Cold War Essay

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The close of World War II ended in a victory to the Allied Powers as a result of the unconditional surrender of the Axis Powers. It seemed that the six years of war and bloodshed had finally ended and the world would finally be able to recover and flourish once again, but conflict would soon arise between two wartime allies. The end of World War II led to a period of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, severing ties between the two countries that had once been allies. This period of political and military tension between the United States and Soviet Union came to be known as the Cold War. As the two nations focused toward rebuilding postwar Europe, many factors led to the United States and the Soviet Union becoming Cold War adversaries. At the dawn of the Cold War in 1945, a power struggle began between the United States, who supported democratic rule, and the Soviet Union, who opposed democracy and pushed for communism within the Soviet sphere. Both the United States and the Soviet Union pushed to rebuild post-war Europe by their own means. As the two countries strived to be the world’s superpower, they battled through diplomacy and a show of military strength. One individual played an immense role in pulling the strings of the Cold War. As the first U.S. President to face the Cold War, Harry S. Truman’s political views as a Democrat, important military decisions during warfare, and his policy of containing Communism, strongly impacted the Cold War, which led to the United States and the Soviet Union becoming Cold War adversaries.
From July 17¬–August 2, 1945, U.S. President Harry S. Truman, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, all met in Potsdam, Germany to discuss plans ...

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...r adversaries. Truman’s political views as a Democrat opposed the Soviet Union’s Communist views. Truman believed that communism would affect the political stability of other countries. In addition, Truman made one of the most difficult and significant decisions of World War II by announcing that the atomic bombs would be dropped on both Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The atomic bomb symbolized military strength, which posed as a threat to Soviet security. Lastly, the containment policy of the Truman Doctrine prevented the expansion of communism of the Soviet Union, slowing the Communist influence of the Middle East. As the first U.S. President to face the Cold War, Harry S. Truman strongly impacted the Cold War through his political views and contributions, pulling the strings of the relationship of the two Cold War adversaries, the United States and the Soviet Union.

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