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The Ideological Differences: Stalin vs Truman

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The Ideological Differences: Stalin vs Truman
Causes of the Cold War

Ideological differences - Stalin vs Truman
The US President Roosevelt died in 1945. He was replaced by Truman who was strongly anti-Communist and, as the war came to an end, the relationship between America and Russia fell apart.
But this was not the only cause of trouble. Historians believed that the wartime alliance between the Soviet Union and America was also wrecked by the huge differences between the two countries in:

• Politics - America was capitalist, Russia was communist. • Lifestyle - America had freedom and a two-party democracy; Russia had secret police and a one-party state. • Aims - America wanted Germany to recover as a trading partner; Russia wanted to weaken Germany and create a buffer zone of friendly states around Russia.
The collapse of the wartime alliance led to a Cold War between the two superpowers.

America and Russia compared

It will help in your exam if you are able to describe the huge differences between America and Russia:

Comparison of America and Russia
|America |Russia |
|1. The richest country in the world. |1. The biggest country in the world. |
|2. A democracy with free elections, led by an |2. A one-party state led by a dictator. There were elections, but you could |
|elected president. |only vote for the Communist Party. |
|3. Freedom of speech and belief. |3. State control: censorship, secret police, terror and purges. |
|4. Capitalism - private ownership and the right|4. Communism - state ownership of the means of production, and the belief that|
|to make money. |wealth should be shared. |
|5. Led by Truman, who
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