B1 ideology Cold War homework

How did ideological hostility worsen in 1946?

  • George Kennan’s Long Telegram (Feb 1946): Kennan warned the USA that the USSR was aggressively expansionist and would only respond to strength. This convinced Truman that communism had to be contained.

  • Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech (March 1946): Churchill declared that Europe was divided between free Western democracies and Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe. This alarmed the USSR and made the split explicit.

  • Stalin’s reaction: Stalin compared Churchill to Hitler and accused the West of warmongering, claiming that the speech and U.S. policies showed an anti-Soviet alliance forming.

  • Novikov Telegram (Sept 1946): In response, Soviet diplomat Nikolai Novikov warned Stalin that the USA wanted world domination and was preparing for war. This confirmed Soviet fears of American aggression

By the end of 1946, both sides saw each other as a threat: the USA believed in containing communism, while the USSR believed it had to defend itself against capitalist encirclement. This made the ideological divide permanent.

1. Kennan’s X Article (July 1947)

  • Written anonymously in Foreign Affairs by George Kennan.

  • Argued that the USSR was expansionist, ideologically opposed to the West, and would try to spread communism wherever possible.

  • Called for “containment”: the USA must resist Soviet influence politically, economically, and militarily.

  • → This hardened U.S. foreign policy into a long-term struggle against communism.

2. Zhdanov’s “Two Camps” Speech (Sept 1947)

  • Soviet response, delivered at the founding of Cominform.

  • Claimed the world was divided into two hostile camps:

    • the imperialist, capitalist camp (led by the USA), and

    • the democratic, communist camp (led by the USSR).

  • Portrayed the USA as seeking world domination and the USSR as the defender of peace.

  • → This formalised the ideological split and gave justification for tightening Soviet control in Eastern Europe.

3. NSC-68 (April 1950)

  • A top-secret U.S. policy document.

  • Claimed the USSR wanted global domination and posed a direct military threat.

  • Recommended a massive build-up of U.S. military power (quadrupling defence spending) and a more aggressive stance worldwide.

  • → Marked a dramatic escalation from economic/political containment to militarised containment.

How did tensions worsen?

Together, these three showed a cycle of deepening hostility:

  • Kennan framed the USSR as inherently aggressive → U.S. containment.

  • Zhdanov framed the USA as imperialist → Soviet bloc unity.

  • NSC-68 framed the USSR as a military threat → arms race and militarisation.

By 1950, both sides saw the other as bent on world domination, making cooperation impossible and locking them into the Cold War.