Pick a single factor as the one most responsible for the origins of the cold war. You can choose a person, an event, even an ideology or belief system, but provide a thorough and convincing explanation as to why you consider this factor to be the most significant. You may also, if you choose, argue that the cold war was inevitable, but again you must support this claim with the use of specific evidence.
As World War II came to a close, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the world's two most powerful nations in terms of military and political power and influence. The origins of the Cold War can be found in the specific post war aims of the United States and the Soviet Union. The confrontation between the incompatible political, economic and ideological systems of America and the Soviet Union resulted in a struggle to oppose and limit the power and influence of each other.
Yalta summit in February 1945 with (from left to r...
February 4–11: Yalta Conference
English: Richard Nixon meets Leonid Brezhnev June ...This struggle included everything, short of open military conflict, between the two nations. This resulted in the Cold War.
The Cold War was the result of a clash between communism and capitalism, two opposing world-views. Another cause of the build up to the Cold War was the inflexible attitude of both sides. The Soviet Union was extremely concerned about its security after having been invaded twice in the twentieth century, "Stalin was not only pushing westward but also trying to hamper his allies' advance eastward"#. In 1945 America created and used the atomic bomb against Japan and the USSR was determined to create one of its own. One of the main issues that strained relations between the Soviet Union and the west was the threat of nuclear war. Both the Soviet Union and the United States knew how to make...