evaluating the reasons for tension in the cold war from 1945-1962

Evaluate the reasons for Cold War tensions during the period 1945-1962


“Of all the human powers operating on the affairs of mankind, none is greater than that of competition.” (Henry Clay)

The cold war is the term given to the period of relations between east and west which developed after 1945 and continued until the Soviet collapse of 1991. The cold war involved attacks through a range of methods that included ideological, political and territorial conflict as well as an all consuming arms race. Covered here are the events that significantly led to tension between the superpowers from the Yalta conference in 1945 to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.

“There are now two great nations in the world, which starting from different points, seem to be advancing toward the same goal: the Russians and the Anglo-Americans. Each seems to be called by some secret design of providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world.”(Alexis de Tocquevi...