The Cold War began at the end of World War One and as Truman took over as president of the United States. Truman met Stalin face to face for the first time at Potsdam in Germany, where little was agreed upon. At Potsdam, Truman issued a warning to Japan to surrender unconditionally or face ‘prompt and utter destruction’. When Japan refused to surrender, Truman decided to drop an atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. About 130,000 people died and as many died again over the next five years from the effects of radiation. This was a deliberate show of atomic power. Truman had very strong views on foreign policy despite his lack of experience. He disliked dictatorships and countries which behaved aggressively toward other countries. These views led him to mistrust the Soviet system. Crucial to the development of US foreign policy was the George Kennan’s Long Telegram. Kennan was based in Moscow and was one of the few trained experts in Russ history and language. In Kennan’s view, the Russians were using Communism as a cover for military growth, oppression at home and expansion abroad. He concluded that the only way to deal with Communism was to contain it – ‘firm, vigilant containment’. This telegram reinforced Truman’s views and helped to start the Cold War. These ideas shaped the policy of containment that as the basis for the US foreign policy at the beginning of the cold war. In June 1948, Stalin began the Berlin Blockade of West Berlin. Stalin was responding to the US policy in Germany. The wartime allies had agreed to divide Germany into four zones and Russia was allowed to take reparations from the country. But soon the US gave Marshal Aid to West Germany as it believed a strong German economy was necessary for the European economy to recover. It was also necessary to rebuild Germany as a buffer against the spread of Communism. On the other hand, Stalin feared that a prosperous West Germany would unde