ABSTRACT
The Cold War was a traditional contest between two great powers, accentuated by the role of ideology and transformed by the scope of the weapons of mass destruction available. Developments in Europe after 1945 were vitally important for establishing the attitudes that were to determine the western response to the crisis in Korea in June 1950. The Truman Doctrine was a response to British inability to fulfill obligations to Greece and to the President's belief that the time had come for an uncompromising statement of American intentions. Michael Hogan has produced a comprehensive study of the ways in which the American bureaucracy applied Marshall Aid between 1947 and 1952. The Berlin crisis of 1948-49 was the most dangerous menace to world peace before the start of the Korean War. It originated in the growing divergence of aims for the future administration of Germany between the four occupying powers, the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union.
