Relation between the Soviets and the United States - Essay Example

1. The Soviets became shaky and unnerved when the United s formulated the Fourteen Point Plan. The United s reacted when the Soviets refused to give up even one foot of the territory that their armed forced had occupied. There was debate over who would control Europe and then whether Europe needed to be controlled at all, even though no nation was interested in yet another war. The main issue came up because everyone wanted Poland. As far as the United States was concerned, they used Poland to attack against Russia. The Americans felt that their rights had been violated and this needed correction. They wanted the world to be a safe place to live in and every peace-loving nation had a right to live their own life, determine their own institutions and be assured of justice. For the sake of world peace the United States developed a Fourteen Point Program. These included granting independence to all the important European states. The US determined that how the other nations treat Russia in the coming months would be an acid test of their good will. It would also demonstrate to what extent Russia was needed by these European nations and whether they needed Russia’s sympathy at all. The Fourteen Point Plan also demanded that the invaded portions in every nation should be restored by Russia and that the United States would be partners with all such governments that fought against the imperialists. This made the Soviets become distrustful towards the United States. Another reason why the soviets developed distrust in the United States was when they refused to help Russia’s reconstruction after the war under the Lend-Lease Act of 1941. By the end of summer of 1945, after the WWII had ended, the United States knew that the Soviet economy was in a state of near collapse. The Soviets had lost 20 million soldiers during the war and another 20-30 million during Stalin’s decade of purge trials. Any number of factories and railroad tracks had been destroyed. Stalin had been able to fulfill his promise of industrialization during the Five Year Plan to his people but all that been achieved were now in a devastated condition. Because of all the destruction that had taken place in Russia, United States knew they were in a stronger position and when the Soviets approached the United States for the much-needed economic aid for recovery, they were denied this privilege. The Soviets’ request for a six billion dollar loan had already been denied. Under the Lend-Lease Act of 1941, earlier the United States had shipped plenty of war materials to the Soviets that included 15,000 planes, 7000 tanks, 52,000 jeeps and about 40,000 trucks. Now there was a shift in policy and the Congress decided that they would not allow any post-war reconstruction in Russia. This withdrawal of facilities under the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 developed the feeling of distrust against the United States. 2. One of the reasons why the United States became distrustful towards the Soviet Union was due to what Churchill termed as the Iron Curtain. The Soviets responded to the United States’ Fourteen Point Plan. While the United States and Britain were trying to unify all of Germany under western rule, the Soviets responded by consolidating its grip in Europe by creating satellite states in 1946 and 1947. Gradually communist governments were set up in were set up in Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Stalin could use Soviet communism to dominate over half of Europe. In March 1948 a communist coup in Czechoslovakia overthrew a democratic government and the Soviet Union gained a foothold even in Central Europe. This literally divided Europe into two parts – and both sides wanted their values and economic and political systems to prevail in areas which their soldiers had helped to liberate. The fact that the United States had developed distrust was evident when Churchill referred to this as Iron Curtain stating that the Russians admired strength and did not respect military weakness. The Iron Curtain divided Europe from Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic. The United States had not forgotten Hitler and they could see similar signs of threat in Stalin. The United States was unsure of the intentions of Stalin in capturing the eastern and central Europe and perhaps this added to their feelings of distrust. The Sources of Soviet Conduct was a document developed by the Russian’s that became a major cause of distrust that the United States developed against the Soviets. According to the US official, the Soviets only understood a language of iron fists and strong language. Stalin expressed incompatibility between Soviet communism and western democracy. A Long Telegram was sent by the Soviets in 1946 which expressed the intention to destroy individual governments that would stand in the Soviet path. The United States also interpreted this threat that the Russians would do everything possible to set the major western powers against each other. The Soviets had all through been against capitalism and their hostility to the west was rooted in the need to legitimize the bloody dictatorship. They were of the conviction that communism must triumph over beats capitalism. Towards achieving their goals, they would exploit every opportunity to extend their system. This itself implied that they could not have a policy of harmony and cooperation. They wanted to undermine the general and strategic potential of the western powers that would destroy everything. The Soviets were confident that they would be able to do so as they felt they had history on their side. Because of this they were in no hurry and were not keen for any major war. The Soviets decided to back off and then published The Sources of Soviet Conduct which shook the Americans. They decided to quiet the Soviet ambitions and developed the American foreign policy for the next three decades, which was expressed in one word – containment. They then decided to embark on a path of intervention under the guise of containment. Thus, the second factor that developed the distrust in the Americans was the publication of The Sources of Soviet Conduct. Read More