The Cold War was a struggle between conflicting universal values. In the West, the concepts of a market economy and a multi-party democracy were cherished as necessity. In the East, single party statism and a command administrative economy were highly valued. The obvious conflict of ideas and obstinate nature of those who defended them were the driving force behind the Cold War.

The western nations felt it necessary that the liberated states of Eastern Europe should be re-established with a democracy and a capitalist economy. They believed that these systems were more civilized and less violent than the nationalism of the preceding generations. Russia, under autocratic leader Josef Stalin, felt that it had a right to the Eastern European nations it had occupied in World War II. After being invaded by Germany in two consecutive wars, the USSR felt it imperative that buffer states be created to protect the borders of the fatherland. With Communist regimes in place, the nations of Eastern Europe could be controlled by Russia and, by their location, protect it.

Conflict between the two opposing victors of World War II was inevitable. Yalta, the home of former Czar

By February of 1945, Germany's defeat was inevitable. The Russian army of 12 million soldiers had fully occupied Poland and was within the borders of pre-war Germany, ready for an assault on Berlin. The Western Allied army of 4 million men was located just west of the Rhine River, still advancing eastward. On February 3rd, the Russian army was ordered to hold its position for one week. During the next seven days, the "Big Three" powers, headed by Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin, met in Lavidia Palace to determine how the war should be finished.

Nicholas II's Lavidia Palace, is a Russian city located on the Crimean southern shore of the Black Sea. It was in this palace that the conflict began.

The main purpose of Yalta was the re-establishment of the nations conquered and destroyed by Germany. Poland was given back its independence and given its own national election in order to create a new, independent government. Yugoslavia was given its own government as well which consisted of mostly old members under a new system. In both cases, Nazi and Fascist leaders were specifically prohibited. Secondly, the Yalta Conference agreed to divide Germany into zones controlled by each of the three nations present. With the immense size of Stalin's army, Russia would take Berlin and control the eastern half of Germany upon its surrender. Lastly, Stalin agreed to "unquestionably" join the war against Japan two months after the end of the war.The treaty was signed on February 11th, 1945. Roosevelt was harshly criticized by the public in 1946 when the agreements at Yalta became public information. He was said to have given away Eastern Europe through blind trust in Stalin. Roosevel!

t defended himself by saying that he had done the best he could and had hoped that the issue would be handled further by the United Nations. He also felt that Russia needed to be appeased in order to gain their support in the war against Japan. To the surprise of Roosevelt and Churchill, Josef Stalin failed to keep his promises. He quickly prevented popular elections in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria by assigning permanent Communist governments to each and suppressing all democratic supporters. The response against Stalin was little, for his army extended across Eastern Europe and controlled the region by force. The United States, busy in its war against Japan and not wanting to lose a powerful ally, did nothing. The war against Japan was not as devastating as the United States had expected. Russia agreed to join the war in the Pacific on August 18, but it ended on the 8th. Without the help of Russia, the American navy quickly island-hopped its way acro!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Franklin Roosevelt gave Eastern Europe to the Russians at Yalta. His objectives were idealistic because of the location of World War Two. American troops were sent to Europe to fight in a major war. America was only attacked once during World War Two, and that was by Japan. What does this mean? It means that Americans fought the war but did not feel the war. When Roosevelt negotiated at Yalta, he did not feel the pain of a populous destroyed by fire bombing or Nazi death camps. He was not practical enough. The European nations, on the other hand, craved revenge. They wanted reparations for the damages and a guarantee that such an event could never happen again. Roosevelt did not give them what they wanted. The re-establishment of Eastern Europe was therefore controlled by the manipulative Stalin. It is almost amazing that he didn't smile when he signed the agreement at Yalta because he knew that democracy was not going to happen. As soon as the politicians were gone, tanks and!

The political demonstration of the superiority of the American military created fear in the Russian government. The response was Soviet militarization and a push towards nuclear technology.

le silos in Cuba

Some common words found in the essay are:
Eastern Europe, CIA November, West Berlin, East Germany, Cold War, Russia European, Western Europe, East United, War Japan, Soviets Hiroshima, eastern europe, west berlin, cold war, world war, western europe, war japan, josef stalin, buffer zone, eastern europe controlled, marshall plan, europe controlled, berlin airlift stalin, poland east germany, churchill josef stalin, world war ii,
Approximate Word count = 2695
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)