The Origin of the Cold War

In American studies class this week we have been analyzing the many arguments for the origin of the Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Some have said that it originated from the opposition between capitalism and socialism, or the threat of the two powers in possession of nuclear weapons, but I believe that the Cold War originated from the want of both the US and USSR to be the new international superpower. Throughout the 20th century, a handful of countries who possessed advanced technology and ambitious political leaders contended for a position of power over other nations by waging world wars and creating alliances. The conclusion of the second world war left these previous contenders of worldwide dominance, mainly the nations of Germany, Japan, England, and France, in both economic and national turmoil, seriously delaying the continuation of their rise to power. This left only two contenders left in the race for worldwide influence- the US and USSR. They had been shady allies during world war 2, but now that the war was over any trust or reliability they had between them vanished and the two nations became enemies in the pursuit for power. They then based this rivalry off of the opposing ideals of capitalism or socialism, or the threat they posed for each other being the only two nations currently in possession of the atomic bomb, but really I think that this was all a facade for the fact that they both wanted power and saw the other as an obstacle in their way to obtaining it.