Ideological Differences Between the Superpowers
History: KS3, topic 20.1.2
The Ideological Differences Between the Superpowers
Ideological differences (differences in political ideas) between the USA and Soviet Union led to bad relations. A ‘Cold War’ is a war that has no physical fighting between the two sides.
Truman and the USA
- Truman became president of the USA after Roosevelt’s death.
- He was less sympathetic towards the communist dictatorship in the Soviet Union.
- Truman’s attitude was more hard-line than Roosevelt's had been.
Stalin and the Soviet Union
- Stalin did not trust Truman.
- Stalin was angry that Truman had successfully tested the atomic bomb without telling him first.
Churchill and Britain
- Winston Churchill (the Prime Minister of Britain) believed that the defeated Germany should be rebuilt.
- But Stalin wanted to weaken Germany as much as possible through reparations (payments for the damages caused by the war they started).
- Churchill also thought that Soviet troops would not leave the Eastern European countries that they had liberated (freed).
Allies
- Britain’s economy had been severely impacted by the war, and it could not act against the Soviet Union on its own.
- As a result, it allied (joined) more closely with the United States.
- This process led to the divisions (groups) which would become known as the Cold War.
Capitalism vs communism
- The Soviet Union supported communism.
- The USA and Britain were capitalist countries.