setting the stage for cold war & decolonization:

cold war: stand off between United States and the Soviet Union that lasted forty years

decolonization: movement to decolonize: empires are broken up and former colonies gain independence

• United States: Franklin Roosevelt —> Harry Truman
• Great Britain:
• Soviet Union: Stalin

yalta conference (1944):

• big three attend
• FDR wants free elections in Eastern Europe
• Stalin wants Eastern Europe under Soviet influence

potsdam conference (1945):

• big three attend, Harry Truman
• Stalin refuses Truman's demands because he already occupied

us & ussr emerge as superpowers of world

• us has no damage to infrastructure & economy
• ussr has huge industrial capacity and large population
• america doesn't tell other powers of atomic bomb —> creates cold war

<aside> 💡 **cold war: **a state of hostility between two countries which does not result in open warfare

</aside>

decolonization:

• colonized countries who fought in WW1 hope sacrifice earns right to be free
  • Woodrow Wilson was emphatic about allowing nations to have the right to self-determination