The origins of the Cold War can be found by examining the history of the relations between Russia and the Western world between 1917 and 1949. There is a repeating pattern of misunderstanding of true intentions between the superpowers, and a failure on both sides to co-operate and coexist. A major cause of the tension was the failure of the American and Soviet governments to fully understand each other. They were aware of the conflict of ideologies, but did not understand the true long-term intentions of the other. This unsteady relationship experienced a temporary reconciliation when a forced alliance in the Second World War united Russia and the West against a common enemy. But the outcome of the war left Russia and America victorious and powerful, with both dominating their own liberated territories in Europe. As the alliance dissolved, the arms race accelerated, and the rest of the world was quick to choose a side to align with for protection. This bi-polar system inevitably split the world in two, and with nuclear weapons backing up all policies, relations and co-operation were delicate and risky. This common misunderstanding led to a failure to co-operate on many issues, a deep mutual distrust and several near-disaster crises, most notably the Cuban Missile Crisis. The establishment of mutual distrust in the inter-war period, the post war bi-polar system, and the threat of mutual nuclear oblivion after 1949, left the world in a precarious state of 'Cold War'.

D. Fleming, 'The Cold War and its Origins, 1917 - 1960' Volume 2, (GEORGE ALLEN AND UNWIN LTD, 1961)

The end of this era and the start of the atomic age of the Cold War came on September 23, 1949 when the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb. The arms race had begun, with the substantially more destructive hydrogen bomb in the pipeline, and both sides attempting to gain nuclear superiority over the other before considering any arms limitations agreements. Such was the situation nine months later when the North Korean Army invaded South Korea. America's direct and the USSR's indirect involvement in this war for the first time put to the test this new global system, where all wars fought from this point on would involve either or both of the superpowers, with the threat of nuclear holocaust always just over the horizon.

D. Rees, 'Korea: The Limited War', (MACMILLAN & CO LTD, 1964)

The fundamental cause of the tension between America and Russia was the conflict of ideologies and incompatibilities between the two massively different societies - communism and capitalism. Therefore, perhaps the best place to start looking for the origins of the Cold War is the dawn of communism in Russia in 1917. The atrocities and mass killings by the Red Army in the Russian civil war in the period 1917 - 1921 paved the way for the first clash between the communist society and the West. It came in the form of armed intervention by the allied states of the West, including America, who landed at Vladivostock and attempted to fight back the advancing Reds. The battle was brief, yet it was one of the first events to demonstrate the growing disharmony between Russia and the West. Throughout the history of the Cold War and the pre Cold War rivalry, the general policy of 'containment'

Some common words found in the essay are:
Cold War, Russia America, World War, Government Stalin, Normandy June, Army Russian, America Britain, West America's, Britain Nazi-Soviet, War September, cold war, world war, russian people, origins cold, origins cold war, cold war origins, war origins, oxford university press, post war, ny oxford, university press, oxford university, ny oxford university, civil war, minds russian people,
Approximate Word count = 2193
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)