It is because of the west failing to act and support Russia during the war that Stalin began to suspect the west of setting him up. During WW2 25 million Russians died fighting the Nazis in comparison to the 400,000 men lost from USA. Unsurprisingly, Stalin became suspicious of the west’s motives and believed them to be determined to crush the Soviet Union. The suspicions held by Stalin were mutual with the west who began to see Stalin as the new Hitler, intent on spreading communism throughout Europe. Stalin had become bitter following the huge losses to the USSR and felt owed by the west and was determined to get something for the sacrifices that his country made.
With the end of the war, officially, the allies were still friendly towards each other. However the desire to defeat the common enemy of Nazism was replaced by tension and mutual distrust and the wartime alliance began to unravel. Such tension and mistrust was evident at Yalta, the first post-war conference. While Roosevelt and Stalin were similar to a point, there were fundamental differences between their idea of the shape of the post war world, stemmed primarily from their capitalist and communist ideals concerning the best interests of their countries.
USA wanted collective security in the form of the United Nations in the hope of protecting another war. The Soviets on the other hand wanted to secure only their own safety by enforcing protection through spheres of interest, theirs being that of Eastern Europe. The Soviets wanted Eastern Europe to be a buffer zone as protection from any potential attacks from the west and they also wanted to keep Germany weak to prevent another war. Similarly the USA also wanted a buffer zone in the form of a strong Germany to protect them from a strong Russia which, prior to the war, had seen substantial economic growth in the 1930’s and could become a threat to USA’s dominance.
The USA wanted open markets to maximise their trading opportunities and increase and maintain their profit levels. Whilst this would benefit everyone it would be particularly beneficial to the US following their economic dominance throughout the 1920’s. Of course the Soviets, being communist wanted a closed trading system whereby they only trade with other communist countries, blocking exploitative advances from the west.
Another element to the breakup of the alliance is that before the war, neither the USA nor USSR wanted world power, despite economic dominance and economic growth respectively. After WW2 with the responsibilities of reshaping the post war world, the possibilities towards changing the world favourably for their country both economically and politically became more apparent. There was a power vacuum which both the USA and Russia had the potential to fill, causing tensions and even aggression during the post war conferences with little room for compromise from either side of the alliance.
When the wartime alliance was formed it was intended to last for the duration of the war and therefore its breakup should have been foreseen as inevitable however perhaps not as soon as 2 months after the war ended and perhaps not so bitterly as to lead to the Cold War.
Whether either one of the countries was to blame for the failure of the alliance is debatable. It could be said that the USA was being ignorant towards the needs of the Soviet Union in their protection and desire for a buffer zone and insensitive towards the devastating losses that the USSR suffered in the war at the hands of the USA in their attempt to keep Russia weak. Arguably if the USA was already working against the Soviets to protect themselves and their economic prosperity through trading opportunities, the alliance was never going to last and therefore the blame could be laid upon the USA. However it could be argued that the USA was conscious of Russia’s need for future protection thus suggesting the creation of the United Nations in an attempt for collective security.
The USA did display a great deal of paranoia concerning the communist influence and their belief that Stalin was the new Hitler. This in itself could have been enough to break up the alliance as the ideologies of the two powers were simply too far removed. The USA had an innate fear of communism which created an enormous tension whilst making the USA very suspicious of the Soviets suggestions for the post-war world.
On the other hand it could be argued that the Soviets were responsible for the breakup becoming very bitter about their losses and directing it at the USA, feeling they were owed. This mindset, once discovered was never lost and Stalin’s suspicions and paranoia about the west’s intentions for Russia never ceased. It is possible to suggest that these doubts and distrust ended the alliance before the war was over, and while the war contributed to the failure of the partnership it might also have been the only reason it still existed. After the war there was really no reason to keep the alliance going.
Another argument could be that both countries were merely displaying attempts at self preservation, the USA economically with their suggestion of open markets to continue their economic dominance while the Soviets wanted a weak Germany and a buffer zone of Eastern Europe as protection from attack. However, both these suggestions were met with seemingly uncompromising opposition. It could be argued that this determination from both sides resulted in an inflexible relationship between the allies which made any attempt at agreement quite difficult as they struggled to work together.
To conclude, the wartime alliance was never going to work beyond the duration of the war. It was created for the war and therefore not designed for any longer term existence. The ideologies and principles of the USA and USSR were so far removed that they struggled to find any common ground, thus creating a constant tension and mutual suspicion which was underlying cause of the breakup of the alliance. However, while both powers were partly to blame, the aggression and insensitivity of the USA towards the USSR is ultimately the reason for the failure of the alliance. The USSR was in a much worse situation at the end of the war than the USA because of the USA’s lack of action in the war in comparison to that of the USSR. The USA should have been prepared to compromise on behalf of the efforts the Soviets made during the war and yet they were so fearful of communism that they treated the USSR with a lot of suspicion. Less suspicion and more support for the broken USSR might have lessened Stalin’s doubt about the motives of the USA and actually helped the wartime alliance to continue for longer. Ultimately, the wartime alliance was just that, created and lasting for purely wartime.
by
gracenewcombe (student)
