When we hear the common expression: “The only good communist is a dead one,” the Cold War comes to mind. This war, cold because without direct violence against each country, was a major contribution to future war diplomacy. Clever Americans used many tactics to create a “cold” war that would benefit them in every way. The fear of communism devouring small countries has exaggerated the possibility that the American economy will be imperiled. Politicians also helped secure anti-communist principles in the United States. The imitation of government, media and other political figures has helped create a frenzy of fear. The United States was more responsible for the Cold War than the Soviet Union. After World War II, the French, British, United States, and Soviet Union divided Germany into four different territories. Germany's capital, Berlin, was entirely enclosed within Soviet territory (The American Pageant, 867). While the Soviets supported communism, the Americans wanted to ensure that it would not spread to weak countries. For this reason, after the Soviet Union launched the blockade between East and West Germany, the United States launched the Berlin Airlift. During the Berlin Airlift, planes transported thousands of tons of supplies to the people of Berlin every day for almost a year (The American Pageant, 868). The United States did not want to physically fight the Soviets, but it generated some aggression by responding to their blockade with the Berlin Airlift. This one-way "trade" ultimately helped the German economy, which encouraged the government to turn to capitalism rather than communism; it helped the United States by increasing world trade. Americans were then faced... middle of paper ...... and after the creation of the Soviet Union, the civil liberties of the United States were vulnerable because of communism. With the United States economy under threat, Americans attempted to revive the global economy. The leaders of the United States introduced a foreign policy designed to impede the flow of the "river" of communist influence. The media helped create mass hysteria that portrayed normal people as communists. The United States government and Americans were solely responsible for the Cold War. Works Cited Kennedy/Stanford University, David M. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. 13th ed. 2006. Nagle, Michael. “Part II, Lecture 11: The Beginning of the Cold War (1945-1961).” Part II, Lecture 11: The beginning of the Cold War (1945-1961). Cengages learning. March 21.2009. .