Choose a cause and see the evidence for it and its limits. Strong answers weigh causes against each other rather than listing them.
Which cause best explains the breakdown of the alliance by 1947?
Ideology
- Each side saw the other's system as a long-term threat.
- Zhdanov's two camps and Truman's alternative ways of life frame the conflict ideologically.
Ideology explains why distrust was deep and lasting.
It does not explain why the allies cooperated during the war, or the timing of the breakdown.
Security fears
- The USSR wanted a buffer after huge wartime losses.
- The West formed NATO as collective defence after Berlin.
Security explains specific actions such as control of Poland and the formation of NATO.
Defensive moves were read as aggressive, so security alone does not explain why fears escalated.
Economic interests
- The USA wanted an open world economy and a prosperous Western Europe.
- The USSR wanted reparations and saw the Marshall Plan as a threat.
Economic aims explain the split of 1947-48 over aid and Germany.
Economic disputes became decisive only within a wider framework of distrust.
Leaders and misperception
- Truman took a firmer line than Roosevelt.
- Kennan and Novikov each described the other side as expansionist.
Misperception explains how disagreements spiralled into rivalry.
It underplays real differences in aims that existed regardless of perception.