THE COLD WAR 1. How did the U. S. and Soviet Union view each other after WWII? Why?
2. What were some things they competed for? (List all that you can)
3. How did the competition between these countries affect the lives of citizens in each nation?

During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union fought together as allies against the Axis powers. However, the relationship between the two nations was tense. Americans did not support Soviet communism and were concerned about how Russian dictator Joseph Stalin ruled his country with total government control. He sent thousands of people who didn’t agree with him to labor camps which resulted in death and starvation for an estimated 20 million people.  
The Soviets resented the Americans as they did not treat them as part of the international community due to their delayed entry into World War II. After the war ended, these criticisms developed into a strong sense of mutual distrust and anger. Postwar Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe developed American fears of a Soviet plan to control the world. The Americans were seen as aggressive by the Soviets, building weapons and relations with other countries.
By the time World War II ended, most American officials agreed that the best defense against the Soviets was a strategy called “containment.” President Harry Truman stated, “It must be the policy of the United States, to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation (takeover/conquest) by outside pressures.” This way of thinking would shape American foreign policy for the next four decades.
The containment strategy also provided the motivation for building up weapons in the United States. In 1950, the National Security Council Report recommended that the U. S. use military force to “contain” communist expansionism anywhere it seemed to be occurring. This greatly increased military spending.
In particular, American officials encouraged the development of atomic weapons like the ones that had ended World War II. This began a deadly “arms race.” In 1949, the Soviets tested an atom bomb of their own. In response, President Truman announced that the United States would build an even more destructive atomic weapon: the hydrogen bomb. As both countries tested their new bombs, the earth suffered as poisonous radioactive waste spread into the atmosphere.
The ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation had a great impact on American domestic life as well. People built bomb shelters in their backyards and practiced attack drills in schools and other public places. In these and other ways, the Cold War was in Americans’ everyday lives.
Space exploration served as another area for Cold War competition. In 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik (Russian for “traveler”), the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit. The United States felt pressure to catch up. This missile appeared to be capable of delivering a nuclear hit into U. S. air space.
In 1958, the U. S. launched its own satellite, Explorer I, in what came to be known as the “Space Race.” The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a federal agency dedicated to space exploration.

 

1. How did the U. S. and Soviet Union view each other after WWII? Why?
2. What were some things they competed for? (List all that you can)
3. How did the competition between these countries affect the lives of citizens in each nation?