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According to the documents below, what evidence points to the idea that the USSR's fear of the atomic bomb was partially a cause of the Cold War?

There are really only two of these eight documents that imply that the Cold War started in part because the USSR was afraid of the US’s atomic bombs.  These documents are Document E and Document F. 


Document E really only implies that the Soviets fear the atomic bomb.  It makes sense that the Soviets would not want to come out and admit that they were afraid.  Instead, Novikov simply says that the US is trying...

There are really only two of these eight documents that imply that the Cold War started in part because the USSR was afraid of the US’s atomic bombs.  These documents are Document E and Document F. 


Document E really only implies that the Soviets fear the atomic bomb.  It makes sense that the Soviets would not want to come out and admit that they were afraid.  Instead, Novikov simply says that the US is trying to dominate the world and that one of the things that it is using to try to accomplish this is “ever newer types of weapons.”  This is clearly a reference to atomic bombs.  If the Soviets worried that the US was going to use its atomic bombs to help it dominate the world, then fear of the atomic bomb would be a cause of the Cold War.


Document F did not actually come from a Soviet source.  Therefore, it is not completely certain that this document reflects what the Soviets actually thought.  Instead, all it truly indicates is what Henry Wallace thought the Soviets would think.  Wallace worries that the Soviets will look at American atomic bomb tests and American bombers in bases all over the world and they will think that the Americans are trying to encircle and destroy the USSR.  If the Soviets really thought in this way (which seems likely) then the fear of atomic bombs was a cause of the Cold War.

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