Mark Ulinski Mr.

Dunn Both during and after World War Two, massive tensions arose from two nations who were allies just years ago. The problems lay in the differences in government- The United States is capitalist, which means everyone has a chance to make it big (as well as fail), and Russia was Communist, where everyone was equal in as many ways as the government could enforce. Because of these differing governments, the two countries quickly became estranged. Throughout the next several years, actions on both sides of the threatening conflict would cause more tensions to form. Suspicion was always in the air while America was allied with Russia. The only reason that these two countries were allied was because of their situations which called for each others support. Harry Truman, while still a senator, openly expressed his distrust of the Communist country (He would prove to remain unchanged in his beliefs through his presidency). The first area where tensions began to arise was before the war even ended- during the Yalta conference. As victory seemed imminent for the Allies, there was a meeting held between America, Britain, and Russia to discuss post- war life throughout the world. Though many issues were settled, many more were not- most important of all was the fate of Poland. President Roosevelt wanted the country to have its own voting rights, while Russia, who installed a communist government there, wanted their leaders to make the decisions. To avoid any direct conflict, the issue was left unresolved, but not without raising suspicions on both sides. (Doc A, C) President Roosevelt never expressed any hatred towards the Soviet Union. However, some of his actions (or lack thereof) were controversial. The president, at the beginning of U.S. involvement in the war, signed the Atlantic Charter in which we agreed to focus on Germany before Japan, which would involve America opening up another front to relieve some of the ample pressure on the Soviets. However, many months later, Roosevelt procrastinated when opening up this front, and it was only

when Stalin established his concerns that Roosevelt set a date of entry, six months from then in Normandy (Operation Overlord, D-Day) at the Tehran Conference. Some speculate that the front was opened more for an image rather than necessity. Should Russia be the only ones to fend off the Germans, they would be seen as a very powerful nation and would emerge as a world leader. To prevent this, America stepped in. (Doc B) Before America entered the war, they issued a policy called the Lend- Lease Act, where we allowed Britain and, more importantly, Russia, to borrow munitions, vehicles, and so on. At the end of the war, President Truman promptly ended the program with the USSR. Being that Truman didnt trust the nation, he saw no reason to continue to supply them with weapons when they were not necessary. A year after the war had ended, tensions continued to heat up. George Kennan, a diplomat sent to the Soviet Union, issued a telegram back to American government which established major revisions to the U.S.s containment policy and set the stage for further indirect intervention in an attempt to put a stop to communist expansion. The first of these American actions was the Truman Doctrine. Greece was in a civil war, fighting a communist rebel group, while Turkey was being pressured by Russia to allow them to install naval bases. Truman sent 400 million dollars to the two countries once Britain could no longer afford to support them, which bolstered their economy and allowed them to fight off the Communists. Then came the Marshall Plan, where the U.S. sent 13 billion dollars to sixteen countries which were leveled by the bombing runs of the war. The Russians were expanding their governments and ideas into these impoverished areas, like Poland and Czechoslovakia, and the communist government had almost taken over other large countries like Italy. To aid these countries as well as show that capitalistic governments can be as prominent as communist governments. To avoid any problems, we offered aid to the Communists, but they refused. As the three countries France, Britain, and America joined their occupation zones in Germany into one line, Russia responded by walling off its

Berlin section. In response, America airlifted supplies into the zone, and brought in B-29s, which could carry A-bombs, to intimidate the Russians. Finally, NATO was created under the intentions that should any of the members of the pact be attacked, all others would follow into war. This was the first peacetime alliance America had ever been in, and it could have meant the very possible result of war with communists without America initiating anything. Due to all of these counters to Russian and communist actions, the Soviets nationally preached about the deceitful and promise- breaking nature of the Americans. (Docs E, F, G) Each nation procured its own problems with the other. Russian expansion, paired with Americas constant monitoring and responsiveness to the countries, caused the countries to come to the brink of physical conflict.