Secondary Source- Origins of the Cold War
The Crumbling Alliance
Amid the rubble of war, a new power structure emerged that would shape events in the
postwar world. In Europe, Germany was defeated, France and Britain were drained and exhausted. Two other powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, had brought about the final victory. Before long, these two nations would become superpowers with the economic resources and military might to dominate the globe. They would also
become tense rivals in an increasingly divided world,
Growing Differences.
During the war, the Soviet Union and the nations of the West had cooperated to defeat Nazi Germany. By 1945, however, the wartime alliance was crumbling, Conflicting ideologies and mutual distrust divided the former Allies and soon led to the conflict known as the Cold War. The Cold War was a state of tension and hostility among nations without armed conflict between the major rivals. At first, the focus of the Cold War was Eastern Europe, where Stalin and the western powers had very different goals. Stalin was deeply suspicious of other powers. Russia had been invaded by Napoleon's armies and by Germans in World Wars 1 and II. Also, the United States and Britain had both sent troops into Russia during WWI.
1. Why did the wartime alliance between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the
West crumble after WWII? *
Your answer