Mistrust And Opinion Between Members Of The Grand Alliance

The crushing defeat and ultimate failure of the Axis Powers was caused by significant events that had a great impact on the war. The Allies were victorious in 1945 due to the sheer military power of the United States, the infamous Soviet Transformation and the ‘Battle of Moscow’, the crushing fall of Japan and the vast resource differences between the Axis Powers and the Allies. These major events that took place during World War 2 helped shape the victorious outcome for the Allies, by not only weakening the German’s military force, but also its confidence.

The United States entered World War Two in late 1941, and right away they were thrown into a conflict that involved making important decisions that would affect generations of people, in the United States and elsewhere, for years to come. A most notable decision by the Allies, namely the United States and Great Britain, was the combining of the American and British military chiefs of staff. This joint collaboration was appropriately titled the “Combined Chiefs of Staff”. They worked together as one body, and made war planning decisions and strategized together. This type of alliance was an innovation in war planning for the time, and the decisions made collaboratively by the two powers contributed greatly to the Allied victory in 1945. The relationships involved and the disputes that came up are worth noting, specifically the question of the Allies opening up a second front in the west, particularly titled “Operation Sledgehammer”. The relationship between President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, as well as General George Marshall of the United States and General Sir Alan Brooke of Great Britain were the main actors involved in this undertaking, and they will be the main individuals discussed and analyzed for the purposes of this paper. Ultimately Operation Sledgehammer was delayed and no action was taken upon it. Even though it caused rifts between the USSR, for reasons that will be explained, and the Allies far into the future, in retrospect they may have been

After the First World War, many countries saw political, social and economic changes. The world was plunged into World War 2 because of the Munich Agreement, an agreement regarding Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders. This agreement caused many issues between European countries. Many people of the “Big Four” had different views on dealing with aggression. Collective Security was a more effect response to aggression than appeasement.

The USSR “perceived this as a serious threat” (Brezhkov), in comparison, Stalin's actions were viewed as threats to the West. With increased tensions between the two nations, the Cold War was soon to break out. Moving forward, in the year of 1952, the United States had successfully exploded a new hydrogen bomb “The detonation destroyed the island and sent up a three-mile-wide mushroom cloud” (Glider-Lehrman). Seeing the successful testing of a new bomb, that was supposedly stronger than an atomic one, would put any nation in a defensive state. Amidst the Cold War, the hydrogen bomb test of 1952 would result in the Soviets being constantly aware of the major threat the US has now imposed for many years to come.

Alliances were a major cause of the conflicts between countries in WW1 The original disagreement was between Serbia and Austria-Hungry over the

Introduction The Second World War had been fought between the Axis nations (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan and their smaller allies) and the Allied nations, led by Britain (and its Commonwealth nations), the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America (Source D). The war changed many things internationally. This included changes to do with technology and the end of European colonialism (Source D).

By the end of the war, the need for uniting to overthrow Japan and Germany had ended. After World War II, the United States began having an unsettling partnership with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was an alliance that was necessary to defeat the Axis powers: Germany, Japan, and Italy. The United States believed the Soviets wanted to have dominance in the world, but the Soviets thought the same of the U.S. If Communism spread across the world, the U.S. was afraid that they would lose their freedom and democracy after giving up so much to keep it during World War II. They wanted to make the Nazi Germany into a tradable, capitalist democracy. The Soviets wanted to destroy Germany and create more communist s on the west border to avoid being vulnerable to an attack. The U.S. government felt threatened by the expansion of communism from the Soviets to Eastern Europe, which had spread to China, Korea, Vietnam, and China. As communism began to rapidly spread, the Soviets went to extreme measures to scare their rival. David Ropeik (June 25, 2012), an author and an instructor at Harvard, explains in his writing, The Historical Roots, and Impacts, of our Nuclear Fear, that in August 1945, Americans sent bombs to destroy the Japanese towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This not only killed hundreds of people, but also created extreme fear during World War II. Americans soon began to pursue the communists

Russia was a huge threat to the United States because Russia was planning on entering the war on the side of the Allies. The US did not want Russia entering the war on the Allies side because, the US would have to share intelligences with the Soviet Union. That would threaten the safety and secrecy of the United States. Dwight D. Eisenhower thought that the only way to keep the Russians out of the war was for victory to come before they had the chance to enter (Doc C). The atomic bomb would bring that end, preventing the Soviets from entering the war. Eisenhower's recollections were told after his meeting with President Harry Truman (Doc C). Winston Churchill also expresses the lack of need of the Russians to enter the war in his recollections of the Potsdam Conference (Doc E). He said that the US no longer needed Russia because they were now able to defeat the Japanese on their own. This meant that the US would no longer have to share intelligences with the Soviets. Another reason for the bombing was the fear of communism spreading throughout countries all over the world. Nuclear Physicist Leo Szilard’s recollections of a meeting with James Byrnes expressed this issue (Doc F). Szilard tells that Mr. Byrnes was concerned with communist Russia spreading influence in Europe (Doc F). If Russian

A key factor in this argument is that the Japanese were issued warning of an imminent American attack through the Potsdam Declaration and informative leaflets. In the beginning of 1941, The Manhattan Project commenced where the US began constructing their plans to create an atomic bomb that could be used to defeat Nazi Germany. This atomic project was instigated at Los Alamos in the New Mexico Desert

Allied victory in 1945 was not always inevitable. Richard Overy comments in Why the Allies Won that ‘no rational man in early 1942 would have guessed at the eventual outcome of the war’ . The key aspect for the Allies in winning the war was the defeat of Hitler’s Germany. Despite evidence suggesting allied victory was achieved through military might alone, this essay will argue that victory in 1945 was down to a multitude of factors and cannot be solely attributed to the use of military. Therefore, other important influences with changed a possible German victory into an inevitable Allied victory which will be discussed include the entry of the USA into the war with its huge population and industrial capacity. In addition, the failure of

During World War II America, Great Britain, and Russia worked together to create the Allied Powers and defeat Germany. During the war, no one knew how much damage this war was going to have on the world. Because the war was so intense America needed to create a powerful weapon to use as a threat. In 1942 America started the top secret Manhattan Project, creating an atomic bomb. Although this bomb was to only be used in extreme conditions, the world felt threatened with just the knowledge that this bomb existed, especially Russia. Before the creation of the atomic bomb, America and Russia worked closely together in World War II, but after the creation of the bomb, tension grew between the two countries.

In the years since 1945, it has become increasingly evident that the alliance between the British and the United States was often in disagreement over the correct strategy to insure the final defeat of the Axis powers. Early on, both British and American staffs could agree that Germany represented a greater military threat than Japan, but they did not often see eye to eye on the strategy that would most efficiently defeat them.

b) Both we pacts to deter the other party from going to war with one another, the NATO was also used though to render aid to those who need it.

Allies bound by treaty, as well as compelled by defensive nature, began to acquire mass weaponry. Once these countries entered the war, they had to keep gaining power; i.e. spending money, and building on to military, thus putting financial burden on their countries for the benefit of their alliance. Britain and Germany especially, began an arms race, acquiring submarines as well as conventional weaponry. Powers were participating in naval warfare. This force of action solidified alliances. Countries chose sides and entered into alliances for personal benefit and gain. They pledged their allegiance to stronger countries in a “gang like” mentality which stressed an ideology of work with me, or be destroyed by me. This describes an effort to create a balance of power. However, the security dilemma was in full effect as everyone accumulated weaponry. It was hard for any nation, especially Germany, to keep tabs on the power that everyone had gained.

When Russia was attacked by capitalist Nazi Germany, America and Britain fought alongside Russia to defeat the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler but it cost twenty million Russian lives. The Russian leader Joseph Stalin was bitter that the western allies had not invaded Europe until 1944. He was still convinced that they wanted to destroy communism. Another major event which also contributed to the distrust between America and Russia was the Potsdam Conference in July 1945. President Truman learnt that the atomic bomb had been successfully tested, he told Stalin that America had developed a new weapon but he did not tell him that America was going to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.