Homework
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 a tense one. Americans had long been wary of Soviet communism and
concerned about Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s
tyrannical rule of his own country. For their part, the Soviets resented the
Americans’ decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the
international community as well as their delayed entry into
World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians.
After the war ended, these grievances ripened into an overwhelming sense of
mutual distrust and enmity.
Postwar Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fuelled
many Americans’ fears of a Russian plan to control the world. Meanwhile, the
USSR came to resent what they perceived as American officials’ bellicose
rhetoric, arms build-up and interventionist approach to international
relations. In such a hostile atmosphere, no single party was entirely to blame
for the Cold War; in fact, some historians believe it was inevitable.
The first Red Scare occurred from 1919 to
1920. When workers began strike many people blamed communism. A number of
people were arrested just because they were thought to have communist beliefs.
The government even deported people under the Sedition Act. The people also
feared that war would start.
