Discussion: The Soviet Union Alliance
Soviet communism was the primary source of suspicion between the United States and its Allies. The Soviet Union and the United States had contradictory ideologies regarding their postwar goals prior to the end of World War II. However, the two Allied powers maintained a close relationship throughout the war due to the need to achieve victory over the Axis powers. Upon the defeat of the war, the rivalry between the Americans and Soviets rejuvenated.[1] The United States viewed the initiative to impose Soviet rule on Eastern Europe as a significant threat to freedom and self-determination. The United States upheld democratic and capitalist ideologies, which influenced its suspicious view of Soviet communism due to its expansionist nature. Fear overwhelmed the United States following the projection of communist expansion in the West, which would become a major threat to its economic and political standing. The Soviet Union’s ideological perspective aimed at state control and centralized decision-making, which was controversial with Western culture and values. Apart from the ideological differences between the two superpowers, their historical perspectives and future political ambitions fueled the suspicion. Both superpowers focused on political and military supremacy. The Soviet Union was reluctant to forego the advantages gained from the victory over Germany in Eastern Europe, while the United States held onto its power acquired throughout the world, which spurred competition between the two powers that led to the Cold War.
Some arguments justify the essence of the suspicion between the United States and the Soviet Union. The imposition of Soviet rule on Eastern Europe posed significant fears regarding the communist expansion to the West. The United States feared the ultimate future goal of Soviet Russia and its communist organization.[2] It was uncertain whether the Soviet Union had limits to its expansionist tendencies. The United States’ capitalism and the Soviet Union’s communism fostered ideological differences that would oppose freedom, political governance, and economic performance between the two superpowers. On the contrary, the United States’ decision to drop the atomic bomb was not an effective defensive response to Soviet actions. The atomic bombing led to massive casualties, including severe injuries and the deaths of innocent people. The United States, through President Truman’s administration, viewed atomic bombing as America’s nuclear monopoly, which aimed to threaten the Soviet Union and inform them of their position in the West.[3] Unfortunately, the atomic diplomacy strategies did not meet America’s objectives but rather influenced the Allies to accelerate their bomb production.
The United States viewed Soviet communism as a significant threat to the free world. The Soviet Union’s trend of expansion and influence over other countries was a significant concern for the United States. The Greek war between the communists and anti-communists foreshadowed Soviet expansion into the eastern Mediterranean, which was a growing threat to the United States. President Truman developed the Truman Doctrine, where the United States vowed to render financial support to countries that declared Soviet communism a threat as a way to control its expansion into the free world. “Like apples in a barrel infected by disease, the aftermath of the expansion of communism into Greece was a threat to the entire world.”[4] Corruption would spread widely across all parts of the world, affecting the economic and political status of the United States.
Towards the end of World War II, the United States had vowed to end all its commitments with the Europeans following the division between East and West. However, America developed the American Policy of Containment due to its fear of Soviet expansion and unclear understanding of their motives. The policy aimed to curtail Soviet moves and the threat of communism to the free world. The policy of containment gave America the power over the Soviet Union to exploit other countries, forcing its military to shift the geographical and political affairs of Turkey and Greece.[5] The United States’ decision to pursue a policy of containment was a timely move. The policy was vital in stopping Soviet moves and preventing the expansion of communism. Preventing the spread of communism protected the United States’ interests, including individual freedom and state democracy.
Bibliography
America’s National Churchill Museum. “Churchill’s ‘Sinews of Peace’ Speech at Westminster College.” Video. YouTube, March 5, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA5ISi9yhhs.
Gaddis, John Lewis. “The Impotence of Omnipotence: American Diplomacy, the Atomic Bomb, and the Postwar World.” In The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization. 9th ed. Cengage Learning, 2015.
- Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization, 9th ed. (Cengage Learning, 2015), 868.
- America’s National Churchill Museum, “Churchill’s ‘Sinews of Peace’ Speech at Westminster College,” Video, YouTube, March 5, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA5ISi9yhhs.
- John Lewis Gaddis, “The Impotence of Omnipotence: American Diplomacy, the Atomic Bomb, and the Postwar World,” in The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000), 245.
- Spielvogel, 870.
- Spielvogel, 870.
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Question 
Discussion: The Soviet Union Alliance
The Soviet Union’s World-War-II alliance with the West was not built upon shared ideologies or political objectives. Instead, the alliance was built upon necessity and a common enemy. Consequently, by the end of the war, relations between the Soviet Union and Great Britain and the United States had increasingly grown tense, especially after the United States developed and used the atomic bomb.
Using the assigned reading and references, address the following:
What was the basis for the mutual suspicion between the United States and its Allies and the Soviet Union?
Discussion – The Soviet Union Alliance
Were both sides justified in their suspicions of each other? Why or why not?
Why did the United States see the Soviet Union as a threat to the free world?
Why did the United States decide to pursue a policy of “containment” in regard to the Soviet Union? Did the United States overreact to the Soviet threat?
Answers may be submitted in brief paragraph form, making sure to address all portions of the question.
Response must include references to at least three of the resources in this module. (Formal citations are not required for this assignment.)
Chapter 28 in Western Civilization
Chapter 30 in Western Civilization (pp. 947-955)
Winston Churchill-The Sinews of Peace (aka The Iron Curtain Speech)
https://soundcloud.com/hpol/winston-churchill-and-the
https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/sinews-of-peace-iron-curtain-speech.html