The immediate Post War II Europe : the emergence of the superpower era

Abstract

The twentieth century has witnessed the beginning and end of three major wars. Two of these wars, World War I and II, which began in Europe, eventually spread throughout the world and caused wide spread destruction and death. The third war, the cold war, brought with it a bi-polar domination. American and Soviet domination were the result of the defeat of France in 1940, Italy in 1943, Germany and Japan in 1945 and the eventual decline of British power. Hence this bipolar situation, where powers dealt with European matters outside of Europe was, inevitable. This project shall discuss the birth of this third war, and hence mostly deals with the past, but in many ways, these events address the present, if not the future. Relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were driven by a complex interplay of ideological, political, and economic factors, which led to shifts between cautious co-operation and often bitter superpower rivalry over the years. The distinct differences in the political systems of the two countries often prevented them from reaching a mutual understanding on key policy issues and even, as in the case of the Berlin Blockade, brought them to the brink of war.