The Relations of the Superpowers Between 1945 and 1959 Essay

Soon after the end of the World War Two (WW II), a new period of tensions began in the world with once again Europe at the very heart of the tensions. It was the Cold War. It “was a state of political and military tension between powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others) and powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its allies in the Warsaw Pact). It “split the temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United States as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences: the former being a single-party Marxist–Leninist state, and the latter being a capitalist state with generally free elections.” Although it was not the same scale as the WWII in terms of destructions and casualties, the Cold War did however bring the world to the brink of total nuclear war. While both superpowers avoided confronting each other directly on the military field, they had an open and intensive competition in the area of culture and consumerism.

As World War II came to an end, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the world's two superpowers. By the end of the 1940s, both had atomic weapons and both sought global influence. Tensions ran high through the 1950s

Although the USSR and the United States were both part of the Allied Powers during WWII, it became immediately obvious when the war ended that these two nations would be enemies moving forward. These two superpowers had worked together to defeat the Nazi Regime, but had conflicting ideas of a superior government. Joseph Stalin, the tyrannical and bloodthirsty dictator who led the Soviet Union, wanted to spread Communist rule through Eastern Europe, China, and Korea, which the United States opposed. The world split between democratic countries backed by America and Communist countries supported by the Soviet Union, and birthed a conflict called the “Cold War,” because, as opposed to a “hot” war, there were no direct military confrontations

This was one of the reasons the Cold War started. Stalin was the center of power in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the years of the Cold War was starting (The Cold War Museum). During the war, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was invaded by the Nazi-soviet pact in June of 1941, and they weren’t ready for the attack (History.com

However, Khrushchev was not willing at all to let countries ask for their rights or independence. The Warsaw Pact strengthened the soviet control over Eastern Europe; because Khrushchev used to crush any rebellions. Hence, the opposition groups became almost negligible, so strengthening the control over the Eastern European

During World War II the US and the USSR were strong and friendly allies that successfully defeated Hitler. Thus, once the war was over the US and the USSR emerged as the world’s reigning super powers but soon to be mortal enemies (Davidson, 570). This hatred towards each other did not arise overnight though. The tension between the two countries somewhat began at the Yalta Conference in February of 1945. When World War II in Europe was coming to an end, the Big Three (British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin) met in Russia to discuss how to politically shape postwar Europe. Heavy debate erupted, which alluded to the extreme ideological differences between the US and the USSR. Therefore, tensions and conflicts started to rise between the two (LaFeber, 13).

In order to stop the spread of Communism Truman introduced the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. These involved America sending money and supplies in order to rebuild Europe, and halt the popularity of Communism. Stalin saw this as unfair, 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 than the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine themselves. The USSR responded to the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine by setting up Cominform and Comecon in order to coordinate Communist governments and industries, and exclude the West. Obviously, the US felt threatened by this decision, even though it had been triggered by the American introduction of the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine. The way the USSR chose to respond to the US showed that a clear division had appeared in Europe, making the Cold War more important, impactful and tensions more intense. Yet again, this did not necessarily mean that the USSR was to blame for this, as the US coerced the USSR into forming Cominform and Comecon, but at the same time, this may not have been intended to anger Stalin, meaning that the US was not actually to blame, as Truman(probably) did not know how much his actions would increase the unease in the Cold

The Cold War was a time of spies and threats. Its started after WW2 in 1947 and lasted till 1991. After WW2 Russia was supporting communism and America didn’t want to see the communist party grow. Although there was no real fighting with guns,ammunition, or bombs, it was still considered a war. The Soviet Union and America were considered the superpowers of the war. They were the powers that started the Cold War. The Soviet Union was the union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Marshall plan was a part of the Cold War. It was initiated by George Marshall. It was made to aid in the economic recovery of Europe after WW2 by offering certain European countries funds. In 1949, America and 11 other western nation formed NATO or the North Atlantic

From 1947 onwards, the two foes, utilizing every one of the assets available to them for terrorizing and subversion, conflicted in a long vital and ideological clash punctuated by emergencies of shifting force. Despite the fact that the two Great Powers never battled specifically, they pushed the world to the edge of atomic war on a few events. Atomic discouragement was the just compelling method for keeping a military showdown. Unexpectedly, this adjusts of fear really served as a jolt for the weapons contest. Times of strain rotated between minutes of détente or enhanced relations between the two camps. As the political expert Raymond Aron perfectly stated the definition of the Cold War (impossible peace, improbable war). The cold war at long last arrived at an end in 1989 with the fall of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the crumple of the communist administration in Eastern

The period of tension between the world's two superpowers following the Second World War is known as the Cold War. This period was full of tension and fear that the United States and the USSR would destroy each other and the world with their arsenals of atomic weapons. The seeds of this rivalry were planted nearly a quarter of a century before its actual commencement with the Revolution of 1918 in Russia. The Cold War Rivalry would manifest itself in everything from sports in Olympic competition to science and the Space Race. The Cold War did not only take place in the political, athletic and science realms but also heated up in wars and deputes all over the world from Europe, East Asia and the Middle East to South America and off the

    During the cold war the USSR and the USA were head to head. They fought against each other beginning in World War 2 in political, social and economical aspects, including the infamous “Arms Race”. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was founded in hopes to stop the spread of the Soviets into western Europe. As capitalism grew across western Europe and the rest of the world tension between the USSR and the U.S.A grew with

After the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers, countries that have great militaries or economies. The Cold War was not a war in the sense that we normally think of war; it was more of a state of tension between two very powerful countries, aware that they were always on the cusp of war. It started because of the results of World War II. Both the U.S. and the Soviets fought together as Allies in the war, but they were far from getting along. It was kind of surprising in the first place that a country built on the principles of liberty and freedom would align themselves with a Communist country like the Soviet Union. Basically, the Cold War boils down to a major clash of ideologies. The United States

The three nations that wanted a “fight” were the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. All three countries were just about who has the more power and who will attack first. These two conflicts are what created the tension between the countries. The issue had begun after April 12, 1945 when Franklin Roosevelt died, and Harry Truman took his place for President. Vyascheslav M. Molotov, the Russian foreign minister, came to visit Truman, the new President, to pay his respects for him. Truman went to him upfront and told him off about the way Russians were acting in Poland. This surprised Molotov, since he had never been talked to that way by anyone. Once again, Truman responded back telling Molotov that he should do the things he

During the late 1940s, Germany became ground zero and proxy for an incubating Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The brewing adversity between the two superpowers would eventually spawn desperate defensive alliances, the first being the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 led by the United States followed by the Warsaw Pact in 1955 by the Soviet Union. In addition to those defensive and military alliances, it also represented an adversarial collision of economic and political ideologies at extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. As a consequence, an inevitable conflict carried on for the ensuing forty years with many incidents en route. One of those, triggered by West Germany's admission into the NATO alliance,

The Second World War, recognised the United States and Soviets as allies in which held a friendly and firm relationship. However, the Cold War and post 1945 events; The Arms Race have made evident that their relationship was illusory. The Cold War demonstrated the battle aims of both parties; the fight to dominate international affairs and maintain power. Special adviser to Khrushchev viewed the Cold War as “ 'In the atmosphere of the Cold War, one country always looks for pressure points against