artment of Russian Affairs in Riga, Latvia, to study the developments in Russia. George Kennan, the head of the DRA, came under the influence of exiled Russians in Riga who emphasized the SU's aims of World Domination. The Purges Stalin had carried out in Russia at the time and the Nazi-Soviet pact echoed the idea that the SU were ruthless and power hungry. This led to the West viewing SU with more suspicion and contempt and shows how the West misinterpreted SU actions, which contributed to the beginning of the Cold War to a large extent.
             The need to fight Nazi Germany and Japan required a combined effort from the West. Out of necessity, Britain, SU and US formed an alliance called the Big Three [Grand Alliance]. The Grand Alliance contributed to the outbreak of the Cold War as the West and SU disagreed on many issues during the three conferences held to settle post war problems such as the issue of Germany, Poland and Eastern Europe, reconstructing the Russian economy and the war on Japan. One of the contentious issues was the issue of Germany. SU felt compelled to increase its control over its zone in Germany and extract more resources there. This increased US suspicion of SU as it confirmed SU's power hungry image. Stalin also wanted to fix Germany's border at the Ode-Neisse line to give Poland [which was under Soviet influence] more territory. The presence of Soviet troops along the ode-neisse line to secure a border there angered the West as they had specifically disagreed with Stalin's proposal. They saw this as expansionist and misinterpreted SU's actions. This worsened relations and led to the outbreak of the Cold War. Stalin's actions with regard to Poland and Eastern Europe also were misinterpreted. Poland and Eastern Europe were vit
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