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There were numerous factors that led to the outbreak of the Cold War in 1945, immediately following the end of World War II. The greatest contributing factor to all this was the ideological, political, and economic differences between the society and government of the west and that of the Communist system used in the Soviet Union. This difference would lead to dramatic foreign policy positions that would shape world affairs for the next four decades.
Americans, on the whole, were afraid of Communism. As a capitalist, democratic society, they did not understand how a government could restrict free market enterprise and be governed by one political party. As the Soviet Union became increasingly powerful, Americans were afraid of the continued spread of this system, ultimately fearing that it would become a direct threat to the way of life that we as a society held dear. Further, in the treaties that brought an end to World War II, freedom was promised to the nations of Eastern Europe, giving them the opportunity to democratically choose what system of government they wanted to have. Stalin, however, as leader of the Soviet Union, broke these treaties and did not allow for fair and accurate elections, installing Communist governments regardless of the people’s wishes.
The Soviet Union was also fearful of America: we had harnessed the power of the Atomic Bomb and used it on two Japanese cities at the end of the war. They had suffered invasions by European powers twice in the a span of 40 years; they sought to create a secure western border that would prevent future attacks. They were willing to go to great lengths to defend their way of life from what they perceived as a credible threat, and the ensuing tensions between the two global superpowers would result in a period of time today known as the Cold War.