1.How would you describe the tone of Truman’s statement? Does the language reflect atomic (Hydrogen) capabilities as a deterrent or an offensive possibility for the United States?

States? To me it sounds like Truman was trying to act like his predecessor so he could get some street credit with the people that loved FDR. Truman had an uncertainty as new president because millions of Americans, especially the poor, seen Roosevelt as an almost saintly father figure.[1] He had led them through some of Americas darkest hours in recent years and now Truman had to fill that void. The way it sounded to me was that the message sounded more like a deterrent more than an offensive playbook. He was able to use the bomb, twice on Japan and he knew, as well as the rest of the world, that America had the big stick and was not afraid to use it. Most importantly, specify what had just occurred (only months before this…in 1949 as well as previous events) which spurred this language and action? In late 1949 two main events happened that would have a huge affect on the United States. In August the Soviet Union had successfully detonated their first atomic bomb and a few months later the Communist People’s Republic of China had been born.[2] This was a result of the British no longer being able to hold security in Greece and Turkey, as a result the Soviets and China had more liberty to do whatever influence in that part of the country without the worry of retaliation. Finally, use your textbook and/or outside sources to discuss how Stalin reacted to the West’s methodology and rhetoric. Honestly, I feel as if Stalin was intimidated at how a democratic people were gaining popularity. He sheltered the Soviet Union and who they controlled from outside influence. Remember how many soldiers and civilians the Soviets lost during the war and how much devastation their country received during the German military. He felt threatened and he wanted to ensure he did not lose what he had known his entire life. So, he completely cut-off his country and those he controlled from outside influence. It started with a barbed wire fence and escalated into a massive wall that separated families for a generation. Bibliography Patterson, James T. Grand Expectations: Postwar America, 1945-1974. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. [1] James T. Patterson, Grand Expectations: Postwar America, 1945-1974 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 137. [2] Ibid, 169. 2.In the wake of post-World War II chaos, two strong powers with diametrically opposed politics were in a position to control Europe and Japan. The capitalistic and democratic United States wanted other nations to have their own leadership and decide how they should be run. Josef Stalin and the communist USSR wanted the world to be theirs. The US had the atomic weapon while the Soviets had a large land army.[1] England, France, Germany, Japan, and other nations just wanted to stabilize and rebuild their countries. An alliance with the West or with the communists would not help the immediate necessity of food and heat. These are the conditions that brought about the Cold War. The Potsdam Conference took place after Germany’s surrender and its focus was the post-WWII division of Europe. The Soviets already had control of eastern Europe and Stalin did not want to relinquish any territory because he felt those nations were like a security perimeter between the West and the USSR.[2] President Harry Truman wanted the US to support freedom wherever possible.[3] These two different plans came to a head in 1946 when Truman requested $400 million in military aid for Turkey and Greece to stop the threat of the spread of communism and a possible domino effect in the rest of Europe.[4] In June 1948, the Soviets created a blockade of Berlin as a political way of controlling and/or stopping the creation of West Germany. Both powers were attempting to assert their dominance without being the first to declare yet another war.

By 1949, the US had reduced its military significantly while the Soviets were creating their own atomic bomb which they were able to successfully detonate on September 3, 1949.[5] At the end of January 1950, Truman gave his speech about the hydrogen bomb.[6] The main purpose of this speech was to inform the citizens of the United States, as well as leaders around the world, that US has (or soon will have—using words to keep everyone guessing on purpose) a hydrogen bomb which is far more powerful than the atomic bombs used in WWII and that this bomb is necessary and important as a deterrent to possible Soviet aggression. Truman’s intention was to let Stalin and the Soviets know that we will not back down from the importance of the control of atomic energy and weapons and that the US will continue to make these weapons until it feels the country is secure. Truman had figured out that Stalin would only accept an “iron fist” from an opponent.[7] Stalin had no interest in appeasing the Americans. He wanted his country his way and was more than willing to use his country’s strengths to back up his plans. He wanted eastern Europe and he got it with no opposition from other nations. In Poland, twenty exiled Polish leaders returned after the war. Stalin had sixteen of them put in prison and had the others put in place in a puppet government controlled by the Soviets.[8] He had no qualms about asserting his dominance whenever he could. He had the added advantage of being a single leader without elections and warring political parties to get in the way of his agenda.