“The Americans and British initiated all the formal steps towards separation.” Evaluate the strengths and limitations of this quote on the division of Germany.

The interpretation is blaming the Western allies for the division by stating that they produced all of the actual policies which separated East and West Germany, causing them to not be unified until 1991. This is an example of revisionist ideology from the 1960’s, although the more traditional idea was that it was the fault of the communist USSR.The first thing that can support this statement is the allies’ economic and social policies. They introduced their own systems separate from those in the East and defied the agreements that had been made at Yalta and Potsdam by not consulting the USSR about any of them. Their new currency being smuggled into West Berlin was also what provoked the Berlin Blockade. The Marshall Plan only provided money for West Germany, and the Truman Doctrine was clearly designed as a barrier against any communist expansion, making it seem as though that was the reason they wanted to keep the two Germany's separate, because they wanted the West as an ally against communism. It’s clear that the allies were not willing to compromise in their social or economic policies and could not tolerate Soviet interests which went against their desire for worldwide capitalism and economic influence. By making these policies they were taking formal steps to keep West Germany out of communist control, which ended up separating it from the East.(follow with two more points of agreement, roughly three points of rebuttal, and a conclusion)