The Cold War is known as a war of ideologies, it was a state of political tension that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II. There is a “bipolar split” that drives world affairs for the next four decades. The time period is 1946-1991. There are no battles fought between either sides of the Cold War directly, proxy wars occurred in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan and both sides are involved. According to McMahon the Cold War is a direct affect of World War II, with no pinpointed event to blame.
In pre-war stages of World War II the U.S.S.R made an attempt to protect itself by agreeing to the Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939. Hitler broke off the pact in 1941 and the Germans invaded the U.S.S.R. Afraid of what Germany might be capable of with the conquering of such significant resources the US began to send supplies to the U.S.S.R. The survival of the U.S.S.R during World War II was critical for the US and Great Britain. After the Allies defeat over the axis powers, Stalin wanted Germany to be dismembered out of fear that they would …show more content…
While the U.S.S.R wanted Germany to remain weak. At Potsdam, Truman was ecstatic about the decisions that had been made and showed “confidence in his ability to get most of what he wanted in future negotiations with his Soviet counterpart (which) rested especially on what the president and his leading advisers saw as Washington’s two trump cards: its economic power and its exclusive possession of the atomic bomb” (McMahon 25). After the Japanese surrender there was an almost immediate split between the US and U.S.S.R. Stalin’s Russia soon became an obvious taker of resources. The Potsdam conference was one of the earlier signs of ideological difference and is a main event in the development of the Cold
In pre-war stages of World War II the U.S.S.R made an attempt to protect itself by agreeing to the Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939. Hitler broke off the pact in 1941 and the Germans invaded the U.S.S.R. Afraid of what Germany might be capable of with the conquering of such significant resources the US began to send supplies to the U.S.S.R. The survival of the U.S.S.R during World War II was critical for the US and Great Britain. After the Allies defeat over the axis powers, Stalin wanted Germany to be dismembered out of fear that they would …show more content…
While the U.S.S.R wanted Germany to remain weak. At Potsdam, Truman was ecstatic about the decisions that had been made and showed “confidence in his ability to get most of what he wanted in future negotiations with his Soviet counterpart (which) rested especially on what the president and his leading advisers saw as Washington’s two trump cards: its economic power and its exclusive possession of the atomic bomb” (McMahon 25). After the Japanese surrender there was an almost immediate split between the US and U.S.S.R. Stalin’s Russia soon became an obvious taker of resources. The Potsdam conference was one of the earlier signs of ideological difference and is a main event in the development of the Cold