Wendy Hegarty Lincoln-Way East High School

The essential idea behind Leffler's book is that the origins of the Cold War began in 1917 with the Bolshevik Revolution and that it was only the idea of Communism, not an actual threat of invasion, which led to Cold War tensions and nuclear escalation. Moreover, Leffler claims that the containment policy of the Cold War was not a thoroughly planned out strategy but a series of actions and reactions on the United States's and the Soviet Union's part.

Leffler places the beginning of the Cold War after World War I. Even though the U.S. government felt little, if any, military threat from the U.S.S.R., they hated the idea of Communism. Hoover said it was economically unsound and its politics were repressive. The fact that the Bolsheviks repudiated their WW I loans proved they could not be trusted. The American people hated the idea even more. May Day parades and violent strikes convinced Americans that Communism had the ability to overtake a nation that had just won the war. The failure of the State Department to formally recognize the U.S.S.R. or to initially stop the Palmer raids gave credibility to this fear of Communism that was 'out there'. As a result, the Cold War was born.

Wisely, Leffler does not take time to review the reasons why the United States and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II. He reminds the reader, however, that 1941-1945 was only a break in the Cold War that had already begun. When it seemed the Allies would be the winners of the conflict, each side looked to rebuild. Here, Leffler states that the United States understood the need for France to have security from Germany, but dismissed the Soviet's same justifiable fears. The United States was again not worried about the military threat, but wanted to make sure European markets remained open to U.S. goods. The U.S. used the fear of communism to make sure its economy would remain strong. When it seemed Eastern Europe was lost, the U.S. decided to fight for Western Europe.

Leffler maintains that when this occurs, however, a policy of containment was not developed and labeled overnight. The Marshall plan, the Berlin Blockade, the formation of NATO, rebuilding Japan and even the Korean War were not so much about stopping the spread of Communism, but keeping markets open to U.S. goods. Misinformation about how close the Soviets were to the Chinese proved that the United States State Department did not know much about the Soviets motives and were putting forth a hit or miss policy.

On the postwar home front, politicians were not really concerned that communism was infiltrating the government. Once again, the idea that communism was out there and could weaken the United States was used to discredit each others parties, put down civil rights, and scare people into conformity. This tactic led to politicians then having to pass huge defense budgets for containment when they really didn't think there was a threat.

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