In many ways, theResponse areabegan even before the guns fell silent in Germany and in the Pacific in 1945. Competing ideologies and visions of the postwar world prevented U.S. president Harry S Truman and Soviet premier Response area from working together. Stalin intended to destroy Germany’s industrial capabilities in order to prevent the country from remilitarizing and wanted Germany to pay outrageous sums in war reparations. Moreover, he wanted to erect pro-Soviet governments throughout Eastern Europe to protect the Response area from any future invasions. Truman, however, wanted exactly the opposite. He believed that only industrialization and democracy in Germany and throughout the continent would ensure postwar stability. Unable to compromise or find common ground, the world’s two remaining superpowers inevitably clashed. Truman worked tirelessly to clean up the postwar mess and establish a new international order. He helped create the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and funded the rebuilding of Japan under General Douglas MacArthur. In 1947 Truman outlined theResponse area which set aside more than $10 billion for the rebuilding and re-industrialization of Germany and western Europe. The plan was so successful that factories in Western Europe were exceeding their prewar production levels within just a few years. Although Stalin joined with the US in founding the Response area he fought Truman on nearly every other issue. He protested the Marshall Plan as well as the formation of the World Bank and IMF. In defiance, he followed through on his plan to create a buffer between the Soviet Union and Germany by setting up proResponse area governments in Poland and other Eastern European countries. As a result, the so-called Response area soon divided East from West in Europe. Stalin also tried unsuccessfully to drive French, British, and American occupation forces from the German city of Berlin by blocking highway and railway access. Determined not to let the city fall, Truman ordered the Re
