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This covers the Soviet expansion in to Eastern Europe after World War Two, and the response to this by America.

Soviet expansion

After World War Two, Russia argued that they needed a 'buffer zone' around them. They had been invaded by Germany in both World Wars. They claimed if they had a group of communist states around them, they would be protected against a further invasion in the future.

It was agreed at the Yalta Conference, in February 1945, that there would be ‘free and fair elections’ in countries that had been occupied by the Nazis in World War Two. In the meantime, the Soviets were allowed to install governments friendly to them in these countries.

It became clear by the Potsdam Conference in July 1945 that the Soviets had no intention of holding free and fair elections, and was busy installing communist governments across Eastern Europe. The new American President, Harry Truman, was far more confrontational than his predecessor Franklin Roosevelt had been. Safe in the knowledge that America had tested an atomic bomb, so no longer needed Russian help in defeating Japan, Truman was hostile towards Stalin. The seeds of the Cold War rivalry had been sown.

America's response

In a bid to prevent communism spreading further, Harry Truman announced the ‘Truman Doctrine’ in 1947. This was a speech to Congress, asking for $400 million to help Greece and Turkey recover from the effects of Nazi occupation and avoid the communist threat. This also committed America to a policy of containment, to help any country threatened by communism.

The Truman Doctrine was followed up by the Marshall Plan. In 1948, General George Marshall travelled to Europe to see how much aid was needed to help Europe recover from the effects of war. A total of $17 billion was committed to help support the policy of containment.

A crisis emerged in Berlin, where America changed the currency of West Germany to prevent Marshall Aid getting to the communist east. Stalin was livid and installed a blockade of road, rail and canal routes from West Germany into West Berlin. Truman claimed Stalin was trying to force West Berlin to become communist, and had to decide how to respond. He could have broken through the blockade, but instead decided on an airlift. For 11 months, allied planes flew supplies into Berlin, until Stalin lifted the blockade. Shooting down a plane would be too risky at a time when America was the world’s only nuclear power.