The Cold War

When World War II in Europe came to an end on May 7, 1945, a new war was just beginning. This war became known as the Cold War and was between the two world superpowers, the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR). The Cold War lasted from 1945 to 1991. Fears between the two nations, which started in World War I, and grew in World War II, caused the Cold War to break after the end of World War II. The conflict in the Cold War was the difference in politics between the US and the USSR. The United States was capitalist when the USSR was communist. Both nations started a nuclear arms race among each other. In other words, the Cold War was a war of tension and competition.

At the end of World War II, at the Yalta Conference, Germany was divided into 4 sections controlled by Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States. What marked the start of the Cold War was that there wasn’t an agreement on unifying Germany. The Allies were angry due to the free election promises given by Stalin at the Yalta Conference. The developed a foreign policy of containment to keep communism in the areas where it already was. In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was issued. It stated that America would help any non-communist country to resist communism. The United States also gave large amounts of money to help aid the non-commuist countries. This was known as the Marshall Plan. The Western Allies unified West Germany and the USSR reacted by putting a blockade on Berlin. The people in Berlin were starving from the lack of food. The United States arranged that all food and other items be airlifted to West Berlin. This is what is known as the Berlin Airlift. In 1946, Mao Zedong, a Communist leader, was in war with Jiang Jieshi, a nationalist leader. The civil war in China lasted until 1949. The communists came out victorious. This added to the Cold War.