U.S. History 2nd Semester
Mr. Sanders
01_The Origins of the Cold War
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Background:
Even though the USA and the USSR were allies during the Second World War, it only took four years for them to
fall out and start the one of the longest and most bizarre wars the world has ever seen.
The differences between the USA and the USSR
One of the causes of the Cold War was the vast number of
differences between the American and the Soviet way of life. American
society was based on democracy and capitalism, but Soviet society centred
on Communist ideas.
The people of the USA could elect any politician they wished for
presidency or a place in Congress. On the other hand, the USSR was a
one-party state, meaning that people could vote, but only for Communists.
The Americans believed in Capitalism, meaning that all businesses and property should be privately
owned by companies or individuals. However, in the USSR, all industry was controlled and run by the state.
The USA was the richest country in the world, but the
wealth was not evenly spread, whereas there was little
unemployment and poverty in the USSR, but the overall
standard of living in the USSR was lower than that of the USA.
To an American, the rights and freedom they had
were far more important than the equality of everyone else.
Communists believed, however, that the equality of everyone
was more important than anything.
Both sides thought that their beliefs were the right one and were not prepared to accept the other due to
their differences.
New President, new opinions
President Roosevelt had died and had been replaced by Harry Truman. Truman was far more anti-Communist than
Roosevelt and this led to many disagreements between
him and Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union.
The atomic bomb
The Americans had recently developed an
atomic bomb and President Truman was more than
happy to split Stalin not-so subtle hints about its great
power. The Soviets were worried by the atom bomb,
even though it appeared to Truman that Stalin hardly
knew what on earth he was talking about.
Disagreements over Eastern Europe
At the Yalta Peace Conference in 1945, the
USA agreed that Eastern Europe should be a Soviet
sphere of influence. However, they had thought that this
U.S. History 2nd Semester
Mr. Sanders
01_The Origins of the Cold War
2 of 3
meant that the countries of Eastern Europe should be friendly towards the USSR, but still be able to elect their own
democratic leaders.
The Soviets thought differently. Stalin did not trust any government unless he was in charge of it. He used
his Red Army troops to take control of all the Eastern Europe countries. He then set up a new organisation called
the Cominform to control these new governments.
The USA protested to Stalin’s takeover of Eastern Europe, but it did nothing. To Stalin, it made sense to
control the states around him. Twice in the twentieth century his country had been invaded by Eastern European
states. To him, his actions were justified. To Truman, however, it just looked like Stalin was building up an empire
and wanted to take the rest of Europe too.
Disagreements over Germany
Stalin wanted Germany to pay $10
billion to the USSR in compensations. He did
not care whether Germany was crippled or
not. The Soviets had lost over 30 million
people in the war and, though he would not
admit it, Stalin knew that the USSR had
almost no money or resources left.
Truman did not understand why Stalin
still seemed to feel threatened by Germany.
He wanted Germany to settle down and
become a peaceful, democratic state. The last
thing he wanted was to repeat the mistakes of
the Treaty of Versailles and he was certain
that Germany was unable to pay
compensation to the USSR.
The division of Germany after WWII
Questions:
1. What were the main differences between the USA and the USSR?
2. Now that you know the differences between the American way of life and the Communist way of life, explain
briefly why Americans during the 1920s were so against Communist supporters.
3. Why were there more disagreements at the Potsdam Peace Conference than the Yalta Peace Conference?
U.S. History 2nd Semester
Mr. Sanders
01_The Origins of the Cold War
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4. What part did the newly-created atomic bomb play in creating the Cold War?
5. What did the USA think about the Eastern Europe being a Soviet sphere of influence?
6. What did Stalin do to make Eastern Europe part of the Soviet sphere of influence?
7. Why did Stalin want to control the countries around him?
8. Why did Stalin want Germany to pay reparations to the USSR?
9. What did President Truman want for Germany and why did he not want to force her to pay reparations?
10. ‘The Cold War just sprang out of nowhere without any logical cause.’ Do you agree with this statement? Write
a short answer backing up your view.