Mark Fischer

Hist. 248 The Cold War

National Identities Following the Second World War

As World War II came to an end, it became clear that the dynamics of

the world community would indeed be changing a great deal when the war

was over. It was during this time that two nations that considered themselves

to be world superpowers, began making plans for how that community would

look. These two nations,; the United States and the Soviet Union, had been

allies throughout the fighting stages of the war but seemed to differ when

discussing the time of peace that would follow. The visions of the post-war

world community were very different between that of the United States and

the Soviet Union. The United States main objective was to establish world

peace by establishing the need for national self determination and free trade

among nations. The Soviet Union was looking to increase their sphere of

influence to create a buffer zone between them and Germany along with

continuing to be a world power. These differences in post war vision caused a

change in the American national identity.

The American vision for the post war world community was based

around the idea of national self determination. This idea was good in theory,

but lacked serious practicality as it was not really able to be achieved with

the amount of pressure the Soviet Union was putting on the United States

with regards to post war territory claims. The idea for national self

determination was first thought of during the war by Roosevelt. He based

this ideal off of a Wilson era plan for the League of Nations. However, when it
came time to enforce the self determination throughout the world it proved

to be very difficult. Roosevelt knew that; self-determination he had always

regarded as an ideal to be striven for, but not practically attainable in all

situations (Gaddis,134). Pressure came from Stalin and the Soviets. They

continued to stress the importance of making territorial claims during the

war. This put Roosevelt in a tough spot for self determination because he

knew that; Cooperation with the Soviet Union, though, was essential both to

win the war and to keep peace after victory (Gaddis,133). Being a man of

reason Roosevelt eventually gave in to Stalins demands and allowed the

Soviet Union to lay claims to territories on their western border.

Another large part of the American vision was the necessity of free

trade through the world. It was concluded that isolationism and nationalism

were two qualities that they believed led to wars. Cordell Hull, the secretary

of state at the time; had long ago convinced himself that economic

nationalism caused wars (Gaddis,18). This however did not sit very well with

the nationally self sufficient Soviet Union. The Americans concluded that if

nations were simply able to purchase resources that they needed instead of

using military tactics to seize land then it would free up a lot of the tensions

rising between nations. With this in mind they created the Bretton Woods

monetary system which would relax trade barriers in areas under its control.

The Soviets did not partake in the Bretton Woods monetary system.

The Soviets on the other hand had a different perspective on how the

world community would look after the conclusion of the second World War.
The primary goal of the Soviet Union after the war ended was to secure the

areas that separated the German and Soviet borders. It was noted by Gaddis

that Stalin had made it clear since the summer of 1941 that he would not

tolerate hostile states along his western border, yet in most of the Eastern

Europe free elections, if held, would produce governments unfriendly to

Moscow (Gaddis,132). It was in these states that Roosevelt and the United

States would have to play by Stalins rules. It was tremendously important to

the Soviets that their western border be secure and not within reach of the

ever hostile Germans. This Area included Poland and large portions of

Romania. This was a major conflict that arose between the United States and

the Soviets. It was the primary goal for the Soviets and directly opposed the

wishes of the United States to instill national self determination. Neither

Poland nor Romania wanted to be part of the Russian Empire.

Towards the end of the war when it became apparent that the two

powers each had different visions about how the post war world community

would look, the two nations began to lose trust in each other. When the

states couldnt trust one another it became imperative to each nation to hold

the upper hand in the relationship. Neither nation wanted to be seen as the

inferior. Held in a constant struggle for power between the heads of state,

the citizens of both countries became involved. The attitude of the American

people towards those of the Soviet Union went from that of praise to distrust

and accusatory. The Soviet Union that they once cheered for in battles

against Nazi Germany was now the face of world conflict.

 Apart from the views that the American people had about the Soviets

there was also a change in the American identity. Before the end of the war

America had envisioned itself as one of four world policemen. Those

policemen would consist of the powerful nations in the world: China, Russia,

Britain and America. This changed dramatically when after the war Britain

was no longer powerful enough to sustain world safety. China was engaged

in a civil war. And the Russians held completely different views about the

world. It became a power struggle between the two. That power struggle led

to a race. A race for everything from technology to industrial surplus. There

was nothing in the world that America did not want to be in charge of. They

acted as if they were the sole policemen of the world. This was primarily to

keep the Soviets from gaining too much power in other nations.

There are many events that caused what came to be known as the cold

war. For the most part it was major differences in worldview accompanied

by the inability to compromise with the other nation. The lack of trust

between the two nations spurred each other on to continue to push these

conflicts to their limits. Despite the causes both nations underwent changes

in their world identity as a result of the Cold War.

 Works Cited
Gaddis, John Lewis. 2000. The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947. Columbia
Studies in Contemporary American History Series. New York: Columbia University Press.