Overview and Causes
The Cold War was a conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union that took place from the 1940’s to the 1960’s. A reason this feud started was because the two countries supported very different ideas. The Soviet Union was in favor of Communism where there is a classless society, no luxury items, everyone is equal, cooperation, and the government has control. The United States was in favor of Democracy/Capitalism where there is a class society, luxury items, competition, survival of the fittest, and the people have control. During WWII, The United States helped it’s allies, especially England, but really did not help Russia. This led to the unraveling of the alliance between the two. Plus, both countries disagreed on the future of Eastern Europe after the war. The United States distrusted the Soviet Union because they did not free the territories in Eastern Europe and they installed Communist puppets in those states. The Soviet Union, however, did not trust the United States because they were the only power strong enough to stand up to the Soviet Union!
February 4th, 1945 was the start of an important discussion known as the Yalta Conference. Three leaders, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin, all met together to discuss the fate of Poland while also trying to settle a few diplomatic issues. A short time later, July 17th, 1945, was the start date of the Potsdam Conference. At this meeting Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Harry S. Truman discussed ending the war against Japan and restructuring Germany and Eastern Europe. After the war, the United States was determined to rebuild Europe, especially Germany, as they did not want to have to feed so many refugees. The United States also wanted an economically strong Europe so they would buy U.S. products as well as to form new alliances. The Soviet Union, however had different goals. The Soviet Union wanted to rebuild itself, and also wanted to make Germany pay $20 million dollars in machinery and raw materials for all the wrongs Soviets suffered during the war. They also wanted to gain military and political control of Eastern Europe and create a buffer for themselves from further attack.
This buffer was known to the Soviet Union as its Satellite nations, but the U.S. referred to it as “the Iron Curtain”. The buffer consisted of East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania. On February 4th, 1946, the United States developed the policy of containment. This policy was based on the principle that Communist governments would eventually fall apart as long as they were prevented from expanding their influence. The Truman Doctrine is an example of this policy. The Truman Doctrine aimed to reduce the threat of Communism by providing aid to Greece and Turkey. Another example is the Marshall Plan, where George Marshall offered aid to all European countries. If the European economy was strong, then the U.S. would be strong.