Differing viewpoints on the treatment of Germany were a major cause of the Cold War. To what extent do you agree?

Mentioned Yalta and Potsdam as my main arguments, as well as Berlin Blockade and the Fall of the Berlin wall. Eventually, my conclusion was that the differing viewpoints were a major cause, but that tension between the ussr and usa existed before. Intro: Factors contributing included: Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam Conferences. Mutual suspicion/ nature of different ideologies. At each of the conferences, all three powers had different objectives. Nature of Stalins aims: to ensure Soviet sphere of influence/defended Soviet expansionism by claiming it was for defence reasons. Berlin Blockade/Airlift Dollar imperialis: Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov.

Paragraph 1 Tensions between the wartime allies: USSR, USA and Great Britain were breaking down after the end of WWI. At Tehran Conference (1943): the Big Three (Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill) arrived at conference with different objectives, but all agreed to open a second front against Nazi Germany by Western Allies. There was no common policy on how to deal with Germany after Hitler. Stalin wanted Nazi war criminals to stand trial for their actions, and proposed to execute 50,000-100,000 German staff officers. Yalta (1945): the aim of conference to discuss Europes post-war reorganisation. Churchills attitude towards USSR: believed Stalin was a devil-like tyrant leading a vile system. Roosevelts attitude was the opposite: believed Stalin would work with him for a world of democracy and peace. Roosevelt hoped for Stalin to participate in UN. Stalin demanded Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern and Central Europe, for USSR national security strategy. Agreements for the treatment of Germany at Yalta: Priority of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. Germany and Berlin would be split into four occupied zones. Germany to go under demilitarisation. German reparations in the form of forced labour to repair damage Germany inflicted on its victims.

Potsdam (1945) five months after Yalta: aims of conference to establish post-war order, peace treaty and deal with effects of the war. Various changes occurred which affected relationships between leaders (Big Three). USSR occupation of Central and Eastern EuropeStalin insisted it was a defensive measure against possible future attacks and that it was a legit sphere of Soviet influence. Clement Attlee assumed leadership after Churchill. President Harry Truman: polar opposite views of Stalin compared to Roosevelt. Truman was much more suspicious of communist intentions under Stalin, saw Soviet expansionism as aggressive and incompatible with agreements Stalin committed at Yalta. US tested atomic bomb: Churchill and Truman agreed to inform Stalin in order to prevent distrust but Truman did not tell Stalin until July 25. Agreements made at Potsdam for Germany: Division of Germany and Austria into 4 zones (earlier agreed at Yalta). Reversion of all German annexations in Europe: Sudetenland, Alsace-Lorraine, Austria and western areas of Poland. Destruction of aircraft factories and shipyards to ensure no war-potential of Germany.

Paragraph 2: Berlin Blockade/airlift: During the multinational occupation of postWorld War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control. Their aim was to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin with food and fuel, thereby giving the Soviets practical control over the entire city. The success of the Berlin Airlift brought embarrassment to the Soviets who had refused to believe it could make a difference. The blockade was lifted in May 1949 and resulted in the creation of two separate German states. Dollar Imperialism: Molotov of the Soviet Union that believed the Marshall Plan was being used by the United States to create a 'sphere of influence' in Western Europe after World War II. Iron Curtain Speech: Churchill believed an iron curtain had been drawn and did not know what was going on behind it. The Allied Powers and the Central Powers had backed the White movement against the Bolsheviks during the 19181920 Russian Civil War, and the Soviets had not forgotten the fact. From August 1939, relations between the West and the Soviets deteriorated further when the Soviet Union and Germany engaged in an extensive economic relationship by which the

Soviet Union sent Germany vital oil, rubber, manganese and other materials in exchange for German weapons, manufacturing machinery and technology. Stalin determined to acquire a buffer area against Germany, with pro-Soviet states on its border in an Eastern bloc. Stalin's aims led to strained relations at the Yalta Conference (February 1945) and the subsequent Potsdam Conference (August 1945). People in the West expressed opposition to Soviet domination over the buffer states, and the fear grew that the Soviets were building an empire that might be a threat to them and their interests.