Immediately after the ending of World War II, the Soviet Union distanced itself politically and diplomatically from the West. In particular, it cold-shouldered the USA, created a wide diplomatic gap as well as an aggressive economic and military rivalry between the two nations. That rivalry, and its associated ideological divide, was the Cold War. Political defections, international intrigue, diplomatic dramas, national espionage and military grandstanding characterized the period. A cold war author was presented with a rich cascade of plots and sub-plots for many years.
During the Second World War, the Soviets fought as allies with the west against Germany and Nazism. Despite that cooperation, the Soviet relationship with western countries was brittle, even at that time, corroded by ideological mistrust. Communism and capitalism are not easy companions.
During the war, Soviet Russia maintained some dialogue with western allies. However, once the war ended, it withdrew. It severely limited its diplomatic dialogue and established a deep and wide ideological gulf with the western countries.
Within a year of WWII ending, the Soviets had already begun to pull away from western countries. Sir Winston Churchill criticized this detente in a speech he presented at the Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, during March 1946. He described Soviet isolationism as having pulled a large Iron Curtain down upon Europe, dividing West from East.
Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia plus Romania were all under a high degree of Soviet influence if not control. They were puppets of the Soviet Union. Their communist parties were funded significantly by the Soviet Union.
The Soviets repeatedly rejected economic and diplomatic ties with the USA and other western nations. It remained deliberately distant and difficult to access politically, economically and culturally. Its economy was essentially closed to the much of the outside world. Its reluctance to engage in dialogue with the West created an information vacuum. Lacking data, the West filled that vacuum with uncertainty, doubt and suspicion regarding Soviet military ambitions.
Churchill titled his Westminster College talk the Sinews of Peace. However, commentators quickly dropped that banner in favor of the Iron Curtain speech. Many analysts now consider that speech to be one of the first indications signaling the start of the intense detente between Soviet Russia and the West that was the Cold War.
Throughout that period of detente, limited data about its economic wealth and military capability was available to the West. Analysts such as the US Central Intelligence Agency badly over-estimated the power of the Soviet Union. That misunderstanding persisted for fifty years until Soviet President Gorbachev ushered in progressive policies known as Perestroika. Those policies dismantled many internal bureaucratic constraints, introduced market-driven mechanisms in the Soviet economy and opened it to the forces of international competition. Perestroika also ended the intense Soviet diplomatic detente with the West that for several decades provided rich literary fodder for a Cold War author.
During the Second World War, the Soviets fought as allies with the west against Germany and Nazism. Despite that cooperation, the Soviet relationship with western countries was brittle, even at that time, corroded by ideological mistrust. Communism and capitalism are not easy companions.
During the war, Soviet Russia maintained some dialogue with western allies. However, once the war ended, it withdrew. It severely limited its diplomatic dialogue and established a deep and wide ideological gulf with the western countries.
Within a year of WWII ending, the Soviets had already begun to pull away from western countries. Sir Winston Churchill criticized this detente in a speech he presented at the Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, during March 1946. He described Soviet isolationism as having pulled a large Iron Curtain down upon Europe, dividing West from East.
Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia plus Romania were all under a high degree of Soviet influence if not control. They were puppets of the Soviet Union. Their communist parties were funded significantly by the Soviet Union.
The Soviets repeatedly rejected economic and diplomatic ties with the USA and other western nations. It remained deliberately distant and difficult to access politically, economically and culturally. Its economy was essentially closed to the much of the outside world. Its reluctance to engage in dialogue with the West created an information vacuum. Lacking data, the West filled that vacuum with uncertainty, doubt and suspicion regarding Soviet military ambitions.
Churchill titled his Westminster College talk the Sinews of Peace. However, commentators quickly dropped that banner in favor of the Iron Curtain speech. Many analysts now consider that speech to be one of the first indications signaling the start of the intense detente between Soviet Russia and the West that was the Cold War.
Throughout that period of detente, limited data about its economic wealth and military capability was available to the West. Analysts such as the US Central Intelligence Agency badly over-estimated the power of the Soviet Union. That misunderstanding persisted for fifty years until Soviet President Gorbachev ushered in progressive policies known as Perestroika. Those policies dismantled many internal bureaucratic constraints, introduced market-driven mechanisms in the Soviet economy and opened it to the forces of international competition. Perestroika also ended the intense Soviet diplomatic detente with the West that for several decades provided rich literary fodder for a Cold War author.
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