Although factors such as ideology differences and traditional power rivalry played a part in the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-53, superpower misjudgments account largely to this as well.

As Source 7 suggests, mistrust between the US and the Soviet created a vicious cycle which could not be broken after 1945. It states that the US "misread" the Soviet security policy in eastern Europe and saw it as "Soviet expansionism". This, in turn, led the Soviets to misjudge the US policies as "aggressive capitalist expansionism". During the years after WW2, Stalin enforced policies to ensure national security, by establishing a 'buffer' zone. As the USSR had already been invaded twice before through these countries, it can be said that Stalin was only trying to ensure national security. However, US misread the situation as Soviet "expansionism", which in turn led the Soviets to misjudge the US policies as "dollar imperialism", showing that these misjudgments were creating a vicious cycle which could not be broken.

Source 8 also supports this view as it suggests that the road to Cold War was "strewn with miscalculations". However, in face value, Source 8 blames the Soviet Union for being responsible. It states that Stalin "overreacted" to any threat in Germany and Eastern Europe and goes on to add that he "triggered" the Berlin Blockade Crisis as well. The Source only describes Stalin's reactions to the situation, thus failing blaming the USSR and failing to bring the US side to the story. It states that "in response to Marshall Plan", Stalin began to consolidate power in 'Satellite States'. However, the US had as well misread the Soviet consolidation of security as "expansionism" creating suspicion and mistrust between the two countries. In addition to this, Source 8 also states that "Stalin subjected the Koreans...and the rest of the world to a bloody and