The Aggressive Actions of The United States Against The Soviet Union in Jeffrey Burds' The Early Cold War in Soviet West Ukraine, 1944-1948

The Cold War

The Cold War refers to the non-violent rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union shortly after World War II. It caused great animosity and has affected relations with the Soviet Union over the years. The issues between these two countries happened due to the fear of a communist take over spreading from the Soviet Union. Many people have differing views on whose fault the Cold War was. America generally believed for a long time that the Cold War was caused by the Soviet Union and mainly Joseph Stalin. In Jeffery Burds’, “The Early Cold War in Soviet West Ukraine, 1944-1948,” Burds challenges this general belief and provides evidence that the United States’ aggressive actions scared the Soviets.

In World War II, there were the Axis powers and the Allied powers. The Axis powers was composed of Germany, Japan and Italy. The Axis leaders were Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito. The Allied powers were made up of Great Britain, the United States, China, and the Soviet Union. The leaders of this group were Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. So, in World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were allies against the Germans. The Soviets really took a hit while battling Germany head on. They lost about 27 million people while trying to stop the Nazis. The United States only lost about 400,000 soldiers while fighting on two fronts against the Italians and Germans in Europe, and the Japanese in the Pacific. The Soviets put a lot more blood, sweat and tears in when it came to fighting the Nazis.

Substantial evidence regarding Western support of nationalist guerillas in Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltics was discovered by the Soviets. They first gained intelligence from a report by Nikita Khrushchev, addressed to the secretary of TSK KPU[kraine]. In the letter he explains that certain groups are preparing cadres for a war with the USSR. He then proceeds to say, “These regiments have the directive, ostensibly by order of England and America, to begin a war with the USSR after the Red Army’s crushing defeat of the Germans” (Burds 19). He is telling Stalin that America and England are clearly helping the rebel armies. This was the first instance of intelligence gathered by the Soviets about Ukrainian rebels. The next instance was when Soviet intelligence intercepted and captured German reports regarding British support of anti-Soviet rebels in Poland and Ukraine.

Intelligence agents from the field in West Ukraine reported that a band of Ukrainian nationalists surrounded the village of Kuhaiv. They reported that the soldiers were dressed in German uniforms with German tommy guns but spoke Ukrainian. The soldiers subdued the local party leaders and a red army sergeant. These soldiers said, “Don’t bother us, and we won’t bother you.” The soldiers didn’t harm anyone but explained that the war would soon be over and that they would be victorious (Burds 20). Soviet intelligence analysts that were higher up in the intelligence apparatus tried to interpret these reports. The initial reaction to all of these reports was to downgrade their importance. They initially discounted the seriousness of the allegations. They dismissed the claims and disregarded suggestions of foreign support for anti-Soviet rebels. These analysts did not believe any of these things at first.

However, eventually the interpretations of these analysts changed. They slowly started to understand the links between anti-Soviet rebels and foreign intelligence services. Over time they came to believe and trust the allegations that the West was helping anti-Soviet rebel groups. They now believed that the West, their allies, had turned on them. The Soviet state reacted to their new intelligence interpretations by first restructuring the secret police system throughout the Soviet Union’s Western republics who were deemed most vulnerable to foreign infiltration. They changed and transferred a lot of things. They assassinated many of the double agents that were discovered. They became very hostile toward the West using serious propaganda that threatened to destroy America and Britain like they did to Germany. The Soviets were not very happy with their new intelligence.

In conclusion, Burds produces evidence that changed the minds of Soviet leaders to believe that the United States had moved from being an ally of the Soviet Union to being an antagonist. Some of this evidence included: The United States’ aggression toward the Soviets, the United States helping anti-Soviet rebel groups, and the United States’ containment policy, that was too harsh. The Soviets gave America the benefit of the doubt but eventually came to believe that they had been against them the whole time.