Introduction
Having participated in the Second World War within the same bloc (Allies), it was expected that the relationship between the United States and USSR would be even firmer and friendly. However, after the war, this was never the case. After the 2nd world war, these two super powers engaged in an unending power and ideology struggle. Mistrust between the two nations played a major role in worsening the diplomatic relations between USA and USSR.USA, being an unswerving advocator of capitalism and on the other hand USSR being a steadfast supporter of Marxism viewed each other as enemies and potential threats. In anticipation of war the two countries embarked on an intensive arming process (arms race) which was followed by propaganda, space wars and economic sanctions. This divided the entire world into two blocs, the pro-USA and the pro-USSR. This saw the entire world living in sheer tension for approximately 35 years (1947-1991).There was however no physical engagement between the two superpowers and that saw the tension being described as the “cold war”.
It was until the late 80s and early 90s that the cold war was neutralized after a chain of policies, talks and diplomatic measures aimed at restoring friendship between USA and USSR. The unification of Germany and the efforts of the then heads of state also contributed to the ceasing of the cold war. One outstanding personality in the cold war is Harry Truman. Historians and political analysts have described some of Truman’s policies as the ultimate cause and the root of cold war. It was his policies which saw the deterioration of diplomatic ties between USSR and USA.
Harry Truman (1884-1972), was the 33rd president of the United States of America. Truman became president after the death of Roosevelt in 1945.It was under Harry Truman that the USA succeeded to quell the 2nd world war and in the outcome of the war, tensions and diplomatic wrangles between the Soviet Union and USA set in. Many people believed that he was untaught in foreign affairs and could not match his predecessor when it came to understanding the complexities of foreign affairs. After his meeting with the Russian hardliner-Stalin at the Potsdam talks, Truman feared as soon as the USA withdrew its army and went home as in the case of the World War 1, USSR would capitalize on this to install puppet administrations across Western Europe just as they had done in the Eastern .This made Truman to deploy his troops in central Europe to block a possible invasion of USSR in the Western Europe. This has been tagged by Historians as the decision by Truman that sparked the cold war. Followed by unacquainted decisions and measures to suppress Soviet’s supremacy in Europe Truman worsened the relationship between USSR and the USA. His seven year term as the president of the United States threw the country into a series of ideological and diplomatic confrontations with their fellow super power –USSR. His policy-making intensified the USA-Soviet conflict and consequently division of the entire globe on ideological lines. It is also believed that it was his uninformed interventions and decisions in the post-war period and during the cold war that made USA’s victory in cold war exceedingly expensive and costly.
The cold war began under the watch of Harry Truman. Truman believed that he had to take a tough stance against the expansionistic tendencies of the Soviet Union. One significant Truman policy that may have had a role in the initiation of the Cold War was the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing. Various experts argue that at the time of the bombing, the war that had dominated the Pacific area for a number of years was actually coming to a conclusion and the United States did not really have to use the famous weapons of mass destruction that it used on Japan. President Truman ordered the atomic bombing of the two Japanese cities to threaten and also warn the USSR that the United States had great and unlimited power at its disposal. The significance of this event to the causing of the Cold War was that it ignited an unprecedented nuclear as well as the traditional arms race. This race elevated the amount of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States that was already in existence. The Soviet Union responded to the supposed ‘warning’ of Truman by strengthening its military through increased spending and also by initiating a development plan on the production of its own nuclear power. When the USSR exploded its first nuclear weapon in 1949, a huge tension emanated between the two states and a race between the US and USSR on the large scale production of nuclear weapons ensued.
Harry Truman’s famous doctrine, the “Truman Doctrine” essentially committed the US to a policy of giving support to communism foes across the world. This doctrine was a hardline stance policy that also escalated tensions between the US and the USSR. This is mainly due to the fact the Soviet Union viewed this doctrine as direct attack against the nation since it was one of the renowned communist nations in the world. The doctrine condemned communism as an evil practice and took great efforts to suppress it and prevent its spread to susceptible nations by availing military assistance. Truman also availed economic aid to European countries that had been detrimentally affected by the Second World War. This was actually an attempt by the US to make these countries to be both economically and politically dependent on the US. The Soviet Union responded by initiating their own form of economic and political aid (the Comecon and the Molotov Plan). For example, it imposed aid to countries like the Czech Republic which actually preferred the help of the US. These were just some of the escalated tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States and led to the Cold War.
One interesting thing is that although the policies of Harry Truman may be viewed as direct causes of the Cold War, he received a lot of support from the American public. Many supported his policies because they viewed them as protectors of the traditional ideologies. According to many, the Cold War was an inevitable feature that had to occur for goodness to prevail. Many defined the Cold War as a basic conflict between evil and good, tyranny and freedom, totalitarism and liberal democracy and finally between communism and capitalism.
However, the support extended towards Truman by the US citizens and their tolerance towards his policies started to plummet after he failed to lead the US to victory in the Korean War.
Works Cited
Oxford Journals. "Where the Buck Stopped: Harry S. Truman and the Cold War." Diplomatic History 27.5 (2003): 735-739. Print. 7 July 2013.
Walton, Richard J. Henry Wallace, Harry Truman, and the Cold War. New York: Viking, 1976. Print.
"To What Extent was the Cold War Caused by President Truman's Policies? - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com." Yahoo! Contributor Network. N.p., 3 Oct. 2012. Web. 7 July 2013.
"BBC - History - World Wars: President Truman and the Origins of the Cold War." BBC - Homepage. N.p., 17 Dec. 2011. Web. 7 July 2013.
