Cold War and a New Western World 1945-1965
US and Soviet Union
During the Second World War, the US and the USSR were allies fighting against Nazi Germany (Stoler 2003). However, this allyship was short-lived, and it ended as soon as the war was over. The primary reason for this friction was that both countries were suspicious of each other. Even though these distrust issues started way before the war, it was only after the war was over that the two nations fell apart.
Firstly, both nations had very differing views on how the world should be organized. While America believed in a democratic system where the power rests with the people, the USSR believed in communism, which is based on a dictatorship kind of system. For instance, when the USSR, US, and UK split Germany, the USSR was given control over a few more Eastern European state governments. However, soon after, the USSR quickly set up its communist regimes in these states. Moreover, when communism eventually prevailed in China in 1949, this further increased the distrust and tensions in America that the USSR was slowly expanding its communist system, intending to spread it globally.
Secondly, the main event that marked the end of the war was the bombing of Japan. When America dropped the atomic bomb in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the USSR became aware that America was superior in weaponry, making them more suspicious of America attacking them. Consequently, they started their mass production of weapons. Soon afterward, both nations got into a competition to establish superiority over weaponry, eventually leading to the arms race; tensions only increased with either nation expecting an attack anytime.
Thirdly, in 1947, under President Harry Truman’s administration, America adopted a containment policy to prevent the Soviet Union from taking communism globally. Further tensions were created when in 1949, President Truman initiated and oversaw the formation of a military alliance, NATO, among nations of the United Kingdom, United States, Western Europe, and Canada. The primary objective of this alliance was to defend any nation that the USSR would attack.
In conclusion, even though America had formed an allyship with the USSR during the war, the US leaders did not forget that the USSR leader had initially formed a non-aggression pact with Adolf Hitler. The USSR only turned to the U.S. when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1939. The tensions created between the two nations eventually led to the Cold War.
References
Cold Conflict | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/cold-conflict.
Stoler, M. A. (2003). Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliance, and US Strategy in World War II. UNC Press Books.
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Question
Why were the United States and the Soviet Union suspicious of each other after World War II, and what events between 1945 and 1949 heightened the tensions between them?