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February 1945

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The Big Three, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, convened in the city of Yalta to celebrate the defeat of Germany and decide the future of the post-war world. In the war, the Soviet Union suffered immensely from German attacks. As a result, Stalin proposed a harsh punishment: the division of Germany into multiple occupations zones controlled by the Allies. Churchill was against this harsh approach, but Roosevelt convinced the Prime Minister to agree to a temporary division of Germany into four zones, one each for the US, Soviet Union, Britain, and France. In return, Stalin agreed to free elections, or self-determination, in some  Soviet occupied countries. FDR agreed to these compromises to achieve his own goals: he wanted the Soviet Union to join the war effort against Japan in the Pacific front and support from Stalin to create the United Nations.

The responsibility for tension is split 50/50 between the U.S. and the USSR because at the conference both countries were able to compromise their own ideals in order to achieve a peaceful solution. Therefore, at the Yalta Conference, no one was at fault for creating the tension that led up to Cold War; in fact, both countries were rather conceding to one another.
=Renee Hoh

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1946

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Almost right after World War II ended, civil war started in China between the Nationalists and the Communists. The Communists had already been opposing the nationalist government for over twenty years when war erupted. The Communist party, which was led by Mao Zedong, was in control of northern China, while Chiang Kai-shek's corrupt government ruled over Nationalists in southern and eastern China. The Communists relied heavily on financial aid from the Soviet Union. Although the role of the US was to mediate between the two parties, the US still supported the Nationalists, and sent $2 billion worth of military equipment and supplies to Nationalists over the course of three years during the civil war. In May 1949, the Nationalists were defeated due to Chiang's weak leadership and poor morale, and China was established as a communist country. The US refused to accept the People's Republic of China, which was the new government formed in China.
The US and USSR are equally responsible in creating tension because they both financially supported one of the opposing parties in China during revolution. Thus, because the two countries both sent money to the party they supported, they both equally contributed to the building tension.
~May Leng

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March 1947

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Congress passed the Truman Doctrine on March 12, 1947. President Truman created the Truman Doctrine in order to prevent Soviet's communist influence from spreading to other countries, and to encourage these countries to resist growing communist influence. The Truman Doctrine set to accomplish this task by using money to provide financial and military aid to Turkey and Greece, who were prone to give in to the communist takeover during this time. Over the course of two years, the United States sent $400 million to Turkey and Greece, which greatly reduced the possibility of these countries becoming communist.  The President thought the Truman Doctrine was necessary because he insisted that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."
The majority of the tension created by the Truman Doctrine is by the US because the US president was entirely responsible for drafting and passing the doctrine to Congress. Thus, the US is mostly responsible for creating tension between the two countries by starting the action of giving huge amounts of money to other nations with the sole purpose of ending Soviet influence in those countries. However, the Soviet Union is still partially responsible because they were imposing their influence on these vulnerable countries in the first place, which is what caused the US to create the Truman Doctrine.
~May Leng

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June 1947

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Secretary of State George Marshall proposed to Congress the Marshall Plan, which, like the Truman Doctrine, aimed to help nations that were vulnerable to Soviet influences to continue to resist the appeal of communism. During this period, the entire region of Western Europe was completely devastated by the war. For example, many factories had been bombed and looted. Additionally, homes were also bombed, so millions of people were living in refugee camps with nowhere to go. Furthermore, the weather during the winter of 1946-1947 was so brisk and severe that crops died and rivers froze. As a result, water transportation was cut off, and there was a food and fuel shortage. Because people in Western Europe were suffering greatly, the Communist party was extremely appealing to them, and Western Europe was prone to give in to Soviet influences. In order to counter this, the Marshall Plan sent $13 billion in aid to 16 countries in Western Europe, including Great Britain, France, and Italy. The Marshall Plan not only revived European hopes, but also reduced communist appeal by contributing to Western Europe's recovery from the war: by 1952, Western Europe's economy and people were flourishing once again.
Just like the Truman Doctrine, most of the tension created between the two countries as a result of the Marshall Plan falls towards the US. Although George Marshall stated that its purpose was to relieve the countries in "hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos", the Marshall Plan also reduced communist influences in many countries in Western Europe, once again preventing Soviet influences of communism from spreading; thus, regardless of its intentions, the Marshall Plan contributed to the growing tension between the US and USSR. The USSR still contributed to the tension by attempting to spread its influence on struggling and vulnerable countries in the first place, which made the US feel the need to create the Marshall Plan.
~May Leng

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June 25 1950

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After the end of World War II, Korea was split at the 38th parallel into the Republic of Korea in the south (also known as South Korea) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north. By 1949, the US had withdrew most of its troops in South Korea so that there were 500 soldiers left. Due to the minimal presence of the US in Korea, the Soviet Union saw this as an opportunity to back North Korea with tanks, airplanes, and money so that the Communists could take over South Korea. North Korea launching a surprise attack on South Korea on June 25, 1950 marked the start of the Korean War. 16 different nations sent 520,000 troops to aid South Korea, and over 90 percent of these troops were American. Under war hero MacArthur's command, the UN troops successfully drove North Korean troops out of South Korea and entered North Korea, but then the Chinese joined the war supporting North Korea. Chinese troops drove UN troops out of North Korea and captured Seoul, the South Korean capital. Over the next two years, Chinese and American forces struggled to gain more land, but neither nation was successful. In 1951, the US Army managed to recapture Seoul and move back up to the 38th parallel. On June 23, 1951, the Soviet Union suggested a cease-fire and the two sides signed an armistice, signifying the end of the Korean War.
The US and USSR were equally responsible in the tension created through the Korean War because although the Soviet Union initiated the war by launching the surprise attack on South Korea, they were also the ones that suggested a cease-fire. Furthermore, at one point in the Korean War, it was mainly American troops fighting Chinese troops, showing that America also largely participated in the war and contributed to the tension.
~May Leng

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1957

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Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satellite, sent into space by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. Sputnik traveled around the world at 18,000 miles per hour and circled the globe every 96 minutes.The launch of Sputnik initiated the Space Race between the US and the USSR. The Soviet Union's success was threatening to the US because Americans were concerned with the technological gap between their scientific discoveries and that of the Soviet Union's. Additionally, US civilians feared their safety and worried that the USSR had the ability to spy on them. As a result, the US funded more space programs with more money in order to launch their own satellite into space in 1958.

Both countries contributed to the tense environment of the Space Race; however, the responsibility lies slightly more with the Soviet Union because with the launching of Sputnik, they were showing off their technological superiority as well as the distance that their missiles could fly. This further increased the American's public fear of an actual war, which of course results in tension building up between the two countries.
=Renee Hoh

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Throughout the 60's and 70's the American CIA allied with the Iranian government to obtain information about the Soviet Union. This knowledge allowed the US to monitor activities in the Soviet Union and gave the US an advantage about where to send its planes. However, as the Iranian leader Mohammed Mosaddeq began leaning towards the communist side, the US had to intervene as their goal was to restrict the spread of communism. In response, the US orchestrated a coup using bribery and threats to overthrow Mosaddeq from his position.

The US were at fault for using their relationship to Iran to spy on the Soviet Union. Additionally the US unreasonably interfered in Iranian affairs to impose its values onto another country. Therefore, the United States is far more responsible for the tension caused by the CIA activities than the Soviet Union is.
=Renee Hoh

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April 12, 1955

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In 1955, Eisenhower met with Soviet leaders in Geneva, Switzerland to propose an "open skies" idea, which would allow the US and USSR to fly over each other's territory in order to guard against surprise nuclear attacks. Because the Soviet Union rejected Eisenhower's proposal, the CIA began to send out U-2 planes for secret flights over Soviet territory. As they flew over Soviet territory, U-2 planes used infrared cameras to take pictures of the land to gather information about troop movement and missile sites. Because he was worried it would "ruin [his] effectiveness", Eisenhower planned to authorize one last flight before discontinuing these secret flights. On May 1, pilot Francis Gary Powers took off on the last flight; however, while flying over Soviet territory, his plane was shot down by another Soviet plane. The Soviets sentenced Powers to ten years in prison, followed by a demand for US to apologize and promise to stop the secret flights. Eisenhower promised to halt the flights, but refused to apologize. Soviet leader Khrushchev withdrew his invitation for Eisenhower to visit the Soviet Union.
America was completely responsible for the tension caused by the U-2 incident. To begin with, the US should not have been flying over Soviet territory in the first place, since Soviet leaders did not allow them to. Thus, as a direct result of U-2 planes, Khrushchev became extremely angry, which contributed to the tension. Additionally, Eisenhower refused to apologize to Khrushchev, which made the US at fault for creating more tension.
~May Leng

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Nov. 3, 1957

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The Space Race was not only a matter of technological superiority but also national pride for both the US and USSR. The race began on April 12, 1961 when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the first person in space. In order to compete with the USSR, the US and NASA constructed new launch facilities in Houston, Texas and Cape Canaveral, Florida. The US had their eye on sending a man to the moon. Kennedy himself described the spirit of the Space Race as a "challenge...we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and others, too." On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong made the first man-made footprint on the moon, which was broadcast to American television channels, effectively restoring American pride and prestige. Due to the success of the space program in the 1960s, collegiate science programs today are receiving large amounts of federal funding for research and development.

Although the Space Race was conducted under a guise of friendly competition, the tensions of the incoming Cold War were expressed through the Space Race. Both countries were equally responsible for the tension because with each technological advancement the countries were threatening one another with more potential weapons to use during the war. Therefore, the US and USSR are equally responsible for the tension leading up to the Cold War.
=Renee Hoh

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1960

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After nine days of being elected as president, Kennedy heard of Eisenhower's plan of having the CIA secretly train 1,300 - 1,500 Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba in hopes of the invasion triggering a mass uprising to overthrow Castro. Kennedy approved the plan, and on April 17, the Cuban exiles arrived at the Bay of Pigs with the help of the US military. Although the CIA confirmed that their air strike was a success, it did not destruct the Cuban air force. Furthermore, a smaller advance group sent to distract Cuban troops never came, so when the exiles landed, they were faced with 25,000 Cuban troops backed by Soviet tanks and jet aircraft. The exiles were either killed or imprisoned, and Kennedy paid $53 million in ransom to release the surviving exiles.
The tension created from the Bay of Pigs was entirely from America, because they were the ones who decided to attack Cuba, so Cuban troops had nothing to do but to defend their land. Although Soviet military also participated in the battle, they were also only trying to defend Cuba since the US sent exiles to invade them.
~May Leng

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Oct 1962

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In 1962, the Soviet Union sent mass amounts of weapons, some nuclear, to Cuba as Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev promised protection to his ally, Cuban President Fidel Castro. Considering how quickly the missiles could reach US cities, Americans lived in fear of bombings or a possible nuclear war. Kennedy responded by declaring that any missile attack from Cuba would result in an attack against the Soviet Union. Kennedy's secretary of the treasury C. Douglas Dillion described the situation as the government "had to do whatever was necessary to get the missiles out," even use nuclear weapons. Additionally, Soviet ships, possibly carrying more missiles, were headed to Cuba. In response, President Kennedy prepared to stop the carriers if they got to close and had 100,000 troops ready to attack in Florida. The Soviet ships eventually stopped to avoid confrontation; several days later, Khrushchev withdrew the missiles from Cuba in return for the US's promise not to invade Cuba.

The majority of the responsibility for tension, in this instance, lies with the Soviet Union. By supplying Cuba with unreasonable amounts of weapons, they were knowingly creating tension between them and the US. Because of the USSR's actions, Kennedy had to defend the US by declaring war or using nuclear weapons if any missiles launched.The Soviet Union could have provided protection to Cuba with troops or supplies instead of nuclear weapons, some of which were pictured ready to launch. Instead, the USSR chose to supply Cuba, a country neighboring America, with mass amounts of weapons, threatening the safety of American lives.
=Renee Hoh

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November 1, 1975

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Both the US and the USSR were competing with each other to further their influence across the world, specifically in southeastern Asia and the Vietnam War was the perfect breeding place for both countries to spread their power. The US, in particular, did not want the USSR to introduce Communism into any new countries. In a proxy war that mirrored the tension in the Cold War, America backed the South Vietnamese government and the Soviet backed the North Vietnamese government, which consisted of passionate nationalists believing in the communist cause. In an attempt to tame the nationalists, President Lyndon Johnson sent many troops to Vietnam and President Richard Nixon initiated a bombing campaign, destroying the country of Vietnam and the American reputation. Even the Americans at home were opposed to what the government was doing in Vietnam: the military used 7 million tons of bombs and the casualty count for Vietnamese civilians reached 2 million.
The US is 60% responsible whereas the USSR is 40% because both countries participated in the proxy war that only extended the tension in struggling for more power. However, the US was more responsible because the country was far more invested in the war which escalated into mass casualties on the Vietnamese side and created more tension between the US and USSR, those funding the proxy war.
=Renee Hoh