Why the wartime allies became rivals

H1 History - syllabus 8838, 2027

What this lesson teaches

  • I can judge which causes mattered most in turning the wartime allies into Cold War rivals after 1945.

    Syllabus 8838, Theme I, Learning Outcomes. evaluate the causes of the Cold War

Make a guess

The USA and the USSR fought side by side against Hitler. Why do you think they became rivals so soon after May 1945?

  1. They argued over who deserved credit for defeating Japan.
  2. With the shared enemy gone, ideology, fear and mistrust split them.
  3. Stalin had secretly planned to attack the USA from the start.
Show the answer

With the shared enemy gone, ideology, fear and mistrust split them.

They were allies of necessity. Once Germany was beaten, clashing systems, Soviet fears of invasion and different economic aims returned.

Ideology, security fears, economic aims and mistrust turned the wartime alliance into rivalry by 1947.

The USA and the USSR fought together against Nazi Germany, but they were allies of necessity. Once Germany was defeated in May 1945, the reason for cooperation weakened and older differences returned.

Ideology divided them. The USA believed in liberal democracy and free-market capitalism. The USSR was a one-party communist state that expected capitalism to collapse. Each saw the other's system as a long-term threat.

Security fears pulled them apart. The USSR had lost around 27 million people and been invaded through Eastern Europe twice in thirty years. Stalin wanted friendly governments on his western border. The USA, with the atomic bomb and a strong economy, wanted a world where such spheres did not block open trade and free elections.

Economic aims differed. The USA wanted an open world economy and the recovery of Western Europe, including Germany. The USSR wanted reparations from Germany to rebuild. Wartime grievances deepened mistrust. Stalin resented the delay in opening a second front until June 1944, and the abrupt cutback of Lend-Lease aid in May 1945.

Leaders mattered too. Roosevelt had hoped to manage Stalin through personal diplomacy. After his death in April 1945, Truman took a firmer line. Each side read the other's defensive moves as signs of aggression, and this mutual misperception turned disagreements into a rivalry.

Soviet war dead
Around 27 million people.
Second front
Opened in France only in June 1944, a Soviet grievance.
Roosevelt dies
April 1945; Truman takes a firmer line.

Real examples to use

Invasions from the west, 1914 and 1941

Germany attacked Russia in 1914 and the USSR in June 1941, both times through Poland. This is why Stalin treated a friendly Poland as a matter of survival.

Truman meets Molotov, 23 April 1945

Eleven days into his presidency, Truman spoke sharply to the Soviet foreign minister about Poland. Use it to show the firmer tone after Roosevelt.

Lend-Lease cut, May 1945

Days after Germany surrendered, Washington abruptly cut Lend-Lease shipments to the USSR. Moscow read it as a sign of hostility, which fed mistrust.

Worked example: Weighing causes in an essay-style judgement

You are asked whether ideology was the main cause of the Cold War.

  1. Ideology explains why each side distrusted the other's long-term aims.
  2. Security explains specific actions, such as Soviet control of Poland.
  3. Link them: ideology shaped how each side interpreted the other's security moves.
  4. Judgement: security fears drove early actions, while ideology made compromise much harder.

Watch out for this

The Cold War started because the USSR wanted to spread communism across the world.

That is one interpretation. Many historians argue Soviet actions in 1945-47 were driven mainly by security in Eastern Europe, and that US actions also contributed.

Check your understanding

Why did Stalin insist on friendly governments in Eastern Europe?

  1. He wanted warm-water ports on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean for the navy.
  2. He saw the region as a buffer against another invasion from the west.
  3. The USA had asked him to occupy the region to keep Germany down.
Show the answer

He saw the region as a buffer against another invasion from the west.

Right. Security after huge wartime losses was central to Soviet thinking.

Sources and context

Background reading for this chapter.

  • An American diplomat explains Soviet conduct

    Paraphrase of George Kennan's "Long Telegram" from the US embassy in Moscow to the State Department, 22 February 1946.

  • A Soviet ambassador describes American policy

    Paraphrase of a telegram from Nikolai Novikov, Soviet ambassador in Washington, to Foreign Minister Molotov, 27 September 1946.

  • Truman asks Congress for aid

    Paraphrase of President Truman's address to a joint session of Congress, 12 March 1947.

  • Marshall proposes European recovery

    Paraphrase of Secretary of State George Marshall's speech at Harvard University, 5 June 1947.

  • The North Atlantic Treaty

    Paraphrase of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, 4 April 1949.

  • the Yalta promise, February 1945

    Extract from the Declaration on Liberated Europe, agreed by Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin at the Yalta (Crimea) Conference, 11 February 1945, as published by the US State Department on 24 March 1947. A US government publication in the public domain; text from the Avalon Project.

  • Truman meets Molotov, 23 April 1945

    Extract from a memorandum of conversation by Charles Bohlen, interpreter and assistant to the Secretary of State, recording President Truman's meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov at the White House, 23 April 1945, eleven days after Truman became president. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945, volume V, document 196. A US government document in the public domain.

  • Kennan explains Soviet conduct, February 1946

    Extract from George Kennan's "Long Telegram" from the US embassy in Moscow to the Secretary of State, 22 February 1946. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, volume VI, document 475. A US government document in the public domain.

  • the Cominform declares two camps, October 1947

    Extract from a telegram from the US Charge d'Affaires in Moscow, Elbridge Durbrow, to the Secretary of State, 6 October 1947, summarising and quoting the declaration issued by the meeting in Poland that set up the Cominform. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, volume IV, document 412. A US government document in the public domain.

  • a Soviet view of American policy, 1947

    An original cartoon drawn for these notes in the style of a Soviet magazine cartoon of 1947, after the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. It is not a copy of a real cartoon.

The Wise Otter

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