Wiston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and the Cold War Essay

In other words, the Soviet Union has lost in men several times more than Britain and the United States together." Stalin's reply to Churchill reflects his nations' sentiments of fear and vulnerability, even while he disingenuously rages that Eastern Europe has 'chosen' communism and alliance with the Soviet block in the Warsaw Pact: "One can ask therefore, what can be surprising in the fact that the Soviet Union, in a desire to ensure its security for the future, tries to achieve that these countries should have governments whose relations to the Soviet Union are loyal? How can one, without having lost one's reason, qualify these peaceful aspirations of the Soviet Union as 'expansionist tendencies' of our Government?"

Stalin's justifiable reputation as a cruel and ruthless dictator makes it tempting to discount everything he said in his reply to Churchill. However, it is important to understand his words because of what they convey not only about his mentality, but the mentality of Soviet Russia in general at the time -- fear. Fear of another invasion, fear of English and American hostility to communism, fear of America's more powerful economy. While Stalin's actions are not morally justifiable, they were not the actions of a madman, with no basis in rationality, rather he was doing what Russia, and indeed what many other European powers had done in the past, namely securing territory and spheres of influence to shore up his own power and act as a bulwark against future invasions. However, Truman's reaction to Stalin's aggressive suppression of dissent in Eastern Europe was also quite justifiable, and a welcome action for future democracies.President Harry Truman decreed that he would not allow any more expansion of the Soviet Union's sphere of influence, that freedom and self-determination were inviolable principles, and the United States would commit itself and its financial and military resources to any nation or group resisting communist tyranny. "It would be an unspeakable tragedy if these countries, which have struggled so long against overwhelming odds, should lose that victory for which they sacrificed so much. Collapse of free institutions and loss of independence would be disastrous not only for them but for the world. Discouragement and possibly failure would quickly be the lot of neighboring peoples striving to maintain their freedom and independence." (Truman 1947). Although Truman's sentiments may have been distorted by later American leaders to justify subsequent involvement in Vietnam and to war against leftist factions that did have popular support, in the case of Eastern Europe, and to a lesser extent Turkey and Greece (the subject of Truman's original speech on what would become known as the Truman Doctrine) this was not the case and America's support of Europe's struggle against the advancement of Russia was necessary as well as welcome to the resisting nations.

Works Cited

Churchill, Winston. "Iron Curtain Speech. The Modern History Sourcebook. 1946.

26 Jul 2008. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/churchill-iron.html

Stalin, Joseph. "Reply to Churchill." The Modern History Sourcebook. 1946.

26 Jul 2008. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1946stalin.html

Truman, Harry. "Truman Doctrine." Address to Congress 1947.

26 Jul 2008. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/trudoc.htm.....