How far do you agree with the view that the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-48 owed more to Soviet expansionism than to the USA’s economic interests?

It is evident that, as Source 7 argues, the development if the Cold War in the years 1945-48 owed more to Soviet expansionism. However, it was not the main factor. The USA’s desire to boost their economy and influence in Eastern Europe, discussed in Source 8, and the need to secure the USSR’s boarders, the focus of Source 9, also l,aged s key role in the development of the Cold War. Perhaps one can argue that all three aims of both superpowers acted as catalysts and contributed to the development of the Cold War.

In essence, Source 7 argues that the USSR had an “ambitious aim” of insuring Communist control in its sphere of influence. This is true in the sense that Stalin aimed to take advantage of the military situation in Europe and strengthen Soviet influence which resulted in occupying as much of Eastern Europe as possible. Following the Yalta and Potsdam conferences of 1945, Pro-Communist governments were set up in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. As well as this, the Soviet Union allowed Communist politicians to hold key positions in Coalition governments before elections were held meaning that elections could be manipulated to ensure communists controlled the levers of power. As a result of such measures, by the end of 1947 every state in Eastern Europe, except from Czechoslovakia, was controlled by a Communist government. Stalin had also failed to keep the promise made at the Yalta conference to hold free elections in Eastern Europe. In this respect, Source 7 is entirely correct in supporting the view that the development of the Cold War owed more to Soviet expansionism. Moreover, Source 7’s reference to Western attitudes hardening as the USSR “tightened its grip” over countries, which