After World War ll in 1947 the Cold War began. This war was basically a competition between America and the Soviet Union. There was no actual fighting going on during this war. There were multiple factors that led to the Cold War. The causes to the outbreak of the Cold War were, tensions between the two nations at the end of World War II, the ideological conflict between both the United States and the Soviet Union, the emergence of nuclear weapons, and the fear of communism in the United States.
There were tensions at the end of WWll. The Soviet Union was allied with the United States, Britain, and France. By the end of the war all relations with the Soviet Union began to fall apart. ¨During these final stages of World War II, the partnership between the Soviet Union and the other Allied nations began to fall apart¨(Causes of the Cold War, paragraph 2). This quote shows that there was big tensions between the Soviet Union and the other allies. They could not continue trying to plan a future for after the war when they did not agree.
Conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. There was differing views between America and the Soviet Union. ¨Truman was incredibly suspicious of Stalin and his intentions and Stalin felt a similar way towards Truman"(Causes of the Cold War, paragraph 6). This quote shows that when the allies had the Yalta Conference and Potsdam Conference the split with the Soviet Union was highlighted. They could not discuss plans for after the war when they had differing opinions and did not trust each other.
There was the emergence of nuclear weapons. The United States developed the first atomic bomb during the last years of the war and used this bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war with Japan. This showed that America was the strongest and other countries did not want to feel threatened. ¨As such, the Soviet Union was not able to militaristically challenge the United States and worked to develop their own atomic weapons¨ (Cause of the Cold War, paragraph 8). This shows that America and the Soviet Union started a nuclear arms race. Though neither could use these weapons in fear of starting another war, which would destroy both countries.
There was a fear of communism in the United States. The Soviet Union was a communist nation and the United States was a liberal democracy nation. This created conflict because the United States did not want communism. ¨This difference in ideology was a major source of the conflict between the two nations because throughout the Cold War, the Soviet Union sought to expand communism to other regions and the United States sought to stop it with its policy of containment¨ (Causes of the Cold War, paragraph 10). This quote shows that the United States had reason to have conflict with the Soviet Union and that the Soviet Union had means to attempt spread of communism.
The Cold War was a result of the United States and the Soviet Union competing for economic and military rule. They had differing views and opinions on various things. These differences had them both in a race for power. Tensions between the two nations at the end of World War II, the ideological conflict between both the United States and the Soviet Union, the emergence of nuclear weapons, and the fear of communism in the United States are all the causes to the outbreak of the Cold War. Altogether, the Cold War had a big impact on American society.
Works cited:
“Causes of the Cold War.” History Crunch - History Articles, Summaries, Biographies, Resources and More, www.historycrunch.com/causes-of-the-cold-war.html#/.
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