At the beginning of the Second World War, it was clear that the Allies (being France, United States and Great Britain) and Russia weren’t natural allies, as we previously discussed. What unified them was that they had one common goal, the loss of Nazi Germany. Both countries however had different reasons to be against Germany. Russia because Nazi’s made it clear that they were against communism in every way (Nazi’s had actually gained power partly because of the fear of growing communism.), and also since Germany had been attacked by surprise by Germany, therefore breaking their Non-aggression Pact (commonly referred to Nazi-Soviet Pact). This made Germany a threat to Russia, explaining its future interest in Poland (because Russia had always been attacked via Poland.). Prior to that pact, Russia had tried, in 1939, to get U.K. help. Lord Halifax, the British Foreign Secretary went to Russia to discuss an alliance pact, however Britain refused because it believed Russia was too weak to be of any help. The fact that Russia was communist also contributed to this refusal. Also the fact that England refused when Russia asked if they could send troops into Poland if Hitler attacked, all contributed to the rise in tension between those countries. England had therefore made it clear that cooperation with Russia would be difficult. France on the other hand had had good or neutral relations with Russia. Especially in the Tsarist years, a majority of high-class Russians spoke French. The Allies therefore allied themselves to Russia not because they had good relationships, but because of their common enemy. It was an alliance against each country’s will and ideologies.
Once their common enemy disappeared, both of these superpowers found themselves on land that was not their own. All the armies in Germany were advised not to make contact with the “other” army. The Allies’ army was not to make contact with the Red Army and vice versa. These are some of the first signs of separation between these powers, telling their population and army that the used-to are ally was now an enemy, supporting the opposite/opposing ideology that was portrayed as being the incompetent one. This could only contribute in tension growing over time, as two opposing socioeconomic structures were right next to each other, in direct opposition, readily available for comparison. Another important consequential fact was the trust between each country (The trust between the Ally’s countries wasn’t exactly the best, but this is irrelevant and can safely be ignored.). Stalin, who was the leader of Russia, was extremely mistrustful towards other country’s leaders. He knew what their views on communism were and was quite convinced that they did not want him to exercise his “sphere of influence” on the rest of Europe. Germany was a great cause of conflict; it was mainly there that the allies saw the evils of communism. They witnessed Stalin’s take over of the political parties in the East, and quickly decided that they had to act against it. This increased the Allies fear of communism and made the situation even worse. Berlin was a great centre of conflict, from the currency battle to the blockade Stalin imposed; this made it clear that they were no longer the old allies they had been during the Second World War. We also know nowadays that each superpower was continually spying on the other one, contributing to the knowledge that trust wasn’t what flowed between these countries.
It is all these causes that ended up creating the Cold War, but since this war started as a rise in tension between multiple countries, having a starting date is not a possible task. We cannot put a starting date to a chain of events that gradually make up a “war”. Also because it is a series of events, blame is very difficult, because everyone is responsible for one event or another, equally as if it was the cause or the consequence. However it has become quite clear that these countries became enemies mainly because Russia was communist. However this is not enough to blame Russia for “splitting up most of the world*”.
*Europe was a great centre of attention at the time.
Bibliography:
Wikipedia Articles (wikipedia.org/): France–Russia relations, Russian Empire, Russian Empire–United States relations, Communism, Socioeconomics, Foreign policy of the United States, E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
Other Web Articles (Some used only to verify Wikipedia information):
Books: The Historical Limits of the Question of Russia and the West, by Marc SZEFTEL(Professor at the University of Washington.)
