1946 ⟶ Truman Receives Clifford-Elsey Report

Harry S. Truman is presented with the Clifford-Elsey Report,...
Timelines Logo
Year
1945
1946

🇺🇸 Truman Becomes President

Roosevelt dies; Vice President Harry S. Truman takes over with little knowledge of current diplomatic efforts, no knowledge of the atomic bomb, and a bias against Russia.⟶
Truman Becomes President (1945)
United StatesTrumanPresidentLeadershipCold War OriginsDiplomacyAtomic BombPost-WarForeign Policy

☢️ Truman Informs Stalin of Nuclear Weapons at Potsdam

Potsdam Conference - At the Potsdam Conference, Truman informs Stalin that the United States has nuclear weapons.⟶
Truman Informs Stalin of Nuclear Weapons at Potsdam (1945)
Potsdam ConferenceTrumanStalinNuclear WeaponsAtomic BombCold WarDiplomacyArms Race

🕵️ Gouzenko Defection Exposes Soviet Spying

Igor Gouzenko, a Soviet agent working in the Soviet embassy in Canada, defects and provides proof to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of a Soviet spy ring operating in Canada and the U.S. The revelations help change perceptions of the Soviet Union from an ally to a foe.⟶
Gouzenko Defection Exposes Soviet Spying (1945)
USSRSoviet UnionSpyingCanadaUnited StatesCold WarIntelligenceEspionageDefection

📜 Truman Receives Clifford-Elsey Report

Harry S. Truman is presented with the Clifford-Elsey Report, a document which lists Soviet violations of agreements with the United States.⟶
Truman Receives Clifford-Elsey Report (1946)
United StatesSoviet UnionDiplomacyCold War OriginsIntelligenceReportPolicy

🗣️ Byrnes' Stuttgart Speech Rejects Morgenthau Plan

In a speech known as the Restatement of Policy on Germany in Stuttgart, James F. Byrnes, United States Secretary of State repudiates the Morgenthau Plan. He states the US intention to keep troops in Europe indefinitely and expresses US approval of the territorial annexation of 29% of pre-war Germany, but does not condone further claims.⟶
Byrnes' Stuttgart Speech Rejects Morgenthau Plan (1946)
GermanyPost-War PolicyOccupationUnited StatesDiplomacyCold War OriginsMorgenthau Plan

✉️ Novikov Telegram Criticizes US Ambitions

Nikolai Vasilevich Novikov writes a response to Kennan's Long Telegram, known as the 'Novikov Telegram', in which he states that the United States were "striving for world supremacy".⟶
Novikov Telegram Criticizes US Ambitions (1946)
Soviet UnionUnited StatesCold War OriginsTelegramPropagandaIdeologyGeopolitics