why is this period of history called the cold war

At the Potsdam conference, held from July 17 to August 2, 1945, Truman also opposed Stalin’s plans to demand large reparations from Germany. He disliked the concessions made by Roosevelt at Yalta, which had allowed the Soviet Union to install a Communist government in Poland. On assuming the office of president upon the death of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman was already troubled by Soviet actions in Europe. However, in accepting the realities of the post-World War II world, in which traditional powers like Great Britain or France were no longer strong enough to police the globe, the United States realized that it would have to make a permanent change in its foreign policy, shifting from relative isolation to active engagement. The United States had a long history of avoiding foreign alliances that might require the commitment of its troops abroad.

With Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and China reduced to shadows of their former selves, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the last two superpowers and quickly found themselves locked in a contest for military, economic, social, technological, and ideological supremacy. The end of the war left the industrialized nations of Europe and Asia physically devastated and economically exhausted by years of invasion, battle, and bombardment. It sought to combat the influence of the Soviet Union by forming alliances with Asian, African, and Latin American nations, and by helping these countries to establish or expand prosperous, free-market economies. The United States wanted to expand its influence as well by protecting or installing democratic governments throughout the world. He also sought to bring Communist revolution to Asia and to developing nations elsewhere in the world. Joseph Stalin, the premier of the Soviet Union, wished to retain hold of Eastern Europe and establish Communist, pro-Soviet governments there, in an effort to both expand Soviet influence and protect the Soviet Union from future invasions. Both sides realized that their visions for the future of Europe and the world were incompatible.

Discuss the government’s efforts to root out Communist influences in the United StatesĪs World War II drew to a close, the alliance that had made the United States and the Soviet Union partners in their defeat of the Axis powers-Germany, Italy, and Japan-began to fall apart.

government to oppose Communist expansion in Europe and Asia Explain how and why the Cold War emerged in the wake of World War II.By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Why is this period of history called the cold war