Heirs to War The conflict between East and West

Background: USA  1945: The United States was the only major political power whose territory was not devastated by WW2  It produced, at that time, more than half of the world’s total industrial & agricultural output  It had vast reserves of oil  It was the only nation that had the atomic bomb  It was, therefore, the new leader of the industrialized world, under President Harry S Truman.

Background: USSR  The Soviet Union had lost 27 m of its citizens in WW2. (More than 40 million people had lost their lives by the time World War II ended in Europe on 8 May  It had the largest land mass  It was a highly centralized totalitarian state under Josef Stalin  It had a bounty of natural resources  Along with the other Eastern European occupied countries, it was a major source of technological expertise & industrial equipment. It was the second largest industrial power in the world  It had, therefore, “superpower” status

Hardship and upheaval for many nations  Western European economies were devastated. Why?  Japan’s economy was ruined & its territory occupied  China was in the midst of civil war. On August 9, Soviet forces had invaded Japanese-occupied Manchuria in China.  India was struggling for independence from Britain  Many African & South East Asian nations were trying to come out from under the yoke of colonialism  Most Latin American countries were under military dictatorships

Origins of the East-West conflict  Relations between the USA and Soviet Union were often strained.  1 st “Red Scare”: In the US after the Russian Revolution of 1917 (which did away with the Russian empire under the Czars), there was much radical political activity- hence, much fear  But in 1933: USA under President Franklin Roosevelt extended diplomatic recognition to the USSR  Then, in 1939: the USSR signed a secret non-aggression pact with Germany  But…

The “Grand Alliance”  Germany defied pact and attacked USSR  December, Germany declared war on US  So the USSR, USA, and Britain formed the Grand Alliance in 1941