The only reason the USSR started occupying Eastern European countries was 'to protect the motherland from America and western power'. The bomb started the arms race which resulted in russia occupying eastern countries to build a buffer between Europe and itself.
Ok 'to protect the motherland from America and western power' was political bs and you know it. Stalin occupied the countries cause he wanted power and yeah it did help protect him.
Stalin didn't know that the Americans had the nuclear bomb. It's a fact that many historians agree on. He is said to have been betrayed and shocked upon hearing about Hiroshima after it had happened.
read my edits on the post you quoted
Of course everyone kept secrets, however nothing as large as the nuclear weapon, and even then when they did use it they would warn their allies. For example America told England and France. I do believe America by doing that, as well in the aftermath to WW2 in it's distribution of Berlin and Germany. Set the tone for the next generation in a cold war between itself and Russia.
The US did warn Russia (check my edits). Also if we are talking what the biggest secret was i would like to put the naughty document on the table.
American media have demon-ised Russia but it was America not Russia throughout the cold war who threatened the other country directly at home. Through their quick advancement in the arms race and by pouring money into countries neighbouring Russia it threatened Russia directly. Up until the cuban missile crisis Russia didn't actually threaten America directly and it was just desperately trying to recover from the significant advantage that the Americans had developed through developing the atomic bomb first.
I think America might have had the right to demonize Stalin. Maybe not the country as a whole but it's American media we are insane not much you can do there.
Russia had a bunch of eastern European states protecting it. The only country we could have poured money into that was actually next to it and wasn't in desperate need of money was Turkey. So it was one country. But if we do count the rest of the countries we poured money into I'll be happy to point out that the whole of Europe was essentially rumble.
Well the Cuban missile thing was the only time the US and USSR ever really threatened each other directly. Most of the time it was indirect threats.
Desperately trying to catch up? Yeah much of their industrialized regions were recked but it took them what 4 years to get the atom bomb after the US got one.