Cold War Dbq

The Cold War, beginning in the years following World War II, was a battle between two global powerhouses, the Soviet Union (Soviet Russia) in the East and the United States of America in the West. The war, which was not a physical battle fought like its name suggests, was the result of Germany and Japan collapsing after World War II and America and the Soviet Union seeing an opportunity to be the top dogs of the world and both wanting to try to stop the other from succeeding. Though there are many views on who started the Cold War, most stating that it was the Soviet Union for trying to convert the world into one big communist ruled government, or the more modern view of it was America’s fault because they continuously stick their nose in other

Upon the demise of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman took over office with little to no background in political education or knowledge of the events following WORLD WAR II involving the “Big Three”; Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin. After World War II America was booming technologically and economically. This set up the new President, as well as the American government and people, to feel superior to the rest of the world. The postwar foreign policy of the United States “is characterized…by a striving for world supremacy” and the belief that the “United States has the right to lead the world” (Novikov). The United States acted in a way of self-righteousness and believed that because they were booming after World War II that they had the right to then be the one and only powerhouse of the globe, and so they acted in a way that made sure all other countries were aware of this fact. President Truman disregarded the agreement that the “Big Three” came to before the passing of Franklin D. Roosevelt and decided that Stalin was trying to spread his values and form of government across all continents. Because of this view that Truman had, he blinded himself to the possibility that Stalin did not want that and was just trying to protect his country from further

Both countries planted seeds that would eventually grow into a war of hatred and distrust between them. The Soviet Union played a hand in this by wanting to convert Poland into a communist government and spread their ideology throughout the Western part of Europe and beyond. America played a hand in this by suiting up too quickly to defend against a threat that was not confirmed or understood. Both nations are at fault because they did not meet to discuss the issues at hand and the agreements that arose from meetings with Franklin D. Roosevelt before his passing, which left a lot of room for assumption and hatred to brew. It all boiled over and ignited the storm that was the Cold War. In these ways, it is not appropriate to state the any one country or person was primarily responsible for the Cold War. There is not definitive proof that either was more responsible than the other. There are only speculations and opinions. Both the Soviet Union and the United States are primarily responsible for the start of the Cold