Revisionist+School+of+Thought

= **//__Revisionist School of Thought__//** =

**//__Arguments:__//**
 * Stalin did not break agreements.
 * Truman tried to renegotiate the agreements made at Yalta 1945.
 * America put pressure on the USSR to get concessions in Eastern Europe.

**//__Explanation:__//**
 * At Yalta 1945, it was agreed under the Declaration on Liberated Europe that there would be free elections in Europe, however Roosevelt also agreed to have friendly governments in Eastern Europe, which in practise meant not having free elections for Stalin. As Bell suggests, its hard to believe that such experienced statesmen could think it would be otherwise, which shows that under Stalin's ideology, the West should of known what they were agreeing too. In addition, Edwards agrees that Stalin gave more importance to agreements rather than declarations, which meant that there wouldn't be free elections and they would be rigged and friendly (communist) to the Soviet Union. Stalin was only acting to achieve national security after 300 years of Western hostility and wanted to have a "buffer zone" in order to fight the inevitable war with the West as he believed that Germany would recover in 10-15 years. Overall Stalin was acting defensive and his ideology and historical experience justify his actions of having rigged elections.


 * Truman tried to renegotiate the agreements made at Yalta in Potsdam 1945. Once America developed the atomic bomb, Truman was feeling more confident and in consequence, tried to bully Stalin into giving in concessions in Eastern Europe. Additionally, he used economic diplomacy for the same purpose. Stalin wanted American loans in order to recover his devastated economy after the Second World War, while America's doubled in that period. Truman refused to give him the loans Stalin desired and even ended the Lend-Lease agreement abruptly in order to force the Soviets into giving in concessions. This proves Truman's unwillingness to cooperate with the Soviets and therefore shows that he was to blame for the Cold War.


 * Truman introduced the policy of containment to try to prevent the spread of communism in 1947, along with the introduction of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. The Truman Doctrine 1947 was meant to provide protection for the free peoples of the world resist subjugation by armed minorities however it was clear that it was directed against the soviets. It was an attempt to get the congress to supply Turkey and Greece with $400 million and it deteriorated relations between the two countries as Truman was helping the anti-communists in the civil wars in those countries. However Stalin “elicited no particular response” –Bell which proves that Stalin was keeping to the Percentages Agreement 1944 and thus he isn’t responsible for the Cold War unlike Truman. Stalin was to react very differently to the Marshall Plan 1947 when Truman tried to pressurize Stalin by sending $17 billion to Europe and therefore trying to get Eastern European countries to be under Truman’s economic influence, which forced Stalin into launching the Czech Coup 1948 and the Cominform 1947 to tighten his grip on his buffer zone for his own national security. Therefore Truman is responsible for exacerbating the Cold War as he attempted to force Eastern European countries under Stalin's sphere of influence to be under his.


 * Truman also broke the agreement of treating Germany as an economic whole by creating Bizona with Britain and France in 1946 and later on introduced the new currency in 1948 which made it very difficult for the Soviet Union in economic terms. Stalin was forced to react with the Berlin Blockade 1948 as he was trying to protect the Soviet Union and specially West Germany economy. As McCauley suggests, "the two leading powers had clearly become adversaries and the term Cold War is an apt description of their relations from this point". For this reason Truman is convincingly responsible for the start of the Cold War as he broke agreements to pressurize the Soviet economy to collapse.