The Potsdam Conference and the Cold War

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the evolution of the political relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union after WWII. The paper explains how both countries viewed the other country's political objective and how these perspectives ultimately shaped all other international relations in the period from the Potsdam Conference until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989.

From the Paper:

"Though the United States and the Soviet Union emerged from World War II as putative allies and co-victors in the struggle against Nazi Germany, the reality of the period following World War II is that the United States and the Soviet Union were not allies in any meaningful sense. Whereas the United States positioned itself as supportive of a return to national autonomy in all of Europe, Arnold A. Offner has argued that the Soviets saw a defeated Europe as a logical locus for the extension of Soviet interests and hegemony."

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