Overview of The Cold War :: essays research papers

The Soviet Union and the United States served as Allies during World War II. At the end of the war however each side wanted to deal with the aftermath differently. The United States was in favor of a peaceful and cooperative relationship with Germany and their Allies. The Soviet Union wanted revenge on the crimes and atrocities that were committed against them. The United States wanted to push democracy in Eastern Europe yet the Soviets countered this by saying the United States was hypocritical, since at that time the United States supported the Latin countries that were governed by dictatorships. The Soviets were under the impression that this was an effort to boost the UNITED STATES economy. One of the main reasons the Soviets wanted their revenge is because they lost over twenty million citizens in the war. Even though the United States lost 405, 000, this was not as great as the loss suffered by the Soviet Union. Just like when one person gets mad they have to have it their way or no way at all and the Soviets felt this way. They wanted revenge on Germany and did not want to take no for an answer. As a result of World War II the United States came out the most powerful nation in the world, they had learned from their mistakes, as well as the knowledge of how the war could have been prevented. Therefore the United States believed they knew best and ignored the previous isolation policy. Their attitude toward the Soviets was very cocky because they believed they knew what was best. The United States needed to access raw materials, markets for their goods, and security for investments overseas that could only be met in countries with governments like their own. Th is is another reason the United States wanted to push for democracies overseas. President Truman wanted to have a cooperative relationship with the Soviet Union as long as they did what the United States wanted them to do. He wanted to restrain their expansionist impulses and allow the United States to rebuild Germany and their Allies. Truman knew that he could get away with this because American had a nuclear monopoly which attributed to the United State’s power. Josef Stalin the leader of the Soviet Union wanted to force communism on surrounding nations.