Exam Question - In What Ways, And To What Extent,

EXAM QUESTION - IN WHAT WAYS, AND TO WHAT EXTENT, DID MUTUAL DISTRUST AND SUSPICION CAUSE THE COLD WAR? Mutual distrust and suspicion contributed significantly to the beginning of the Cold War by escalating events and disagreements, creating and heightening tension between the two sides, creating a wider divide and significantly reducing transparency between the two sides. The suspicion escalated talks like the Yalta and Potsdam conferences and increased measures in severity and decreased ambiguity, it heightened tension as both sides continued to misinterpret actions due to mistrust, it created a wider divide between the two sides which ended up in the German partition and it also decreased transparency as both sides started to retain information and begin a trend of acting subversively. The distrust and suspicion felt on both sides caused, in some ways, the escalation and severity of measures decided upon during the Yalta conference in February 1945 and the Potsdam conference of July of the same year. One of the decisions made during these conferences by the “Big Three”, USA, UK and the Soviet Union was the partition of Germany into sectors, one for the UK, one for the USA, one for France and one for the USSR. However the mistrust and suspicion in that region and led to the joining of the US and UK sectors (into what later included the French sector) West Germany. A buffer state for the Western Allies to calm somewhat the uncomfortable position they found themselves to be in. The suspicion and distrust was felt across the board on both sides of the European Divide that was present. As a result, in the conferences a definite level of ambiguity was removed, statements were very clear on both sides, however, the distrust that the USA had for example, was obvious during these discussions about the possibility of free elections for Poland. Despite Stalin’s agreement, Roosevelt felt like there was an element of falsehood, this was shared by Churchill, the UK’s Prime Minister who attended the Yalta conference in February. Both leaders pushed the issue, they felt Stalin was lying, evidence of suspicion which was, as it turned out, well placed as Poland received no free elections. The distrust and suspicion also caused, maintained and heightened the tension between both sides. It is almost self-explanatory to say that any distrust of a state, their actions and their motives would lead one to fear or apprehend future events. The suspicion greatly added to the tension and played a large part in the events that ensued but wasn’t the only factor. The suspicion that both sides had, a post-revisionist viewpoint as indeed both sides did massive wrong, created the tension that they both experienced. This was added to by other factor like ideology, but the suspicion continued to add to the tension the tension which was the “cold” part of the Cold War. This tension and continued distrust caused events that otherwise might have been avoided. While the Cold War was still a fledgling, the USSR blockaded West Berlin. This caused the USA to provide an airlift in 1947-8 to keep those people alive. The reason for this blockade? The USSR felt threatened by the prosperity in West Berlin, but more importantly, understood that to be a move to increase power and control, a misinterpretation due to mistrust and suspicions. Finally, suspicion and distrust caused the Cold War because both sides began to interpret actions differently, suspect subversion and infiltration but also allowed countries to devise hidden agendas for themselves and formulate ones for the other party. A good example of this, from a slightly revisionist point of view, is that the USA perceived and

suspected Global Control desires of Stalin and the USSR. Although this turned out to be true, as a result of many, the Truman Doctrine was released in 1947. A doctrine which highlighted the USA’s suspicions clearly for the USSR to see: Mistrust, a feeling that the USSR wanted global domination. This act, performed out of suspicion, probed to be true and in creating the hard-line US foreign policy, caused outrage and domino effect events that really began the Cold War. In conclusion, the suspicions and distrust that both sides felt for each other contributed to the origins and cause of the Cold War by creating tension, heightening talks, causing extreme measures, increasing the divide between the two camps and reducing transparency while increasing rash actions and causing unease. Yes, these things happened as a result of the suspicion and distrust but was not the whole cause of the Cold War, there were other factors such as ideology. Without the distrust however, the Cold War wouldn’t have happened and the Iron Curtain would never have had to be drawn.