Assess the reasons for the breakdown
of the Grand Alliance.
After the end of WW2, the alliance formed between the USSR, Great Britain and the
USA, called the Grand Alliance, broke apart. There was a widespread fear of the expansion of
communism and Truman, the new president of the USA, did everything in his power to prevent
this, causing Stalin to become increasingly suspicious and paranoid. While some might claim
that the sole reason for the collapse of the Great Alliance and the start of the Cold War was the
complete terror of communism, it is not so. There were many other factors that built onto
themselves and each other such as the stark difference of ideology and the threat of a nuclear
war, which in the end was responsible for the fall of the Grand Alliance. The breakdown of the
Great Alliance, and the unintended consequence of the start of the Cold War, occurred because
of a multi-layer of causes, the most prominent being the ideology between Stalin and Truman,
however, the possession of Nuclear Weapons closely followed, and lastly was the clash of
personalities and mistrust between said leaders.
Truman’s aggression at the Potsdam conference forcing the USSR to feel threatened
and expand into Eastern Europe, was the first, but still minor step to the breakdown of the Great
Alliance. The Potsdam Conference was a meeting attended by U.S. President Harry S. Truman,
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin lasting from July 17
to August 2, 1945. This meeting was held in order to determine is said countries were following
through with the agreements made at the prior Yalta Conference. Truman believed that the only
way to get the USSR to do anything and follow through with the agreements made was to
Taylor 24/2/17 17:11
Comment [1]: Thesis is present, it
assesses the question and the concept is
present, however it is unclear if the multilayer of causes all relate to ideology or all
causes relate to Ideology, nuclear and
personalities
Taylor 24/2/17 17:11
Comment [2]: Topic sentence outlines
the argument, assessing the question, but
the concept is not clearly present
become belligerent with them. Truman said in one of his speeches that “[The United States of
America] have to get tough with the Russians”. This shows that in Truman’s eyes, if the West
Soviet expansion, or even a Third World War. The USA would have to start tightening their
Taylor 24/2/17 17:12
Comment [3]: Evidence of Truman’s
persoective is present
screws on matters to do with the USSR. However, Truman’s inexperience led him to not
Taylor 24/2/17 17:13
Comment [4]: Why does he think this?
would continue to be so ‘slack’ on what the USSR is doing, then there could be a threat of
anticipate the unintended consequence that came after this conference. Since Truman had
close to never been involved with any foreign matters before his inauguration, he had not
attended the Yalta conference; Therefore, Stalin started expanding into Eastern Europe. Some
example of communist expansion is the communist coalition takeover in 1944 in Bulgaria and
the execution of leaders from other parties, and in Hungary when the Communist party only got
17% of votes, however proceeded to forcibly stamp out opposition and establish rule. With this
Taylor 24/2/17 17:14
Comment [5]: Cause of this belief is
present here, however it may have been
better earlier
Taylor 24/2/17 17:14
Comment [6]: Example of Stalin’s
consolidation
information we are able to understand that because of Truman’s in involvement the USSR was
given a slim window of opportunity to do nearly whatever they wanted since Truman would not
be aware enough to notice. Hence, being able yo spread his regime and protect himself from
invading forces. As a verdict we are able to decipher that Stalin’s feeling of being under threat,
Taylor 24/2/17 17:14
Comment [7]: Really? Why?
led to him expanding and spreading his ideas in Eastern Europe, and as a consequence was
the first blow to the start of the breakdown of the Grand Alliance, however it was not the most
important one when taking in consideration also Nuclear War and Ideology.
Taylor 24/2/17 17:15
Comment [8]: Why does Stalin feel this
way? (ex. Response to Churchill speech,
ww2 casualities, Russian civil war)
The Nuclear monopoly created by the Baruch Plan drove Truman into a false sense of
security, and only fuelled Stalin’s paranoia, straining the relationship between the US and the
USSR even further. The Baruch Plan was a plan created in 1947 by Truman in which all
Nuclear weapons were banned, except for those made by and for the USA. The public goal of
this plan was to maintain peace and protection, however it is also evident that Truman was
attempting to create a Nuclear monopoly, giving them more power that the USSR. President
Taylor 24/2/17 17:16
Comment [9]: Topic sentence outlines
the argument and there is a connection
made with other cayses (showing
understanding of the concept)
Truman wrote a letter in January 1946 saying “There isn’t a doubt in my mind the Russia
intends an invasion of Turkey … Unless Russia is faced with an iron fist and story language
another war is in the making.” (Source I, p.115). Truman tells us that he believes that Stalin has
aggressive takeovers in mind and by confiscating and prohibiting him from creating any Atom
Bombs, Truman is preventing Stalin not only from harming the USA, but also foreign countries;
Without being able to attack these countries the USSR would not be able to effectively expand
communism. However, Truman did not anticipate the unintended consequence of this action.
Stalin, feeing threatened by this plan, decides to secretly ignore this agreement and continued
to build nuclear weapons behind closed doors. Code-named by the USA as Joe 1, the USSR
Taylor 24/2/17 17:17
Comment [10]: This quote is strong, but
it is related to the previous paragraph, not
clearly to nuclear weapons
Taylor 24/2/17 17:18
Comment [11]: Analysis clarifies the
evidence a bit more
Taylor 24/2/17 17:18
Comment [12]: Why does Truman think
this is what the Soviets want?
launched their first Atomic Bomb on August 29th, 1949; the design was suspiciously similar to
the ‘Fat Man’ created by the Americans, showing that Stalin had spies within the States. All of
this together increased the feeling of mistrust between the United States and the Soviet Union,
inciting even more social strain between said two nations; Stalin became all the more anxious
Taylor 24/2/17 17:19
Comment [13]: Evidence of soviet
reaction
and dangerous. Thence, the social chaos created by the possession of nuclear weapons was
another event leading up to the breakdown of the Grand Alliance, nonetheless, Ideology was
still the most significant out of these three.
The final straw to break the camel’s back was the The Marshall plan, which was a
consequence of Ideology, since it majorly created tension and rose suspicions. The Marshall
Plan was a plan made but the USA, in which they would provide financial aid for the countries
destroyed in the war, as long as all supplies were bought from the USA. This plan was created
in order to minimise the chaos within these countries and prevent the spread of communism. In
Taylor 24/2/17 17:20
Comment [14]: This is a term you have
used a few times in your essays
Taylor 24/2/17 17:20
Comment [15]: Seems a bit general
1948, Vandenberg, an American politician made it clear that the Marshall Plan was part of a
strategy to stop the spread of communism by saying “The plan is a calculated risk to help stop
Word War III before it starts…The Iron curtain must not come to the rims of the Atlantic”(Source
D, p.110) In this Vandenberg is stating that he believes that communism would be the cause for
yet another World War and by ensuring that the economy of these countries would increases,
the expansion of communism would be stopped. The unintended consequence of the Marshall
Plan was Stalin’s reply with COMECON and calling the plan Dollar Imperialism. Stalin rightly
Taylor 24/2/17 17:21
Comment [16]: Clear evidence for the
purpose of this plan
Taylor 24/2/17 17:21
Comment [17]: Why does the US
believe this? There seems to be limited
use of long-term causes here
interpreted the Marshall Plan as a method for the USA to widen their economy and spread their
capitalist ideals into other countries, to stop surrounding communist countries to become part of
the Marshall Plan, he created COMECON. COMECON was a two-way agreement between the
USSR and Eastern Europe in order to integrate their economies, Stalin did not allow Eastern
Europe to join the Marshall Plan. A. A. Zhdanov, the leader of the Cominform Conference in
September 1948 attacked the Marshall Plan, saying “The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall
Plan are both part of an American plan to enslave Europe.”(Source F, p.111). This clearly
shows that the USSR felt threatened by the Marshall Plan and the amount of economic power
the USA held over them, because of this they made their own version of the Plan: COMECON,
making sure to keep themselves away from complete free trade and capitalism. Therefore, we
Taylor 24/2/17 17:22
Comment [18]: Clear evidence of the
Soviet reaction to the plan, but it is unclear
why the USSR feels this way (this relates
back to the long term causes
are able to see that the Ideology was the cause for the Marshall Plan and consequently Stain’s
increased suspicions, making it the most prominent causes for the breakdown of the Grand
Alliance.
The ideology, nuclear weapons, and other less eminent causes, were the reasons for
the unintended breakdown of the Grand Alliance and the start of the Cold War. The now
growing hate between the West and the USSR were a consequence of the threat of nuclear
war, since Stalin became even more suspicious and lashed out making his own nuclear bomb.
Furthermore, the considerable difference between Communism and Capitalism, and the idea of
dollar imperialism created by the Marshall Plan as well as Truman’s fear overall and Stalin’s
persistent paranoia, were part of what created all these issues. In the end, it was these reasons
that caused a 44 year long war in which no direct military offence was taken.
10/15 – IB 6
Taylor 24/2/17 17:23
Comment [19]: Thesis is present and
presents a logical conclusion, however it is
somewhat general