relations, and directly led to the failure of the Moscow Conference of foreign ministers in March 1947. The conference had been convened in an attempt for the two powers to come to an agreement about situations in Europe, including whether or not to unify the German state, but with its failure, relations between the two countries became even more strained.
The Marshall Plan followed the Truman Doctrine in 1947, and was an attempt to boost the European economy after the war. Historian Whitcomb writes, "The Marshall Plan was conceived as a 'counter-offensive' to Moscow's moves in Eastern Europe and as a reaction to Stalin's decision, registered at the Moscow Conference, to rebuff all gestures of compromise looking toward settlement of the problems dividing Europe" (Whitcomb 84). It was an attempt to rebuild Europe instead of just giving monetary relief, and did not single out any one country for aid. In fact, it was an attempt to help all of Europe recover from the war. The Soviets, however, thought the plan was an attempt by the U.S. To gain control of countries in Europe, and so, they refused to participate in the plan, which meant that the countries under their influence did not participate, either.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was an attempt to bring several nations together to form a bond that would help defend against a Russian attempt to take over more countries in Europe. The Soviets...
S. was willing to stand up to the Soviets. When the U.S. tried to unite East and West Germany, Stalin build a blockade into West Berlin, but the U.S. flew supplies in over the blockade to keep their influence strong in Germany. The Soviets resented that. The entire buildup of bad feelings between the two superpowers was ideological and political. The communists wanted to spread their influence, and they began
This is in fact what drove most European wars in the past. By reverting back to that system, Europe placed itself in the path of potential skirmishes as seen in previous generations, "Europe is reverting to a state system that created powerful incentives for aggression in the past," (Mearsheimer "Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War" 1990:1). Smaller powers, now with a stronger more independent voice, have a
China and the Cold War The term "cold war" is used for explaining the shifting efforts of the Western powers and the Communist bloc from the ending of World War II until 1989 in order to attain supremacy influence and esteem on a global level. If seen from a worldwide magnitude, the conflict can be understood as an ideological clash between communism and capitalist democracy ("cold war," 2012). China occupied an
That intervention considered, it is fair to say that on the one hand, the fact that the U.S. came out as the winner of the Cold War was obvious, and on the other hand that a certain change had occurred in terms of the rule of the international law. The following years saw an increase in the intrastate violence, taking into account the Somalia crisis, the situations in South Africa,
Cold War Truman 1945-1953 and expansion of communism As the 21 century approaches, there was every indication on the firmness of Present Harry S. Truman's reputation on the subject of his stewardship of foreign policy even though, as luck would have it, he took over Oval Office in the year 1945 inexperienced in affairs of the world. As he was approaching the end of his reign in the White House, there were
Relations with West improved a lot. Economic liberalization process also started after the rise of Gorbachev as many economic and social problems plagued Soviet Union. In the face of economic issues facing the empire the cost of managing the cold war with respect to the Cold War arms race almost endangered its survival. The Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986 made matters even worse for the Soviet Republic. On American front
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