Beginning after the end of World War II and proceeding until 1990, the Cold War

has effected all countries in Eastern and Western Europe. Through unsettled grievances,

the Soviet Union and United States have "fought" a nuclear arms war to show off who has

the best defenses and technology. Due to previous events, it is evident that the Soviet

Union is to blame for such actions. From signing the non-aggression pact to the Cuban

Missile crisis, it is obvious that the US is just a bystander who became involved by trying

to help others.

The non-aggression pact started when Germany and the Soviet Union signed a

pact that if Germany took over Poland, the two power houses would not go to war with

each other. Once Germany broke the agreement and invaded Russia, all out war began,

and the Soviets were left to defend themselves. Unable to help in the relief of the battle at

Stalingrad, the allied powers tried to devise a way to make Germany surrender

unconditionally. Because of America's lack of involvement in Stalingrad, the Soviets never

really forgave the allies and had hard feelings towards them that were never resolved.

Because conflict for the upcoming war lays in the unresolved problems of the previous

war, this set the backdrop for the Cold War.

The Yalta conference held in February of 1945, was a turning point in the

relationship between the major powers. The big three, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill,

disagreed on how to settle up with Germany after the end of the war, and unlike the US

and Britain, the Soviet Union wanted to punish Germany and make it pay for damages

done to Soviet land. By this time, the Soviet Union had already occupied much of Eastern

Europe, in particularly Poland. While in Poland and surrounding countries, communism

was beginning to grow for the Soviets and their fear of capitalism was also cultivating.

Stalin continually seemed to tighten his grip on Eastern Europe. Going into the meeting

proceeding Yalta, the Soviets were not going to let countries, such as Poland, decide their

own governmental fate, but wanted to keep them under communist control to protect the

western side of the union. This led to problems in the development of the United Nations.

The Cold War deepened in June of 1948 as Soviet leaders declared that their

currency would be circulated in all parts of Berlin, including those belonging to Britain,

France and the US. As a way to influence the western allies to give up their parts of Berlin

to the Soviets, the Soviet leaders turned off electrical power to West Berlin and blocked

all highways and railroads into and out of the capital. This left two million West Berliners

hostage without food, water or fuel. In order to protect their investments in West Berlin,

America began an air relief by flying in 13,000 tons of supplies a day to a make shift

runway.

In February of 1946, Stalin spoke of what American Supreme Court Justice

William Douglas called a "declaration of World War III." Stalin talked of how one day

communism and capitalism would clash, and he decided to stop all trade with the West

and build modern weaponry no matter what it cost the country. This weaponry became

threatening to the US when Soviet troops began building missiles in Cuba during the early

1960s. This sent the US into a panic to protect their southern border. Cuba's ruler, Fidel

Castro, and the Soviet Union's leader Khrushchev felt they "had to think of some way of

confronting America with more than words." As a way to keep peace, American President

John F. Kennedy, agreed to block Cuban shipping lanes to halt further deliveries of Soviet

nuclear missiles to the island. To avoid a nuclear war, Khrushchev agreed to remove the

missiles from Cuba if the US agreed to never attack the island.

After carefully weighing the evidence presented, the Soviet Union seems to be the

likely one who started the war. Their lack of communication with the US and their

decision not to negotiate with the other powers led them to defend themselves during the

Cold War era. Beginning with the non-aggression pact and ending with the fall of the

Soviet Union in the 1990s, the Cold War has opened many eyes to the world of nuclear

warfare and possible ends to the world.