Origins of the Cold War and the Division of Europe

The origins of the Cold War in Europe and the division of the continent. The legacy of World War II and the Yalta and Potsdam settlements; the competing roles of ideology and Stalin's desire for security in shaping post-war Europe; the creation of the Soviet buffer zone and Churchill's 'Iron Curtain'; the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan; the Berlin Blockade and airlift; and the formation of NATO (1949) and the Warsaw Pact (1955).