Although the United States and the Soviet's relationship had been strained before the war. During World War II, they collectively became allies when Hitler broke the Non-Aggression Pact. This was unlikely for the two countries because (refer to the issues they had prior to WWII). Even though this occurred they stayed allies through WWII until Stalin wanted a Western Front. What were the leading causes and factors that caused the Cold War?
The leader of the United States at the beginning was Harry S. Truman and the Soviet Union was Joseph Stalin. Body- The cold war started because the two sides had two different viewpoints for the future. At this time the United States was an almost all private citizens controlled property and economic activity, and we chose a president by election of two parties. The Soviet Union State controlled all of their property and economic
Following the end of World War II, relations between the Soviet Union and the United States quickly deteriorated, with tensions rising and both nations pushed to the brink of war. This strain arose largely due to animosity and secrecy from both parties, as each side wondered what the other was planning and tried to create policies to protect themselves from these possibilities. In the case of the United States, President Truman often incorrectly interpreted Soviet intentions, which ultimately led to the Cold War. He believed that Stalin wanted war when the Soviets were just trying to protect themselves after the war, were retaliating against aggressive Western policies, and were using the same rhetoric that the West was using.
The Cold War was a war full of politics and beliefs along with brutal fighting. Communism was seen as a major threat to the United States. The Soviet Union was trying to, at the time, influence other countries of its communist beliefs in hopes of gaining allies and resources. The Soviets expanded after WWII and the Americans feared this, adding tense to their “alliance.” The Soviet Union’s main targets were Europe but also to gain global exposure and power as well.
Before Reagan’s election in 1980, the United States and the Soviet Union experienced détente, or a period of relaxed tension. However, Reagan was harsh on the Soviet Union, adopting a harsh anti-communism policy. By doing so, Reagan was able to help end the Cold War and cause the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Reagan saw the Soviet Union as being “prepared to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat”, and that they were “the focus of evil in the modern world” (Kennedy, 690).
Throughout the Cold War the Soviet Union wanted to spread communism because they thought it was the right way to life. After Stalin won his election in 1946 he said “...The issue is now is no longer the viability of the Soviet state system, because there can be no doubt about its viability.” Since communism is about the way of everyone being equal, Stalin decided to force that on everybody who didn’t want it. In return for the spread of communism getting to certain places, the Soviet Union forced Hitler into suicide causing the United States to complete their main goal. The United States got what they wanted after Hitler commited suicide then decided to fight back after the deed was done.
• USSR made it clear to the community of nations that they would expand their Communist ideology across the globe. Espionage- • Communists spies penetrated the U.S. government • Spies stole the documents so that they can publish them • With the help of a former Soviet agent, U.S. government was able to expose numerous spies loyal to the Soviet Union. • Soviet Union built an atomic bomb, which led the HUAC to another spy hunt. • Many spies were present within the American government.
When talking about the cold war, it is easy to pick America's side and say that Ronald Reagan won the war. What most people tend to tend to leave out is the history behind the actual collapse of the soviet Union and the slow erosion that had been happening since world war two. Just because he was around when the union collapsed does not mean he was the main reason behind. In fact, Reagan and Gorbachev were known to be on good terms and they communicated all the time. The cold war wasn’t just caused by the Russians vs Americans.
The Cold War, beginning in the years following World War II, was a battle between two global powerhouses, the Soviet Union (Soviet Russia) in the East and the United States of America in the West. The war, which was not a physical battle fought like its name suggests, was the result of Germany and Japan collapsing after World War II and America and the Soviet Union seeing an opportunity to be the top dogs of the world and both wanting to try to stop the other from succeeding. Though there are many views on who started the Cold War, most stating that it was the Soviet Union for trying to convert the world into one big communist ruled government, or the more modern view of it was America’s fault because they continuously stick their nose in other
The Cold War occured due to a mixture of miscommunication and poor leadership. While I do not think that President Harry Truman was completely responsible for the start of the Cold War , I believe he played a major role. Truman started his term with excellent ratings and historians credit his administration with a variety of different accomplishments however, at the end of his term the ratings plummeted. Although people admired him at the beginning of his term, many people believe that he was a horrible leader. A great leader is willing to listen to opposing views and determine what is best for the rest of the group after listening.
By doing this, he gained a powerful ally and this posed a problem for the U.S. and other countries because the Soviet Union was becoming way stronger than before (History.com Staff). The final reason Khrushchev demonstrates a Cold War problem is that he constructed the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was constructed to separate the Communist Soviet Union from the Democratic Allies, or East Germany and West Germany. Khrushchev constructed the wall because he didn’t want any of his people to move over to the Allies and their democratic government.
World war one otherwise known as the cold war was a brutal life changing dispute between the allies and axis powers. The countries in WW1 on the ally’s side were France, United Kingdom, Russia, and Italy. Fighting for the axis was Germany Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. Even though the United States wasn’t a major ally during the start of this conflict its influence flipped the balance of war. Unlike many soldiers in Europe at the beginning of the war Americans for the most part did not want to get involved in this dispute.
The war started because the U.S wanted to contain the spread of communism.” Most American officials agreed that the best defense against the Soviet threat was a strategy called “containment.” The U.S allowed communism to exist but was not going to let it spread to any other country. The reason why it was called the cold war was because the U.S and the Soviet Union never directly fought, there were other wars that the U.S fought in like the Vietnam war. There was mainly only two countries’ that where involved in the cold war Russia and the U.S. Within the U.S there was something going on that was called the “Red Scare”.
There were many factors that made the Cold War progressively worse over time. Possibly the largest cause of the worsening relations between the U.S. and Russia was the Vietnam War. North Vietnam’s goal was to unite Vietnam under the means of Communism which went against South Vietnam’s Capitalist state. During the war, Russia and the U.S. backed different parts of Vietnam, intensifying the conflict between the two countries. The U.S. was supporting South Vietnam while Russia was supporting North Vietnam.
Some historians believe the Cold War was inevitable because of the hostilities from both America and the Soviet Union after World War II. America believed that the USSR was an expansionist country trying to spread an evil, communistic idea throughout the world. Although the countries never directly fought against each other, as they only fought in proxy wars, there was still extreme conflict. The United States responded to the Soviets actions in Germany, Europe, and their national actions. These responses were justifiable, or so many Americans at the time believed.
