This conversation between Truman and Stalin was what started all the races such as the arms race and the space race. Even though Truman gave Stalin a hint about the new nuclear weapons the US still decided to use them against Japan instead of showing a demonstration. Many believe that the usage of the nuclear weapons was a form of deterrence to show the USSR what the new weapons can do.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Start of the Cold War
There are many factors that contributed to the start of the cold war, but the US directly caused a chain reaction of paranoia, distrust, and deterrence in it's relationship with the USSR. The first act of spite between the US and USSR came at the Potsdam conference in 1945 where Truman recalled something happening like this- "On July 24 I casually mentioned to Stalin that we had a new weapon of unusual destructive force. The Russian Premier showed no special interest. All he said was he was glad to hear it and hoped we would make 'good use of it against the Japanese.'" -Harry S. Truman, Year of Decisions (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1955) p. 416.
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I agree that distrust was the the main factor to the start of the Cold War. Neither nation trusted each other, creating even more tensions that led to the arms that lasted the whole entire Cold War. The Arms Race played a major roll in starting the tensions because both nations were competing to be the most powerful by having more weapons. Nuclear weapons presented a whole aspect for the Cold War, while bringing more and more advanced weapons.
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