Stalin's Wartime Alliance

situated at the stretch of land called the Karelian Isthmus. The Soviet forces were lead by the experienced Marshall Kirill Meretskov however the same couldn’t have been said about the Soviet’s lower command level. They were mostly inexperienced due to Stalin’s purges of the Red Army in 1937, which lead to the death of a large amount of expertise in the military. Due to the inexperience the Soviet leaders would use the same tactics of sending waves of troops over the field to try pick off the Finnish soldiers

Cyra Mutesi-Kirenho HI742/HI747- The Cold War, 1941-1991 How Important were individual figures in the origins of the Cold War? The Cold War refers to a period post World War II characterised by a state of political tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States both supported by their allies from the Eastern and Western blocs respectively. Despite this being such a pivotal point in modern history there is a lack of clarity stemming from much debate regarding the catalyst for the

responsible due Stalin’s want to expand communism/ Soviet influence. By violating the Yalta agreement, the United States had no choice but to take this violation as an attack that threaten the West and would do anything necessary to contain Stalin. Disagreeing with Orthodox views has led to Revisionists including Walter LaFeber, to contend that it was actually the United States through their policies and want of economic hegemony that led to the breakdown of the USSR/USA alliance and therefore contributed

1945-49 (Kent, 2004, pp. 51-57). This conflict had numerous causes, even if the USA and USSR were allies during 1941-45, fighting against Nazi-Germany and Japan. (McAleavy, 2002, pp. 94-96) Various factors contributed to the break-up of this wartime alliance; US policies, Soviet actions, and other factors such as the Russian Revolution of 1917, all crated a climate of tension and distrust, which destroyed the links between the two superpowers, leading to the Cold War. (Winkler, 2003, pp. 11-13)

disagreement. There was major conflict over various issues regarding Communisms security in Eastern Europe, specifically expansionism in Eastern Europe which caused the relations between allies to deteriorate after the war, however the Allies maintained an alliance despite the pressure frequently placed upon it. Similarly Loth and Boyle argue that the relationship was

and it added to his biased belief that the US was not willing to remain with the USSR and intended to prevent Communism in Europe. This decreased Stalin’s trust in the US even further, and fuelled the tension of the Cold war. However Truman claimed that he was simply trying to help Europe recover from the damage it had suffered. It might have been Stalin’s delusions about Truman’s motives with the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine that were to blame for adding to the tension of the Cold War, rather

The wartime relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States, tenuously compromised and founded upon the necessity of the immediate pragmatism instigated by Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa, was doomed to inevitably disintegrate once both parties ceased to confront a common belligerent. There are two significant factors within the breakdown of United States – Soviet relations following World War II. First is the ideological incongruence within the communist – capitalist dichotomy. Evangelical

In Anthony’s Beevor’s book on “The Fall of Berlin 1945” his forward opens with a statement from Albert Speer, the so called architect of Nazi Germany. He states the following: “History always emphasizes terminal events.” Ironically, his text should refer to the Cold War between the two former Allies. However, if one steps back at time during the Treaty of Versailles, it is very apt. The conditions for World War II were drawn from the experiences, defeats and conditions of the Treaty of Versailles

West’s perceived delay in opening a front, the front being used as a political tool by Stalin and the perceived lack of supplies and materials being sent to the soviets as aid. A more significant cause of tension, however, is believed by some to be Stalin’s attempts to create a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe and his actions in Poland. Kolko argues that the West

political alliances were to be made. And although the U.S. and Russia were “allies” during the war the second issue was the foremost cause of the contention between the world’s two political/economic systems, Capitalism and Communism. The Cold War was basically an ideological catch-22