The Cold War Begins

Soviet-American Conflict Over East Europe

Lynn Etheridge Davis

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780691618319, 9780691052175
• eBook ISBN: 9781400868025
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Russian History
• Index: History

A critical issue in the origins of the Cold War—the development of Soviet—American conflict over Eastern Europe from 1941 to 1945—is the subject of Lynn Etheridge Davis's book. Disagreeing with those writers who argue that conflict arose from the determination of the United States to obtain economic markets in Europe or from imprecise assessments of Soviet security interests, the author describes how the United States made an initial commitment to the Atlantic Charter principles in 1941, then continued to promote the creation of representative governments in Eastern Europe without clearly identifying American interests or foreseeing the consequences of these actions.

Using recently released documents of the Departments of State and War, Professor Davis explains how the views of U.S. officials on postwar peace precluded approval of Soviet efforts to establish a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe through the imposition of Communist regimes. She describes how American officials interpreted Soviet actions as intent to expand into Western Europe and how the subsequent undermining of Allied cooperation around the world led to the Cold War.

Originally published in 1974.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. The Anglo-Soviet Treaty 1942
• 2. Poland 1941-1943
• 3. Postwar Plans and Expectations 1941-1943
• 4. The Polish-Soviet Dispute 1944
• 5. Spheres of Influence in Eastern Europe 1944
• 6. Roosevelt Takes the Initiative Yalta 1945
• 7. Poland 1945
• 8. Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary: Challenges to the Yalta Agreements
• 9. Potsdam, London, Moscow 1945
• 10. Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia 1945
• 11. Conclusions
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• Index