The United States and Russia, two very different nations, united to bring down a common enemy. That enemy was Nazi Germany or the Axis powers. However, the US did not uphold their end of the agreement until D-Day in 1944. Up until D-Day, there was only one offensive against the Germans, and that was the Russian front. To the Russians, it seemed that the Americans were simply pushing the danger towards Russia. Russia was left devastated after World War II because so much of it was fought there. Russian resentment of US resulted from the lack of American support in World War II.

Furthermore, in August of 1945, the US dropped not one but two atomic bombs on Japan, which effectively ended World War II. First of all, Russia had never heard of a bomb with that type of payload, and it would not create its own atomic bomb until September 1949. This alone was enough to cause a great scare in the Russ

ians. Next, by dropping two atomic bombs, it sent the message that America had more of them. This showed that America was not afraid of using its atomic weapons, which deeply scared the Russians. Additionally, it showed the Russians that America had more atomic weapons. When the bomb was dropped, the US and the Soviets were still allies. Russia had no idea that America planed to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. This led to the distrust between the nations. By dropping two atomic bombs on Japan, the US did more than stop World War II; it caused distrust and a deep fear of America in the Russians. This was probably a start to the arms race, because Russia had nothing to counter the American atomic bombs.

Moreover, when the Russians set up the Berlin Blockade, America misinterpreted it, and felt that Russia was trying to prevent Western powers from setting up a separate West German government. America thought that Russia was trying to prevent European recovery from World War II. Rather, Russia was trying to secure its borders from Western invasions. Traditionally, Germany had been Russia's enemy. The Germans had invaded Russia twice in the past 40 years. The Soviets were worried of Germany becoming a power once again because the Western powers had united all of West Germany. Inside East Germany, the Western powers controlled half of Berlin. This was viewed by the Soviets as a potential security risk. America is far away from Russia and separated by land and sea, but had troops stationed near the Russian borders. In fear Germany once again becoming a powerful nation and a Western Invasion, Russia stopped all traffic to and from West Berlin. America thought that this was all part of the Russian plan to take over the world and force communism upon neighboring countries. America completely disregarded the blockade set up by Russia, and dropped thousands of tons of supplies by helicopter over the blockade. This was viewed as confrontation to the Russians.

The United States, not the Soviet Union, bears the responsibility for the start of the Cold War. Russia did not intend to take over the world, Russia simply wanted to create a buffer zone to prevent further invasions from Eastern Europe. Communism was

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Approximate Word count = 1506
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)