The end of the Second World War saw a significant shift in the global power balance and the emergence of the Soviet Union as a global superpower. Stalin’s desire to secure the Soviet Union’s western frontier saw the establishment of a Soviet ‘sphere of influence’ in Eastern Europe. Differing interpretations by the USA and the USSR as to what the term ‘sphere of influence’ meant caused a rapid cooling of relations between them between 1945 and 1948. In fact, the takeover of Eastern Europe by the Soviet Union largely precipitated the Cold War. These events are dealt with at www.sparknotes.com/history/american/coldwar/section2.rhtml and also at www.johndclare.net/cold_war6.htm and www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/cold_war.htm.
Cold War
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