Who was to blame for the cold war?

Who was to blame for the cold war?

1. Yalta Conference

   • "Sphere of influence" for USSR protection
     • Stalin takeover of eatern Europe
   • Division of Germany into 4 zones
     • Berlin Blockade
       • Everyone was moving from east to west Germany, it was well paid, and nice
         • Stalin was losing his professionals
         • Stalin blocked off Berlin from the rest, no transport whatsoever
           • The west needed to resolve without commiting an "act of war"
             • They airlifted one and a half million tons of supplies into the starved Berlin
               • Stalin could do nothing about it without commiting an act of war
     • USSR (Berlin inside soviet zone)
     • Britain
     • USA
     • France

2. Truman doctrine/marshall aid

   • Give money to Eastern European countries
     • To recover from war and stop following the extremes of communism
       • Stalin sees this as an act of aggression
         • He claims that USA want to dominate Eastern Europe by making dollar the main currency

3. Ideologies

   • USSR was a communist dicatorship
     • No freedom of press, speech or religion
     • No right to vote
     • All industry owned by the state
   • USA was a capitalist democracy
     • Freedom of speech, religion, press
     • Privately owned industries