Question

how did the U.S. and Soviet Union go from being working allies against hitler to bitter rivals at the time of JFK?

Answer 1

It is a complicated question. I would be happy to discuss it if you wanted to.

Answer 2

The United States emerged from the conclusion of World War two as the most powerful nation on the earth. Militarily the United States has troop all over the world and held the most valuable ground with the most most weapons. Although not all types of weapons the US made were the most effective in the world yet, the system of production coupled with adaquate technological advancement made the United States the most powerful conventional military power ever seen on the planet earth.

Answer 3

Economically, the United States was head and shoulders more prosperous, productive, and inovative than any other nation on earth after the war. All other modern powerful nations, notably Britian, France, Russia, Germany, China, and Japan were absolutely devastated by the effects of the most destructive war in the history of the planet. Beside the human cost which was never seen, estimates reaching as high as 70 million people, from the ranks of soldiers and civilians, were killed, with million more wounded. Uncountable acts of rape, violence and inhumanity no doubt left a legacy of emotional pain and spiritual scars that effected human relationships and family strength. Most of these acts, wounds, and deaths occurred in Europe and Asia, the continential United States being relatively unmarred by these tramatic events.

Answer 4

Russia in particular suffered greatly from the war. (Add to the figures above. There were 40 to 50 million civilians killed from war or disease, 22-25 million military from war or disease, total of 2.5% of worlds population) Russia had 8-10 million military and 12-14 million civilian deaths. The German Eastern front was particularly brutal and the hatred between the two countries was reflected in the treatment each side doled out to both prisioners of war and women, with many brutal rapes being part of a myriad of war crimes committed by both sides against one another.

Answer 5

The United States emerged from the conclusion of World War two as the most powerful nation on the earth. Militarily the United States has troop all over the world and held the most valuable ground with the most weapons. Although not all types of weapons the US made were the most effective in the world yet, the system of production coupled with adequate technological advancement made the United States the most powerful conventional military power ever seen on the planet earth.

Economically, the United States was head and shoulders more prosperous, productive, and innovative than any other nation on earth after the war. All other modern powerful nations, notably Britain, France, Russia, Germany, China, and Japan were absolutely devastated by the effects of the most destructive war in the history of the planet. Beside the human cost which was never seen, estimates reaching as high as 70 million people, from the ranks of soldiers and civilians, were killed, with millions more wounded. Uncountable acts of rape, violence and inhumanity no doubt left a legacy of emotional pain and spiritual scars that effected human relationships and family strength. Most of these acts, wounds, and deaths occurred in Europe and Asia, the continental United States being relatively unmarred by these traumatic events.

The alliance of convenience between the United States and the Soviet Union, between FDR and Stalin, was based upon the interest of each country at the time. In other words, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Even before the war ended both the United States and the Soviet Union was busy maneuvering to be in the best position possible it the new post WWII world. The most drastic change in the balance of power of the world was the United States development of the Atomic bomb. This was a game changer. However, even before the war ended, the Soviet Union had scientists stealing the secrets of the bomb.

After the war, the Soviet Union was the only military machine that could compete with the United States. There were many differences between the two nations that made these nations rivals. The systems of government were opposed to each other. The United States was a democracy; the Soviet Union was an effective dictatorship. The economic system were also opposed, the United States with a market system, individuals making the choices to determine what is produced and consumed. The Soviet Union was a government controlled economy, with the government owning the means of production, the factories, and making the decision of what is produced and how much. This economic system was called Communism.

Finally the ideas of Communism were not believed to be able to co-exist with the ideas of freedom, probably because Communism itself believed that those who lived in capitalist systems, like the United States would inevitably fail.

With the spread of Communism after the war, in China, and most troubling to the United States by the time of JFK, to Cuba, a short 90 miles off the shore of the United States, the Soviet Union and the United States, both nuclear powers, were heated rivals.