Telegrams that emerged from an ideological conflict on a scale that hadn’t been seen before, the Long and Novikov Telegrams (1946) set the stage for the tension among nations in the Cold War. What are the Long and Novikov Telegrams? Why were they sent? And what did they cause?
Long and Novikov Telegrams 1946
Both the USSR and the USA had emerged as large world-leading powers at the end of WWII, they sat in opposing positions and quickly became suspicious of one another and their actions. In 1946, these suspicions and opinions of one another came to light in the Long and Novikov Telegrams.
Long and Novikov Telegrams Definition
Telegrams sent in 1946 outlined that peace was not possible between the US and USSR because of their ideological differences and the Soviet Union's communist expansion. The Telegrams outlined how each nation should interpret the other actions, and how they should respond to them, in a 5000-word essay.
Fig. 1- Military intelligence division Map 1922
Long and Novikov Telegrams Timeline
The Long and Novikov Telegrams were a product of the disagreements and tensions between the US and the USSR. Although addressed to high-positioned people such as Secretary of State James Byrnes and Foreign Minister Molotov, the telegrams and the information they held were soon public knowledge.
| Event | Date |
| 9 February 1946 | The Bolshoi Theatre Speech. |
| February 1946 | Kennan’s Long Telegram. |
| September 1946 | The Novikov Telegram. |
| March 1947 | President Truman announced the end of isolationism and the need for a containment policy, named the Truman Doctrine. |
| 12 March 1947 | The beginning of the Cold War. |
| 3 April 1948 | President Truman signed the Marshall Plan, otherwise known as the Economic Recovery Act of 1949. |
| 24 June 1948 | Stalin stopped all road and rail traffic into Berlin. Beginning the Blockade, the Airlift followed. |
| 4 April 1949 | NATO was set up. |
| 12 May 1949 | The end of the Berlin Blockade. |
| 29 August 1949 | The Soviets tested their first Atomic Bomb. |
| 26 December 1991 | The end of the Cold War. |
Long and Novikov Telegrams Summary
Stalin broadcasted his speech at the Bolshoi theatre live throughout Russia, stating that Capitalism had progressed during WWII and that the War between the West and the East was inevitable because of its growth. During the Bolshoi Theatre Speech on 9 February 1946, Stalin accused America of using Atomic weapons as a means of imperialism. This public display of discontent from the USSR influenced the creation of the Long Telegram.
Fig. 2- Stalin
The Long Telegram
Issued to President Truman about the USSR's intentions, the Long Telegram detailed not long how George Frost Kennan viewed the relationship between the USSR and the US, but also their intentions and, in his opinion, the correct responses to them.
- Claimed that the USSR was determined to spread communism.
- Claimed that Stalin had given a speech calling for the destruction of capitalism
- Claimed Stalin needed an exterior enemy at all times to justify his autocratic rule, and once fascism was no longer a threat, capitalist countries would be next. Called this ‘Historic Russian Xenophobia and paranoia”.
- Claimed the USSR would never be anything but an adversary to the US.
- Said that the USSR would fight a never-ending war on capitalism, using Marxists in capitalist countries as pawns to launch a communist takeover.
George Frost Kennan
George Frost Kennan was a Diplomat working for the US state department. During the last year of WWII, he was assigned to be deputy head of the Mission at the US embassy in Moscow at the personal request of Ambassador Averell Harriman. During this time, orders from Washington were to maintain strong cooperation between the US and the Soviet Union. Kennan disagreed that this relationship could work, and the orders from Washington frustrated him.
Fig. 3- George Frost Kennan
Did you know?
George Frost Kennan had worked as a Sovietologist at the US Embassy in Riga in the 1930s and was also part of the team that established the first US diplomatic mission to the Soviet Union in 1933, and also worked with the European Advisory Commission, as a counsellor working on Allied plans for the post-war period.
Due to his extensive experience in Soviet relations, Kennan was worried that if the US didn’t distance itself from its conciliatory positions to a more aggressive foreign policy against the Soviets, the USSR would overrun Europe. Because of this, Kennan felt that to survive Soviet ambitions, European countries would have to form a federation to counter it.
At the end of his term in Moscow in 1946, Kennan was made aware of how the US treasury came to the US Embassy in Moscow to ask for a report to provide clarity over some Soviet actions. Specifically...
- Soviet disinterest in joining the World Bank
- Soviet disinterest in the International Monetary Fund
As a result of this, Kennan decided to write the Long Telegram, which would outline exactly what he thinks that the US should be doing regarding Soviet relations.
The Novikov Telegram
With similar linguistic contents, the Novikov Telegram was sent by the Soviet ambassador to America, Nikolai V. Novikov in September 1946. As expected, the Novikov Telegram and its impact mirrored that of the Long Telegram, causing panic, worry and conflict. The telegram claimed that...
Claimed that the US was economically strong and was pursuing world domination
Warned that the US was seeking to limit the USSR's influence in Europe
Claimed that the US, without Roosevelt, had no interest in cooperating with the USSR
Claimed the US was preparing its public for war with the USSR
Long and Novikov Telegrams Impact
The Long and Novikov Telegrams impacted both the USSR and the US drastically, altering their policy and decision-making, as well as their political and public atmosphere. The table below summarises the impacts that the Telegrams had on each nation, some similar, some different!
| USSR | US |
| This caused panic in the government. | This caused panic in the government. |
| This caused panic among the public. | This caused panic among the public. |
| Made Stalin believe in the need for strengthening the buffer zone between the USSR and the West. | Convinced the US to commit to a policy of 'containment' which would contain the spread of communism. |
| The Eastern Bloc. | The formation of the idea of 'Rollback'. |
| This caused Stalin to install pro-soviet communist governments across parts of Europe in the East. | President Truman pledged to help any state under the threat of communism: The Truman Doctrine. |
| The Berlin Blockade. | Turkey and Greece were given four million dollars to prevent them from becoming communists. |
| The Marshall Plan/ European Recovery Programme. |
Fig. 4- President Harry S. Truman giving the Truman Doctrine Speech
Rollback
The political idea stated that communism had to be contained, attacked and pushed back during the Cold War.
The Berlin Blockade (1948-1949)
Berlin, as the previous capital of Germany and a container of western territory 100 miles within Soviet territory, was central to the Cold War and is often recognised as the first confrontation of the Cold War.
It is clear beyond any shadow of doubt that this was the most critical crisis of the Cold War. The stakes could hardly have been greater.
- Avi Shlaim1
The Berlin Blockade/Airlift
Also known as the First Berlin Crisis, this event was a direct result of America’s policy of containment through the European Recovery Programme or Marshall Plan. The Soviets had printed excessively, devaluing the Reichsmark, and forcing the Germans into a position where they were reduced to barter. Britain and America, in response to this, introduced a new currency into Germany, called Deutsche Mark, on 21 June.
Stalin was dissatisfied with this, he severed land and water connections between Eastern and Western Berlin and both Barge and Rail traffic was stopped.
- Shipments of steel and coal into East Germany were stopped
- On 25 June, food supply drops were also stopped from entering East Germany
- With time, electrical supplies were also stopped
West Berlin was in a difficult situation as without sufficient supplies they were under the threat of starvation and submission. The UK and the US launched their airlift to prevent this, as it meant that Stalin would either have to stand by as they happened or shoot humanitarian aircraft, which he wouldn't do as it would start a war.
Fig. 5- Berliners watching a C-54 land at Berlin Tempelhof Airport
Lifted in May 1949, the First Berlin Crisis lasted 11 months.
The Marshall Plan
The US Marshall Plan, the European Recovery Programme, or the ERP, outlined sending twelve billion dollars to aid Western parts of Europe so that they would efficiently recover from the damage caused by WWII. To America, countries in states of poverty were more susceptible to converting to communism. To stop this, the ERP was implemented so that in Europe's recovery, they became stronger to fight off the spread of communism. The ERP was active for around four years, and the UK received twenty-six per cent of its benefits.
Fig. 6 First Page of the Marshall Plan
Did you know?
Aid and supplies were forwarded to Greece and other European countries, but it wasn't until March 1948 that Congress gave formal approval – this was caused by the spread of news of the Communist crackdown in Czechoslovakia.
Operation Unthinkable
A plan which proposed betraying the wartime alliance, moving past Berlin to Moscow. This was never put into action, but Soviet intelligence found out about its existence, and this increased the negative relationship between them.
Long and Novikov Telegrams importance
The Cold War was known across the world by 1949 by the Long and Novikoc Telegrams and what they caused. The increase in tensions between the USSR and the US and the acceleration of the emergence of the Cold War show how the importance of the Long and Novikov Telegrams is without question.
Long and Novikov Telegrams Consequences
- Started the intellectual policy debate that created the American policy that would be used towards the Soviet Union and communism over the next 25 years.
- The Truman Doctrine influenced a lot of US policy during the Cold War.
- The next three presidents of the US, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson would go on to use 'containment' policy actions to try and contain the spread of communism in locations such as Vietnam, Cuba and Iran.
- It is suggested that Ronald Reagan's foreign policy also mirrors elements of the containment policy and is said to have revivified the Cold War in its last years.
- Early Cold War programs such as NATO, and the previously discussed Marshall Plan are containment policies that were put into practice.
- Novikov believed that the US would no longer cooperate with the Soviet Union, influencing the Soviet Union's protective measures throughout Europe.
- Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe (this expansion then led to the Cold War).
Long and Novikov Telegrams - Key takeaways
- The Long Telegram was sent by George Frost Kennan in February 1946, it was written because of the worries that Kennan had about US and USSR relations.
- The Novikov Telegram was written by Nikolai Novikov as a response to the Long Telegram.
- Both telegrams detailed what they believed to be the other nation's intentions, ongoings, and the supposed correct response moving forward against them.
- The Long Telegram influences how the US government moved forward regarding Soviet relations, introducing the 'containment strategy' which would be used for the next 25 and during the Cold War.
- Some consequences of the Long and Novikoc Telegrams were: the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Blockade/Airlift and the Soviet Union's protective measures.
References
- Avi Shlaim, (1984). Britain, the Berlin Blockade and the Cold War.
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