More 20th Century History Answers
Question Library
Ask a question about 20th Century History
Volunteer
Experts of the Month
Expert Login
Awards
About Us
Tell friends
Link to Us
Disclaimer
|
| |
|
|
| |
| | | |
About Tom
Expertise
While it is a huge topic, I am well-versed in World War II generally. There is a huge wealth of information available on the internet, HOWEVER, one has to know the trash from the gems. Many sites which are not obviously credible (govt, university, and museum sites, for ex.), provide erroneous information (intentionally or otherwise).
Experience
BA in history, and been reading and studying WW2 as my 'hobby' for 30 years. Regular contributor to several online forums in military history, WW2, and related areas and topics.
Organizations
None relevant to this topic.
Education/Credentials
BA, History (Secondary Education), with minor in Geography
US Army Engineer Officer (Officer Basic and Advanced Courses)
| | |
| |
You are here: Experts > Homework Help > 20th Century History > 20th Century History > USA and Russia during WWII
Expert: Tom
Date: 5/2/2008
Subject: USA and Russia during WWII
Question
Can you tell me what happen between Russia and the USA during WW2? We both were working to fight a war, but things changed to make us mad at each other, including the new spy thing I read about called "The Pond" where we were spying on Russia. Sounds like that we both could have avoided the cold war and the arms race.
Thanks.
Answer
The USSR (commonly called Russia, but today the USSR is gone and 15 separate nations comprise that territory), was a communist totalitarian state under Stalin. They were at war with Nazi Germany, and later on we also joined that war (WW2), and so we became allies (or at least we had the same enemy, Germany and its European allies).
The USSR fought a horrific war against the Germans and lost on the order of 27 MILLION DEAD in that war. The US lost about 400,000 in the whole war, including against Japan, by comparison. What the US did was provide the Soviets with enormous quantities of Lend-Lease aid (esp. trucks, food, wire, and chemicals), so that they could continue their part of the war.
As for spying, both sides spied, but USSR did far more of it, and was more effective about it. There was nothing new, or novel about it. Neither side trusted the other (remember we were allied with Britain, Canada and Australia, etc.), and though we did share information, it was limited based on necessity and trust. For ex., the Soviets never knew when we would invade France (e.g., D-Day), nor that we had the atomic bomb. While the US provided soviets with fighters and transport aircraft, we never gave them our prize possessions - 4 engine long-range bombers.
As for avoiding the cold war and arms race, I am absolutely of the view that it was inevitable. The Cold War, arms race, and the polarization of the world following WW2 wasn't based simply on spying or even mistrust. Our two systems of government (western democracries like US, Britain, France) and the soviet communist system were oil and water. From top to bottom, the two views of the world, of economics, of society, of the role of government, etc., were completely at odds.
Only when one form of thinking and government fell (e.g., the collapse of the Warsaw pact, and of the USSR), did the cold war end. Better, more honest relations, built on trust, could have mitigated the cold war and the arms races, but there was little to base that trust upon, unfortunately. Hence, the conflict was, in my view, essentially unavoidable.
Tom
Add to this Answer
Ask a Question
|
|
