Overview and Causes
The Cold War was an unofficial war between the United States and the Soviet Union. It was called the Cold War because no real fighting occurred, just extreme tensions and animosity between the two sides. Both sides wanted their idea of society to prevail and be dominate in the world, the United States backing capitalism and democracy, and the Soviet Union backing Communism. Both thought the other side was seeking world domination, and both felt it was necessary to stop them.
Communism vs. Capitalism
The two sides of this conflict are practically polar opposites of each other. Capitalism is an economy based on survival of the fittest, you have to do the work if you want something out of it. This creates a class society, with the more successful people on top. With this money, luxury items are bought to show off the fact that one has obtained that money. Being a citizen-run society, capitalism gives way to competition, which in turn leads to lower prices and more trade. On the other side of the argument, capitalism is a classless society where everyone is equal. Each person receives the same pay, same housing, and same rations. Luxury items are not needed, for everyone earns the same anyway. It is a government-run society, and thus requires cooperation from the people to stay in line for the better of the whole country. This way of life would be the perfect model of serenity and production, however, true communism as envisioned by Karl Marx is never truly achieved. With complete control, the leader of the nation almost always becomes corrupt.
THE CAUSE
The Cold War started around 1947, just after World War II. The Soviet Union had sustained heavy losses from the invading German army, including getting 99% of their industrial capital destroyed. On top of this, they lost more men than any of the other nations in the entire war. The United States on the other hand had not received any attacks on their homeland, other than the attack on Pearl Harbor.
During the post-war conferences, things didn't get much better between the two powerful nations. The Yalta Conference was a discussion between US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. It was a discussion over what would become of Germany, as well as a discussion over the Soviet Union's involvement in the Pacific Front. The Soviet Union did not end up helping in the war against Japan until after victory was inevitable when the Atomic Bombs were dropped, but they still wanted the reward for helping, which was a sphere of influence over Manchuria.
The other post-war conference that resulted in extreme tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States was the Potsdam Conference. Here, the same three leaders, (with the exception of Truman replacing FDR) that talked at the Yalta Conference discussed what would become of Germany. Naturally, the US wanted the area to be democratic, and the SU wanted it to be communist. They also split the city of Berlin, since it was such an important city. This resulted in an actual geographic line dividing democracy and communism.
During the post-war conferences, things didn't get much better between the two powerful nations. The Yalta Conference was a discussion between US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. It was a discussion over what would become of Germany, as well as a discussion over the Soviet Union's involvement in the Pacific Front. The Soviet Union did not end up helping in the war against Japan until after victory was inevitable when the Atomic Bombs were dropped, but they still wanted the reward for helping, which was a sphere of influence over Manchuria.
The other post-war conference that resulted in extreme tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States was the Potsdam Conference. Here, the same three leaders, (with the exception of Truman replacing FDR) that talked at the Yalta Conference discussed what would become of Germany. Naturally, the US wanted the area to be democratic, and the SU wanted it to be communist. They also split the city of Berlin, since it was such an important city. This resulted in an actual geographic line dividing democracy and communism.
At the start of the Cold War, the Soviet Union made the territories of Albania, East Germany, Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia into "buffer states." They made these areas so that they could have some breathing room if any European nation tried to attack them again. The Soviet Union called these areas "satellite nations" while they watched over them. The US, however, called it the "iron curtain" where the countries were being suppressed and forced into communism. That was only one of the Soviet Union's goals at the start. Some of their other goals included spreading communism, preventing the spread of democracy, and presenting a positive image of themselves to other nations. The US had the except same goals, only they wished to spread democracy and prevent the spread of communism.
The US's plan to deal with the Soviet Union was to learn more about their communist enemies, educate the general public about communism so as to avoid hysteria, present a positive picture of America to other nations, keep our nation's health at top shape, and never, under any circumstance, adopt the ideas of communism. One early examples of this was when the US was sending money into Greece, so as to keep it democratic. Another example was the Marshall plan, where the US built up their image by sending money to aid countries with getting out of their debts.
The US's plan to deal with the Soviet Union was to learn more about their communist enemies, educate the general public about communism so as to avoid hysteria, present a positive picture of America to other nations, keep our nation's health at top shape, and never, under any circumstance, adopt the ideas of communism. One early examples of this was when the US was sending money into Greece, so as to keep it democratic. Another example was the Marshall plan, where the US built up their image by sending money to aid countries with getting out of their debts.