a. What did Stalin gain at Yalta?

 Stalin gained sphere of influences in Eastern Europe.

 Stalin also gained land lost in previous wars back.
 Stalin gained control of west Germany
 Stalin gained half of Germanys war reperations
b. Why did tension increase USSR and western allies at Potsdam
Tensions between the USSR and the Western Allies increased at the Potsdam conference
because the USA announced they had successfully tested an atomic weapon. They did not
tell the USSR about this even though they are supposedly ‘allies’ but the USSR had already
found out they were attempting to make atomic weapons through spies. This created
distrust as the USSR was spying but the USA was hiding things from them

Tensions also increased because American president Roosevelt had died and been replaced
with Truman. The war time friendship was destroyed and so there was already more
tension. Truman was inexperienced with foreign affairs and was very Anti-Communist. He
viewed Stalin as a huge threat. This created even more distrust and tension between the
two.

Midway through the Potsdam conference prime minister Winston Churchill was replaced.
This disrupted the conference as there was a completely new person joining and men the
war time friendship between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin that held their alliance together
was now gone.

c. It was soviets expansion in eastern Europe that caused the cold war

I disagree with the statement ‘it was soviet expansion in eastern Europe that caused the cold war’. I
think it was the USAs anti communist ideas and actions which started the cold war.

The USA started the Truman doctrine in 1945, the idea that communism spreads in poverty-stricken
countries, this is an anti-communist belief that isnt recognising communism as a valid form of
government. An idea which president Truman started. The USA are fighting against a valid political
ideology that the USSR use. the USSR have no choice but to defend communism but the USA keep
targeting it and trying to stop it from spreading because they feel threatened by it. Therefore the
cold war was their fault.

Another American action which led to the start of the cold war was the Marshall aid plan in 1946.
Where the USA gives out aid to countries who want it. The USSR had a right to be suspicious of free
money and not want the countries around it to accept favours from the USA. The USA were openly
interfering with other countries politics trying to keep them away from communism because they
felt threatened by a different ideology to theirs. The USA interference with the intention of
decreasing communism creates this rivalry between the two ideas which leads to the cold war.

The USA and Britian also supported the royalists in the Greece civil war purely to prevent a
communist government. The Greek royalists were not even directly aligned with USAs ideology. The
USA are only supporting them to stop another communist country in Europe. The USA are trying to
contain a political ideology, policy of containment which is stopping the spread of communism into
west Europe, which leads to Stalin fighting back which leads to the cold war. Therefore the cold war
is the USAs fault.

Finally the USA created a group to protect countries from USSR influence, NATO. The USA interfering
with other countries politics again.

Soviet fault
Berlin blockade

Usa fault
Marshall aid
Truman doctrine
Nato

Yalta
Potsam