The Cold War Essay

During the Second World War, America, Britain and Russia had been allies. However, even before the war was over, differences began to emerge between the countries. These differences grew after the war to eventually cause the Cold War. The tensions that arose in the final months of the war led to Russia and America moving from allies in war to adversaries. The fall of Nazi Germany left two major powers standing, both with the intention of spreading their ideology throughout the rest of post-war Europe and beyond. To paraphrase an old saying, when there are only two tough guys on the block, there’s a good chance of a fight. This is exactly what happened to the world when America and Russia were left to decide who would hold the title of the world’s biggest superpower. In July
The conflict did not begin overnight, there are many origins of the Cold War, most as a direct result of the Second World War. One of these being the growth of two superpowers, the USSR and America. Throughout the Cold War, the Soviets acted and the Americans reacted. 1 The USSR and America were much stronger economically and militarily than other allied powers such as Britain and France. By the time Germany and the Nazi regime had fallen, the USSR had the world’s largest army and America was the world’s most powerful economy. 2 The rise of these two powers led to a split in Europe. The Western Bloc of the US, Britain, France and their allies and the Eastern Bloc of the Soviet Union and her allies. The two nations ideals as to how post-war Europe should be restructured was one of the roots of the following decades of tension, known as the Cold War, between the USSR and the US. After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union became rivals. US Leaders still feared the spread of Communism and Stalin continued to fear the capitalist