to gain complete control of Berlin by forming a blockade against all of the other Allied forces. Despite the barrier, the United States airlifted tons of supplies to those who were in need of them in Berlin. This was the very beginning of antagonistic relations. Another form of aggression that angered the Americans was Stalin's refusal to hold free elections in Eastern Europe, while he covertly set up their governments to act as puppet satellites, forming a protective barrier around the U.S.S.R. The Soviets' reluctance to reunify Korea and the strong Communist atmosphere in North Korea also disgruntled Americans and hurt diplomatic relations. Overall, each step that the Soviet Union took to strengthen its power and the power of the Communist party was viewed as an act of aggression, and there are many historians who strongly believe that the Soviets were at fault in the instigation of the Cold War due to these immense acts of aggression.The period in the United States following World War II could more aptly be named American Hysteria rather than history according to the more revisionist historians. As the Soviet Union grew more and more powerful, every American grew more frightened of the Communist movement. No event greater exemplified this than McCarthy's Communist witch hunt of the 1950's. The Cold War tensions stemmed from the fear and paranoia that gripped American society. This was displayed by the establishment of the C.I.A. to research Communist activities in foreign nations, the commitment to the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan in order to help nations resist the influence of Communist forces, and the continuous arms, technology, and espionage race that dominated U.S.- Soviet politics. The C.I.A. was established out of fear, because the U.S. felt threatened by the Soviet influence in other smaller countries where the United States had vast interests. In order to keep small nations from being overwhelmed by Communism, the...
