6) The 'Long Telegram' - Feb 1946

George Kennan - The 'Long Telegram' - Feb 1946

This was CRUCIAL in encouraging the USA to adopt a hostile attitude towards the USSR

Kennan was the Deputy Chief of Mission in the US embassy in Moscow

The telegram gave a detailed report of Soviet motives

Kennan believed:

- Soviet policy was a continuation of the traditional Russia policy of hostility towards the outside world

- Soviet leaders felt threatened and insecure because they knew the West was more advanced. In order to remove the threat, Soviet leaders were determined to destroy the Western world

- The USSR will use every possible method to smash democracy in the Western world

- The Soviet leaders were fanatics and can never be trusted

- The soviet government was determined to expand and must be stopped

He developed the idea of containment - The USA should use all means possible to stop the expansion of the USSR

The US government accepted the views of Kennan and published hundreds of copies of the telegram for its officials to read. This was a very influential document and became the basis for US policy throughout the Cold War

In the USSR they were thinking along the same lines as a result of the Novikov Telegram - He was the ambassador to America and sent a telegram in 1946 arguing that the US wanted to dominate the world and weren't interested in co-operation. Both sides were convinced they were heading for war