When most people remember the cold war they either remember going through bomb drills in school, or about the Space Race that led to Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. Possibly due to the average person focusing on what happened to them on a personal level, most people never think about how the Cold War started. The events that started the Cold War actuall date back to the end of World War II.
As soon as the American-Soviet alliance ended with the fall of Hitler’s regime, the two countries began to mistrust and compete with each other. This spirit of mistrust stemmed from the vast differences of ideology between Truman and Stalin. The first of these differences came to fruition in how post-war Germany would be handled. Truman wanted Germany to have a new order established, the vision that ultimately came to be, while Stalin wanted Germany to be dismantled and have what was left over pay for war reparations in the Allied countries. Truman ultimately formed the Marshall Plan which gave more than $10 billion to the re-stabilization of Germany.
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At the proceedings, Stalin opposed almost every plan that Truman favored. As a result of these differences, Stalin formed what would be known as the Iron Curtain. This was a divide between the East and West in Europe. For the most part, the West would have democracy, while the East would be ruled by communism. Staling was unsuccessful at his attempts to place Berlin on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain due to the Allied forces still occupying the city. Stalin was, however, able to form the Eastern Bloc which became protected by the Berlin