After World War 2, the world is still on its head from a much longer war than expected. Along with the change, there is a change in boarders. The ”Iron Curtain” as Winston Churchill called it fell over part of Europe as the Soviet Union claimed more land and created a new boarder. This new force of the Sovient Union and communism put the world on edge, and not only the United States and Britian were worried.
Churchill and Truman were trying to rally democracy ruled countries together with their speeches. Churchill told the United States how much power they had now that the war was over and how they needed to watch the Soviet Union, unlike they had with Germany. Truman’s doctorine was explaining why the United Nations needed to help Greece and Turkey. They were trying to build up resistance to the Soviet Union so it couldn’t expand beyond what it already had.
As for Stalin and Brezhnev, they explained the importance of communism. Stalin compared Churchill’s view on English speaking countries to that of Hitler’s view on German speaking nations. He wanted to inspire the people of his nation, make them believe the Soviet Union would be able to take out Britian and the United States just as they did with Germany in World War 2. Brezhnev’s Doctrine explained how important it was for communist countries to support each other. With internal problems, communism wouldn’t be able to spread.
These documents show the two sides of the Cold War starting. Both feel like they need to help the smaller countries under their control and preach to them that they are the strongest nation in the world. Both know they the power of the other after World War 2, making them hesitant to take action during the Cold War
I agree with your argument that the Communist countries needed to prove themselves as strong, reliable governments. However, some context would have made the documents more understandable. For example, the Brezhnev document was not a document encouraging friendly and supportive relations between communist countries. It was a document paving the way for Soviet intervention in any countries that strayed from the communist agenda set forth by the Soviets. The lifting of censorship and ideas of self-determination threatened communism in Czechoslovakia, which inspired this doctrine.
I think you make some good points, especially laying out the first three documents as the foundation of the Cold War. Although, I would be careful with Stalin’s response. Consider that perhaps he was not trying to incite his own Russian people to attack, but rather, stir things up further for the Communist Party branches in both Britain and the United States. At this point, Stalin likely does not want another direct war, especially since the United States had the atomic bomb ready for use. (The USSR had their first atomic bomb success in 1949.) Moreover, Churchill was no longer in power during his speech; he was voted out of office by the Labor Party, a more leftist favoring group.