Background (College Board AP® US History)
Study Guide
Timeline:
1917 ‒ Bolshevik Revolution establishes communism in Russia
September 1, 1939 ‒ Germany invades Poland to start World War II
May 1945 ‒ The European battles of World War II end
September 1945 ‒ The Pacific battles of World War II end
1947 ‒ National Security Act passed
1948 ‒ Eastern European governments are under Soviet control
June 1948 ‒ Berlin Airlift
1949 ‒ NATO formed
1949 ‒ Soviets successfully test atomic bomb
June 1950 ‒ North Korea invades South Korea
1952 ‒ U.S. creates the hydrogen bomb
1953 ‒ The Korean War ends without a peace treaty
April 1961 ‒ Bay of Pigs invasion
October 1962 ‒ Cuban Missile Crisis
1969 – Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) I begin
Summary
The United States and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II. The alliance dissolved after the war, when the Soviets installed their own governments in Eastern European nations. A cold war between the two nations began.
End of World War II
Start of the Cold War
The Cold War began as World War II ended in 1945
The Soviet Union had promised the United States that it would withdraw from Eastern Europe at the war’s end
The Soviet Union did not keep this promise
Instead, the Soviets installed their own governments in Eastern European countries, including Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany
The Soviets did this for two reasons:
To create a buffer zone between Germany and the Soviet Union just in case the Nazis rose to power again
The Soviets wanted to keep Germany weak so they could not attack the Soviet Union
To spread communism
The United States feared the spread of communism
Communism directly conflicted with the United States’ democratic capitalism
Unlike the Soviets, the U.S. wanted Germany to embrace democratic values so that it could become strong and contribute to a stable Europe
U.S. government officials stopped trusting their former Soviet allies
Examiner Tips and Tricks
You may be asked about the relationship between the United States and Russia/the Soviet Union and how and why it changed over the course of the 20th century. Remember, the nations’ relationship had been strained since the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. That’s when the U.S. cut off diplomatic ties and refused to acknowledge communist Russia as a legitimate state. The Soviets and Americans came together during World War II because they shared a common enemy: the Nazis. Russia, in particular, was desperate for an ally that could weaken Germany while parts of Russia were under Nazi occupation. Once the war was over, both the Soviets and Americans raced to sway as many war-torn nations to their favored political and economic philosophies.
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