After the events of World War II, there was growing tension between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1946. This growing tension developed into the Cold War, which would dominate American foreign policy. Foreign policy changed within the beginning years of the Cold War, as both the US and Soviet Union wanted to assert their power without creating international conflict and devastation.
The beginning of the Cold War resulted in the alliance of the Allied Powers breaking down, as the Soviet Union displayed aggressive behavior towards facing issues during World War II. This aggressive behavior of the Soviets caused the Allies to be apprehensive in attending matters with the USSR. Additionally, Truman had made mistakes on
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The US advocated for capitalism and democracy, as they helped other smaller countries, such as Japan and Puerto Rico, emplaced these policies into their government systems. The Soviet Union enforced their ideals of communism and totalitarianism onto the other countries of their control, such as eastern Germany, Hungary, and Austria. Nikita Khrushchev stated, “[allies] desire to force their will on other countries by economic and political pressure, [by] threats and military provocation prevailed” (Doc 5). He stated that the US, Britain, and France were forcing capitalism onto the smaller countries of western Europe. Additionally, the USSR viewed that these countries were encircling them with capitalism, as perceived in the map in Document 6. This influence that both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to establish within weaker European countries caused further tensions in the Cold …show more content…
In an article by George Kennan, he stated that we “must continue to regard the Soviet Union as a rival, not a partner in the political arena” (Doc 2). He continued, implying the impossibility of peaceful coexistence with the USSR (Doc 2). This impossibility of peaceful coexistence hinted at the eventual conflict that would come in the future. The United States wanted to charter against the Soviets. In the creation of NATO, they drew up a treaty stating, “The parties to this Treaty...are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of their people, founded on the principle of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law” (Doc 3). The Allied countries had used ideas from their faults of World War II with Germany. They learned to never appease an aggressive country, as it would lead to further aggressiveness. In response to NATO, the Soviet Union drew up The Warsaw Pact, and forced it upon the Allies. This showed the taking of sides, but if either side would make a move, war will break out (Doc 4). In relation to future events, this formation of the pact instigated further tension as both countries felt the need to assert their
The United States, on the other hand, was recovering from multiple devastations. World War II had taken a toll on the citizens due to the casualties and the unnecessary battles. Therefore, they were caught off guard, and it allowed Russia to advance more, but they still didn’t get too far ahead. This was because of France and the United Kingdom. They were able to get Russia under control, for the most part, until the United States was filled in. At that point, Winston Churchill made ‘The Sinews of Peace’ speech, also known as The Iron Curtain speech, in Fulton, Missouri, USA. The speech really helped everyone get back into the game, and unite together. In 1949, NATO was created, just for the Cold War. NATO, an acronym for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, originally had the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland as members. Its purpose was to keep an alliance against Communist Russia and their allies. Just a few months after this, Russia tested its atomic bomb it had built, and by no surprise, it was in fact lethal. Knowing that Russia could also use atomic bombs now, NATO members were panicked, and needed an upper hand. Luckily for them, China had just been overtaken by Communist leader Mao Zedong. This was good because it let the Powers know that Russia would fracture its power, leaving weak spots for them to poke at, and eventually break Russia’s shield.
The conflict in ideologies between capitalism and communism resulted in one of the greatest conflicts of the twentieth century. The belief that freedom and democracy would die under communist rule caused the United States to start a conflict that would last for decades. The decisions made by the United States in W.W.II caused tensions to rise between the U. S. and the Soviet Union. Fear of Communism in capitalist nations, caused the United states government to use propaganda to raise Cold War anxieties. Furthermore, the American media influenced the attitudes of Americans, making a hatred of communism spread though the nation. Thus, the United States caused the conflict known as the Cold War, through its political policy and propaganda. The political relations going on in Europe during and directly after World War II had an enormous effect on laying the foundation for the Cold War. War time conferences such as Yalta and Terhran harshened the relationship between the communists and the capitalists. At the end of W.W.II American policy towards the Soviets changed drastically. The change in president in 1945 caused relations with Russia to worsen. Furthermore, other political contributions to the Cold War entailed the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. The division of Europe between the west and east drew physical borders which outlined that the war of misinformation that had began. Also treaties of the post war world further separated the two super powers
Although the USSR and the United States were both part of the Allied Powers during WWII, it became immediately obvious when the war ended that these two nations would be enemies moving forward. These two superpowers had worked together to defeat the Nazi Regime, but had conflicting ideas of a superior government. Joseph Stalin, the tyrannical and bloodthirsty dictator who led the Soviet Union, wanted to spread Communist rule through Eastern Europe, China, and Korea, which the United States opposed. The world split between democratic countries backed by America and Communist countries supported by the Soviet Union, and birthed a conflict called the “Cold War,” because, as opposed to a “hot” war, there were no direct military confrontations
Following the alliance that was seen during World War II between the United States and the Soviet Union came a time period full of mistrust and deceit. By the end of the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union became increasingly suspicious of one another, and their relations resulted in being unstable. This evident yet rising political and military tension between the two world powers has come to be known as the Cold War. Both the Yalta Conference, which saw a rise in disagreements between the two, and the Korean War, the first military conflict of the Cold War, greatly impacted the American-Soviet relations in a negative way in the decade following the war.
The Cold War was a major event in the U.S. and Soviet Union’s history. The main reason that these two countries entered into the Cold War after World War II was power. The USSR and United States had two very different perspectives on power coming out of World War II. This disagreement ultimately caused the Cold War.
Following World War II in 1945, many parts of Europe were left in ruins. The economies of warring nations were destroyed, and many civilians suffered terribly. Despite their cooperation during World War II, a tension of beliefs between the United States and the Soviet Union which had begun during the Russian Revolution in 1917, reemerged as World War II came to an end. The Cold War was a non-violent conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union that turned out to last for almost fifty years after the second World War. As World War II drew to a close in 1945, past animosities rose again, as a result of the fact that the United States and the Soviet Union were left as the two of the strongest nations. The Cold War surfaced towards the end of World War II as the communist and capitalist allies met at a series of three conferences in an attempt address the post war future, but the difference of beliefs ultimately created obstacles in the process.
A clash of beliefs. One minute a team fighting together during World War II, the next, enemies threatening to wipe one another off the planet. This is what the Cold War could have led to. With resentment and tension high, even back before the start of World War II, both sides had done everything short of a nuclear war. The United States had long been concerned about the idea of communism and Russian leader, Joseph Stalin. Even during their time as allies, one would never trust the other. This was especially true once Stalin had gotten word of a weapon the United States was planning to use on Japan. This, and the fear of the Soviets capabilities, led to multiple tactical strategies by the United States. Opportunities were exploited everywhere in the hopes of expanding their beliefs and ideas versus those of the USSR. This meant propaganda,
In order to stop the spread of Communism Truman introduced the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. These involved America sending money and supplies in order to rebuild Europe, and halt the popularity of Communism. Stalin saw this as unfair, and it added to his biased belief that the US was not willing to remain with the USSR and intended to prevent Communism in Europe. This decreased Stalin’s trust in the US even further, and fuelled the tension of the Cold war. However Truman claimed that he was simply trying to help Europe recover from the damage it had suffered. It might have been Stalin’s delusions about Truman’s motives with the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine that were to blame for adding to the tension of the Cold War, rather than the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine themselves. The USSR responded to the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine by setting up Cominform and Comecon in order to coordinate Communist governments and industries, and exclude the West. Obviously, the US felt threatened by this decision, even though it had been triggered by the American introduction of the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine. The way the USSR chose to respond to the US showed that a clear division had appeared in Europe, making the Cold War more important, impactful and tensions more intense. Yet again, this did not necessarily mean that the USSR was to blame for this, as the US coerced the USSR into forming Cominform and Comecon, but at the same time, this may not have been intended to anger Stalin, meaning that the US was not actually to blame, as Truman(probably) did not know how much his actions would increase the unease in the Cold
After World War II, tension was brewing between the United States and the Soviet Union. Both were two of the strongest groups after the war. The Soviets controlled Eastern Europe and The U.S. in Western Europe, both were aching to take control of each other. To show its power, the U.S. sent two of the first atomic bombs to Japan. This caused countries to have need to create new technologies for power. Countries were trying to create agreements between one another, causing more tension. Many events led up to the beginning of the Cold War. Tension was still increasing between the Soviets and the U.S. The growth was mainly because of the increase in weapons, decrease in economy, and the argument between capitalism and communism. The war would
After World War II ended, the United States and the Soviet Union were the main enemies that began the Cold War. The Cold War got its name because both sides showed signs of fear when it came to fighting each other. In “hot war,” where the weapons that were used can kill. The Cold War was a standoff between the two Countries. “During World War II, The United States and the Soviet Union fought together as allies against Axis powers”(Cold War history, 2017). The tension started once World War II ended. The Soviet Union didn’t like the fact that the United States entered the War late. And the Americans weren’t found of Russian Leader Joseph Stalin. The Cold War tensions increased, the decreased, the increased again throughout the years. Changes aroused when both sides attempted to sway the government’s economic policy.
The relationship which existed during the cold war between North America and the Soviet Union was majorly based on the different ideologies of the different nations, the political grounds and the difference in the economic factors. Upto date the cooperation of the two great nations are guided with a lot of caution and also there exists a lot of bitter rivalry between the two nations too. The difference in the political systems which existed in the two countries led to the differences in most of the core policies implementation issues. During the cold war, the difference in the policies which existed between the two nations led to the creation of the Cuban missile crisis which made the two nations come to war.
Conflicts continued to spur after the war, past the rebuilding efforts in Europe and Japan which acted as a sign to the U.S.S.R. that America was expanding its capitalist markets (which was the case). This was built in part by America’s initial hesitancy to join them in the Second World War, and as these two “superpowers” emerged from post-World War II conditions there was a massive geopolitical struggle between their competing ideologies. Overtime these disputes, with action from both “sides” to halt the other in systematic progression across the world, became known as the Cold War (named so for the little actual fighting that was done directly by either nation). The Soviet Union was also at a disadvantage, having to rebuild itself after the
During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union both fought for the Allies against Germany and other Axis aligned countries. Even though they were on the same side, the relationship between the two nations was tense because the Americans did not like how Joseph Stalin ruled the Communist country and the Soviets did not like how the Americans treated them with such distaste. The Americans also refused to treat the Soviets as an actual part of the international community. These tensions escalated after the war as both countries turned from friendly to hostile. Post-war Soviet expansions in Eastern Europe fueled many American suspicions about the Soviet’s plan to take over the world. At the same time, the USSR started to hate the United States because of their seemingly trigger-happy officials and interventionist approach to international relations. Because of this, neither country was entirely to blame for the Cold War- instead, it was a combination of distrust and misunderstanding that lead to the warless efforts of supremacy like the Space Race (Cadbury 33).
The Cold War was a crucial time for the United States. It was a time of tension, a time of fear, and a time of determination. The United States feared communism and was prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent the spread of it. Soviet Russia was the biggest threat and primary source of the influence of communism. This threat of communism expansion caused severe tension between the United States and the USSR. Shortly after the war, the Soviets had developed their own atomic bomb, so the U.S. didn’t have an advantage there. This all happened after World War II, between 1947 and 1989, and led to the demise of the USSR. The tension was so strong, that it almost caused a nuclear war to break out, which would have threatened mankind’s very existence. The Cold War was a struggle between political views of The United States and The Soviet Union, President Harry S. Truman strongly disagreed with Joseph Stalin and his communist political views. This had an effect on foreign policies, relations, and even society in America.
Then, it took a tough policy against the USSR. This action deteriorated the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union and accelerated the outbreak of the cold war. However, in 1949, the first atomic bomb of the USSR exploded, which broke the nuclear monopoly of the United States. Hence, the two powers interact with each other. That's why hot war didn't break out and the Cold War formed. Such as the Cuban Missile Crisis.