Clashing Goals… Soviets and Americans had two very different world perspectives…

The Soviet Union planned to rebuild the world in ways which protected their national security After losing millions during the war and having its land war-torn for years,

This meant the creation of “satellite nations” on its western border These are countries subject to Soviet domination They would be friendly to Communist goals

It also refused to cooperate with new international agencies like the World Food Bank and International Monetary Fund These agencies were installed to build strong, capitalist economies Instead, Stalin wanted no one else in his country… And he supported totalitarian Communist governments in Eastern Europe

In contrast, America fought to bring democracy and economic opportunity… To the conquered nations of Europe and Asia

Americans wanted an economically strong world less prone to totalitarian dictatorships and friendly to American trade

The Soviets Hold Strong To follow through with its plans …the Soviet Union installed “false” governments and tightened its grip on its satellites: They didn’t give Poland their elections like promised until 2 two years later (by the time they had eliminated any political opposition In Albania—communist guerrilla forces had driven out all anti-communist leadership They also took Bulgaria The 2008-2010 Georgia–Russia crisis is a current and ongoing international crisis between Georgia and Russia that escalated in 2008, when both countries accused each other of military buildup near the separatist regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Soviet troops demanded control of the police in Hungary….with which they arrested any anti-communists Stalin established a brutal totalitarian government in Germany (never wanted Germans to threaten him again) In 1949, under the Communist government, the country became known as the German Democratic Republic Finland was a little more free (signed treaty of cooperation in 1948) (had to be neutral in foreign affairs) Yugoslavia had problems with Tito (independent dictator who didn’t listen to Stalin and did his own brand of communism free of Soviet interference Albania Bulgaria Czechoslovakia Hungary Romania East Germany Finland Yugoslavia

In 1946, Stalin publicly proclaimed that Communism would triumph over capitalism But also realized the Soviets were not yet strong enough to directly confront the U.S. He did work to establish Cominform—a Soviet agency intended to direct the activities of Communist parties throughout the wd

Western leaders spoke out on the issue: “From…the Baltic to…the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of…Central and Eastern Europe…This is certainly not the Liberated Europe we fought to build up. Nor is it one which contains the essentials of permanent peace.” Winston Churchill was defeated by Clement Attlee in elections, but still spoke out against Stalin’s actions The words of Winston Churchill

Americans were called to keep Stalin from closing the iron curtain of Communist domination and oppression around any more nations This speech by Stalin and the speech by Churchill set the tone for the cold war

Thus set the tone for what became the Cold War: Competition that developed between the U.S. and S.U. for power and influence in the world this will last for almost 50 years, until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 Characterized era of political, economic, and militartension Rivalry stopped just short of a direct military engagement between the 2 countries But, the US military would engage in combat in other Soviet supported uprisings and invasions in efforts to defeat Soviet-s