Tensions of Post-World War II leading to the Cold War After World War II, there was an emergence of two superpowers that had once been allies, but ended up enemies due to very differing ideologies. A clash between the Soviet Union and the United States led to a period of conflict and tension known as the Cold War. This ideological clash between communism and capitalism heated up after the settlement of World War II, when each superpower set out to achieve its own goals as victors of the war. This led to the beginning of a long-lasting conflict that split Europe into two spheres of influence. Much of the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States was linked to the end of World War II and the negotiations for settlement that followed.
Retrieved 09062011 from: http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/ Cold War. (2011). The History Channel website. Retrieved September 09022011, from http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war. Cold War 1945-1960 (n.d.).Retrieved 09032011 from: http://www.funfront.net/hist/europe/coldwar.htm Cold War: The Iron Curtain and Containment.(2007).
Tensions of US and soviet union that led to the cold war? Answer: Answer The Cold War began as World War II was ending. American leaders saw the power and ambitions of the Soviet Union as a threat to our national security. The Cold War was a war of words and ideologies rather than a shooting war, although at times the Cold War turned “hot” as in Korea and Vietnam. Basically, the Cold War was a rivalry between the United States as leader of the western democracies, and the Soviet Union and the nations that were controlled by the communists.
The Nazi-Soviet pact was responsible for the outbreak of war because France and Britain had decided to finally intervene. Since Hitler had taken Czechoslovakia as a cause of Britain’s policy of appeasement, this frightened USSR and Stalin felt that the only way to keep the USSR safe was by signing the Nazi- Soviet pact. The Nazi-Soviet pact gave Hitler confidence in invading Poland and was a way to avoid war on two fronts. Britain and France on the other hand felt it was time to react and as soon as Germany’s army entered Poland they themselves prepared their own military defenses causing the Second World War. The pact was the final cause of war as Hitler could now invade Poland without any interference from Stalin.
Though the need to defeat the Germans had made USSR a partner in the Allied forces from 1941 onwards, Stalin had displayed the tendency that he wanted to dominate the world, and he used dictatorial powers and military powers towards people of his own country as well as others. Even during the Yalta Conference of 1945 towards the end of World War II, which suggested the high point of wartime unity and goodwill between the Allies and the Soviet Union, Stalin showed his determined to control the countries in Eastern Europe. Thus, under the outward display of unity some elements of distrust between USSR and other allied countries already existed. This disharmony between them came to surface when, after the war ended, Stalin of USSR refused to honor the Declaration on Liberated Europe, in which the Allies promised to hold democratic elections in the European countries liberated from war. After the war, USSR cut off almost all contacts between the West and the territories it controlled in Eastern Europe.
1. Explain the origins of the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union were uneasy allies; their collaboration was really the result of a mutual fear that the Nazis would gain control over Europe, not based on any ideological commonality. Because of this, after the war was over and the restructuring of Europe began, a power struggle developed between the Soviet Union (who wanted Germany to be Communist) and the United States and Britain (who wanted democratic rule.) However, you shouldn't make the assumption that devotion to ideology was all that was behind Cold War animosity; countries tend to be more complaint trading partners with countries that share their political systems and both Stalin and the Cold War Era presidents in the US knew this.
Source 9 written by Michael Lynch adopts both prospective of USSR expansionism and also US economic interests, however Lynch also emphasises misjudgement and misperceptions which contribute to the conflict conceived at Cold War. Collectively the three sources contributed factors which explain the developments of the cold war; throughout this essay you will find that soviet expansionism was a determining factor to the escalation at the Cold War. Wolfson (S7) takes a Russian expansionist prospective, which emphasis that confrontation was caused by Russian expansionist tendencies, placing an emphasis on the USSR, labelling them as an aggressive country, which had “ambitious aims of consolidating communist control”. Morris (S8) is in accordance with this Russian expansionist prospective as the aggressive tendencies contributed to the US taking a dollar imperialist stance to “prevent the spread of communism”. From this prospective Russian expansionism was a key factor in the developments of the cold war.
Stalin's foreign policies contributed an enormous amount to the tensions of the Cold War. His aim, to take advantage of the military situation in post-war Europe to strengthen Russian influence, was perceived to be a threat to the Americans. Stalin was highly effective in his goal to gain territory, with victories in Poland, Romania, and Finland. To the western world, this success looked as if it were the beginning of serious Russian aggressions. The western view of the time saw Stalin as doing one of two things: either continuing the expansionist policies of the tsars, or worse, spreading communism across the world now that his one-state notion had been fulfilled.
The overthrowing of the Tsarist Empire in 1917 led to the creation of the Soviet Union, marking the expansion of communism in Europe. The soviet now deemed it necessary to change all existing political and social system into communism which is in conflict with the American ideology of Self-determination. Thus in 1930 the Wilson administration refused to recognize the Soviets as an ally and as a result the United States did not give diplomatic recognition and no official relations with the Soviets happened. IB. The assumption of the Roosevelt administration in 1933 marked a turning point in the relations of the United States and the Soviet Union.
For instance, when Mother Russia overthrew its tsar, made a revolution, became the Soviet Union, unified itself under Lenin and created an ideological structure called communism, the United States could only react with fear and trepidation. The government could not accept the simple fact that a country could exist with economic and political principles so critically opposed to democracy and industrial capitalism. The first factor is that during World War Two, the USA and the western powers had worked together with the Soviet Union to defeat Nazi Germany and its allies. However, the alliance was based solely on the fact that they had a common enemy- Germany. Once that enemy was near defeat, disagreements began to emerge.