The U.S. and Russia were once close allies, yet a few years later they were embroiled in the Cold War. What do you think led to this shift?

The United States and Russia were at one point very close allies, yet a few years later the countries were embroiled in the Cold War. What do you think led to this shift?

it was no shift-- the alliance was one of expediency--The US wanted Germany stopped and Russia was the power in Europe capable of doing that. Russia needed help in fighting Germany--she needed weapons and fuel and ammunition--and we provided that. Russia did not want Germany getting big enough by expansion to in any way become strong enough to challenge its supremacy as the largest and strongest country in Europe. The US had to make a choice--not make Russia an ally and take the chance that they would ally with Germany rather than fight them alone. Did we want to have as our enemy Germany having swallowed all of Europe including Britain, eventually in some sort of alliance with Communist Russia or did we want to try to handle Communist Russia once Europe was freed and owing to us for their freedom? Flip a coin--Russia wins.

I am not so sure they were ever true allies anytime after the Russian Revolution. During WWII America ended up as Allies based on “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” approach. As soon ad Hitler was destroyed any semblance of good relations with Russia was gone. The Cold War was a competition for world dominance that ended as a draw. The competition continues.

I agree with both katherinep and paulagb.

All of the responses have it right.

I do not think they were "close" allies. They used each other to gain the ultimate end which was defeating Germany. As soon as that was achieved, the alliance was no longer necessary.

I don't think they were close allies. It was a case of war making strange bedfellows. England and the USSR were both in danger from the Nazis and the US and the USSR were both in danger from the Japanese. So everyone had a reason to at least somewhat work together.

I agree with the basic points of the all the answers above. It is always about who is going to keep the power.

Katherinep has it right . It was for the Allies, a lesser of 2 evils. The US and UK did not trust Stalin, so after the war, all those feelings took over. Then when tose countries knew what Stalin did to his own people, it wasn't a big stretch for them to keep Russia at an arms length. Then the Berlin Wall sort of sealed that mistrust.

USSR and the US were allies in the sense that a common enemy makes for strange bedfellows. Their "falling out" after WWII was a direct result of the war. The USSR saw the aftermath of the war as a way to expand its territory. It had no intention of helping those countries build back after the war. Instead, they were to become steppingstones to its hoped-for domination of Europe. For me, the most obvious symbol of this subjugation was East Berlin.

I don't think that the US and Russia were close prior to their alliance in WW2. Germany was in conflict with the UK and Russia which were allied against their common enemy. When the US finally entered the war after Pearl Harbor, the 3 countries became allies against Germany. Any semblance of alliance with Russia ended when Russia took over formerly independent countries after the war.

This is a perfect example of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" philophy in use.

The US and the Soviet Union were never "close" allies. As Meltzer points out, an alliance between the two countries was a "complicated business". At the time of World War 2 the alliance was one of expediency. It was not possible to overcome the differences in political, economic, and moral outlook between the two countries. Churchill, in particular, was no fan of either Communism or Stalin but publicly stated that an alliance with Russia was made only in the interest of defeating Nazidom. Once WW 2 was over, Churchill made it very clear that the Western powers must work together to "contain" the spread of Communism.