World War II was the starting point of an event that also changed the order of the world: The

Cold War. The reason the Cold War was so important in the history of the world is the WWII
itself.
Cold War is the name of the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union after
the defeat of Germany and the break of their alliance. The post WWII period was marked by
the rivalry of these two big powers. Even though it is called war, there were none direct
battles among the two sides; however, they struggled to dominate international affairs and
expand their own ideology by supporting other groups that share their beliefs, with funds,
army, supplies, or pieces of advice.
Many historians agree that the conflict was inevitable. The real question is which country
was responsible for beginning the war. Even though the US and the USSR might have been
destined to fight since ancient timesAlexis de Tocqueville wrote back in 1835 that these
countries will sway the destinies of half the globe1what really triggered this struggle was
World War II. The battle between the United States and the Soviet Union was meant to
happen, yet the war made of it a big fight that involved the whole world.
It is pointless trying to find a responsible for the beginning of the Cold War. On one hand,
Americans will blame the USSR, arguing that Communism was trying to conquer Eastern
Europe with its ideology. Stalin was dividing the world with an iron curtain2, the name that
the Prime Minister of the UK, Winston Churchill, used to refer to the division of the world
during Cold War. On the other hand, some historians believe that the US did not only have

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, vol. 1 (New York: Vintage Books, 1945), 452. (Originally
published in 1835).
2
Winston S. Churchill: Iron Curtain Speech, March 5, 1946, last modified August, 1997.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/churchill-iron.asp.

the desire of setting the Eastern European countries free. The reason America wanted
Communism out of the East was that the United States had planned to establish markets on
those regions. The United States began the Cold War as a way of preventing a massive
expansion of the Left throughout Europe; a Soviet sphere of influence would have broken
the balance of the three powers of the Allies3.
Hence, it is not possible to point out a single responsible for the Cold War. Depending on the
point of view, the interpretation mightand willbe different and totally opposite.
Nevertheless, the events that lead to a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet
Union happened on the period both countries were allied against a common enemy during
World War II. In this time, both countries started to confront each other over the control of
Eastern Europe after the war was over. There already were enmity between the two nations,
and this conflict only made it grow. Their dislike for each other was not recognized publically
by them during wartime, mostly because they needed each other in order to obtain the victory
against Germany. Roosevelt, for example, recognized that he needed to cooperate with Stalin
and try to keep him happy so the Allies could maintain him in the alliance, obtain Soviet
help in the war against Japan, and secure the participation of the USSR in the United Nations
Organization4.
In the Post-War period, after the Nazi threat was eradicated, the alliance of these two powers
was no longer necessary, but the question of what will happen with Eastern Europe was still
unsolved. The political future of this area remained unknown from 1941 to 1945, and the

Lynn Etheridge Davis, The Cold War Begins: Soviet-American Conflict over Eastern Europe (Princeton, New
Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1974), 141.
4
Bruce R. Kuniholm et al., The Origins of the First Cold War, in The Cold War Past and Present, ed. Richard
Crockatt and Steve Smith. (Allen & Unwin, 1987), 49.

feud between the United States and the Soviet Union increased as they both wanted to impose
their own system of government in the countries they would liberate from Hitlers army;
democracy by the Americans and Communism by the Soviets. This conflict was the major
cause of the Cold War and the future impact it would have in the world5.
As it was mentioned before, the Cold War was indeed inevitable because two countries with
such influence in the world and with ideas so different from one another were almost
destined to confront at some time. However, as a result of the events that happened during
World War IIespecially the confrontation over the Eastern Europethe conflict between
the US and the USSR ended up affecting the whole world and not just the American and
Russian territories. Winning the war against Germany and its army marked the finish of their
union and their dislikes began to be noticed by the rest of the world, because they were not
longer trying to keep peace between the countries that conformed the Allies.
It is undeniable that the fight over Eastern Europe during the World War II was the main
conflict that unleashed the Cold War. Nevertheless, it was not until the Yalta Conference
occurred that these two big powers could not avoid a battle. During this reunion, the Big
Three discussed the future of Europe and the aftermath of the war after the defeat of the
Nazi Germany. The three leaders attended to the Conference with different ideas in their
minds, but Stalins ideas were perhaps the most conflicting. His proposals would have not
been normally accepted by Roosevelt and Churchill, but since both leaders needed Soviets
support into the alliance against Hitlers army and the USSR support to the United Nations

Lynn Etheridge Davis, The Cold War Begin: Soviet-American Conflict over Eastern Europe (Princeton, New
Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1974), 369.

Organization, they hid their dislike for the Soviet leader and agreed with many of his requests,
as it was officially stated in the Text of Agreement of Yalta Conference6.
The outcomes of this conference did not pleased the US because Stalin received many
benefits, and it caused the fight over Eastern Europe reached a maximum point that later will
trigger the Cold War. Roosevelt lost in every negotiation with Stalineven when he was
trying to please the Soviet leader, he gave up more than he had expected 7. One of the main
points that left the US unhappy was Poland and its political future, because the USSR wanted
to control it and the United States wanted to establish democracy and set Poland free.
Again, Poland was the reason a new war started, the same way as it happened when that
country was invaded by Germany and began the WWII in 19398.
World War II forced the US and the USSR to join forces, but instead of make them closer, it
separated them by exposing their big ideological differences. The Yalta Conference was the
last scenario where both powers discussed the Eastern Europe destiny, and since they could
not reach an agreement, the conflict between them only got bigger. The Cold War was an
inevitable consequence of years of struggles and distinct opinions, and was intensified by
World War II; without it, the Cold War would have never been so big.

The Yalta Conference, February, 1945, last modified 2008. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/yalta.asp

Ralph B. Levering and Verena Botzenhart-Viehe et al., The American Perspective, in Debating The Origins
Of The Cold War: American and Russian Perspectives (Rowman & Littlefield publishers, Inc., 2001), 69-70.
8
Richard Crockatt et al., The Cold War Past and Present, in The Cold War Past and Present, ed. Richard
Crockatt and Steve Smith. (Allen & Unwin, 1987), 03.
7