World War Two was a system-changing event in the context of the international system, which eventually materialised in the emergence of the "bi-polar era". The representative leaders who dealt with the aftermath had the benefit of decades of vital political experience, such as Winston Churchill (MP since 1900), Joseph Stalin (Bolshevik revolution, 1917), and Roosevelt (elected 1932 and in fourth term by death in 1945). These were experienced politicians who acted in precise and deterministic ways, and it is of no surprise each rode their own wave of post-war popular support generated by their polarising rhetoric. It is arguable as to what extent the cold-war was preventable or inevitable, so it is of value to analyse the mechanisms and dynamics of events that resulted in the bi-polar system, so we can attain a better understanding of how and why things continue to happen.
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The Soviet Union didn't join the war until 1941 because of its non-aggression pact with Germany, and so was not the most reliable ally. After being attacked they were antagonistic with regards to the tardiness of the Allied response. Soviet-U.S. relations were always in flux and went from Soviet-Nazi non-aggression, to the "The Grand Alliance" which defeated Germany, to a quarrelling group of experienced statesmen quarrelling over the dishevelled remains. Despite initial efforts at Soviet-U.S. co-operation at Yalta (February 1945) and Potsdam (August 1945), it became certain to the Soviets that doctrinal co-operation with the "imperialistic" west in no way fitted in the enforced Marxian-Stalinist doctrine which had become an element of Russian cultural history, deeply entrenched by the end of the
The Soviet Union didn't join the war until 1941 because of its non-aggression pact with Germany, and so was not the most reliable ally. After being attacked they were antagonistic with regards to the tardiness of the Allied response. Soviet-U.S. relations were always in flux and went from Soviet-Nazi non-aggression, to the "The Grand Alliance" which defeated Germany, to a quarrelling group of experienced statesmen quarrelling over the dishevelled remains. Despite initial efforts at Soviet-U.S. co-operation at Yalta (February 1945) and Potsdam (August 1945), it became certain to the Soviets that doctrinal co-operation with the "imperialistic" west in no way fitted in the enforced Marxian-Stalinist doctrine which had become an element of Russian cultural history, deeply entrenched by the end of the