6) The 'Long Telegram' - Feb 1946

Flussdiagrammknoten

• George Kennan - The 'Long Telegram' - Feb 1946

• This was CRUCIAL in encouraging the USA to adopt a hostile attitude towards the USSR

• Kennan was the Deputy Chief of Mission in the US embassy in Moscow

• The telegram gave a detailed report of Soviet motives

• Kennan believed:- Soviet policy was a continuation of the traditional Russia policy of hostility towards the outside world- Soviet leaders felt threatened and insecure because they knew the   West was more advanced. In order to   remove the threat, Soviet leaders were determined to destroy the Western world- The USSR will use every possible method to smash democracy in the Western world- The Soviet leaders were fanatics and can never be trusted- The soviet government was determined to expand and must be stopped

• He developed the idea of containment - The USA should use all means possible to stop the expansion of the USSR

• The US government accepted the views of Kennan and published hundreds of copies of the telegram for its officials to read. This was a very influential document and became the basis for US policy throughout the Cold War

• In the USSR they were thinking along the same lines as a result of the Novikov Telegram - He was the ambassador to America and sent a telegram in 1946 arguing that the US wanted to dominate the world and weren't interested in co-operation. Both sides were convinced they were heading for war