Why did a Cold War develop between the USA and the USSR in the years 1945-49?

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14/02/2010

Why did a Cold War develop between the USA and the USSR in the years 1945-49?

After WWII had ended in 1945, two big major countries had not been weakened by the war, USA and the USSR, also known as the ‘Superpowers.’ The outcome of this led to the development of the Cold War and it started with The Potsdam Conference in July 1945 due to the many changes which took place five months before the conference and this affected the relations between the USA and the USSR. The other main reasons for the development of the Cold War increased with the Truman Doctrine Act of 1947, The Berlin Blockade event at 1948-49 and the Formation of NATO in 1949.

 The Potsdam Conference in July 1945 was a major reason to the development of the Cold War because it had all started then. Since the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the USA and the USSR had done extreme things behind each other’s backs which started to raise questions about their relationship at the Potsdam Conference. During the five months before the meeting, America had elected a new President, Harry Truman after Roosevelt’s death in April. The effect of this created new tension between the ‘Superpowers,’ as communication and agreement became a lot more difficult. This was because Truman’s beliefs and ideas were completely different to those of Roosevelt’s as he distrusted Stalin and believed that his intentions were to take over the whole of Europe. He thought this because Stalin had effectively controlled 8 Eastern European countries with his troops which included Hungary, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia by the time of the conference; however he described his actions as ‘liberating’ them from Nazism. The USSR was the biggest country in the world but to hear that it was increasing caused much disagreement because the USA feared for a Communist take-over, especially when Stalin revealed he had set up a Communist government in Poland.

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 Not only that, but Russia had increased their army to the biggest in the world, and the USA did not appreciate it because it increased the chances of further actions taken by the USSR. However, the Americans successfully tested an atomic bomb a day before the conference without notifying Stalin and this also caused controversy because it was a powerful weapon which could easily threaten and intimidate the strength of any country.

 In 1947 Harry Truman created the Truman Doctrine because it came to a point where the spread of Communism was going to far and that America was becoming ...

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