Early Cold War Quotes and Stats

George Kennan’s Long telegram

22nd February 1946, commented that communism was “malignant parasite that feeds on diseased tissue.”

Truman Doctrine

March 1947, Provided $300 million to Greece and Turkey, “It must be the policy of the United State’s to support the free peoples who are resisting subjugation from armed minorities or outside pressure.”

Marshall Plan

June 1946, provided $13.2 Billion to 16 accepting nations across 5 years, “our policy is directed, not against any doctrine or country, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.”

Soviet Perspective of Marshall Plan

Soviet Foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov criticised the U.S’s involvement in Europe as “dollar imperialism.”

Impact of WW2 on USSR

Soviet Union lost 30% of their capital wealth, 20 million of their citizens, and 70,000 towns had been raised to the ground

Stalin Goals after WW2

Spread communism and establish a “buffer zone” of satellite states, John Lewis Gaddis, “Stalin’s postwar goals were security for himself, his regime, his country, and his ideology, in precisely that order.”

Stalin’s Responsibility for increasing CW tensions

American Historian, Vojtech Mastny comments that Stalins, “insatiable craving” was “the root cause of East-West tensions and the Cold War.”

Berlin Blockade

(June 24th 1948 - May 12th 1949), left West Berlin stranded as a “island of capitalism within a sea of communism,”, lasted 11 months signifying U.S commitment to Europe, with 4000 planes employed to carry the minimum of 4000 tonnes to sustain Berlin. At its peak a plane landed in Berlin every 30 seconds.”

John Lewis Gaddis on the Berlin Blockade

“The Berlin Blockade was a monumental blunder for Stalin. Instead of forcing Western allies out of the city, it solidified the Western alliance, and accelerated the creation of the FRG.”