The United States developed the policy of containment in light of the Soviet Union's expansion. The Soviet Union had been devastated through war. During the Second World War, over twenty million Soviets were killed. Stalin's main goal was to protect the USSR from any future attacks. They wanted to create a buffer zone. This zone would be made of eastern European states that would be under Soviet influence. Their fixation with safety measures was seen …showed first 75 words of 512 total…

…showed last 75 words of 512 total…dropped the a-bomb on Japan, Stalin felt insulted that they were not informed of this powerful weapon. What kind of ally would not share information like this? This is when tension between the USSR and the US was at its highest. Truman had always been very anti-communist. Kennan's report gave Truman the chance to convince the government to take action. The institution of the policy of containment was the first step towards the Cold War.