Rebuilding the World: Origins of the Cold War

World War II changed how humans made and used goods. It devastated countries in Europe and Asia. These countries needed to rebuild after the war. There was a lot of disagreement about how to do so. The biggest disagreement was between the United States and the Soviet Union.

This disagreement led to the Cold War. It was called a “cold” war because they did not fight each other directly. They just wanted to spread their economic systems around the world.

The Soviets were communist. They believed in economies controlled by the state. The Americans were capitalists. They believed in free markets. They wanted the world to embrace capitalism. They sent military and economic aid to their allies.

After the war, the Soviets took control of Eastern Europe. The U.S. rebuilt Western Europe. They did this using the Marshall Plan. It sent billions of dollars to seventeen countries. It helped create economic “miracles” in several countries. Germany is one country that benefitted greatly from the U.S.’s efforts to rebuild Western Europe. The Marshall Plan kept the Soviets from expanding into Western Europe.

Historian David Landes and Sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein wrote about the recoveries of Germany and Japan. They disagreed on the reason behind the U.S.’s efforts to rebuild. Landes insisted that the recoveries were built on “work, education, determination”, and American financial assistance. Wallerstein claimed that the U.S. decided to help because they hoped that the economic success of their allies (like Germany) would convince more countries to join their side, rather than the Soviets’.

Decolonization and economic dependency

After the war, European empires in Africa and Asia collapsed. Colonized countries became independent. Europe lost power in international politics. African and Asian countries spoke out against inequality, and some refused to follow either the U.S. or Soviet Union.

Western Europe and Japan needed raw materials to rebuild. They got these from the former colonies. They relied on people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Farmers there grew cash crops. Cash crops are crops that are sold, not eaten by the people who grew them. Farmers became dependent on the money they made from selling their crops. They were unable to grow food for themselves, and were forced to rely on aid from richer countries. This created a system of dependency.

Some countries fought against this system. They nationalized industries. This meant that the government took control. For example, Iran’s government took control of the country’s oil industry.

The U.S. saw this as a step toward communism. It worked against leaders who nationalized industries. It helped remove these leaders from power. They wanted countries to adopt capitalism.

Consumption and inequality

People in the U.S., Japan, and Western Europe bought more goods. Americans bought large homes in the suburbs. They bought new cars and washing machines.

There was inequality in wealthy nations. Black Americans were often unable to buy a new house. There were racist Jim Crow laws. There was also redlining¹ laws. These denied equal opportunities for African Americans.

There was also a setback for women’s rights after the war. Many women had filled the jobs of men during the war. After the war, they went back to working in the household. New tax laws encouraged male- dominated households. This made women dependent on men.

The period after World War II saw great changes. Large economies were rebuilt. Much of the world was freed from living under empires. However, this period also started the Cold War. It created a system of dependency. Both led to years of conflict. They also created inequalities between rich and poor nations. Many of these inequalities continue today.

1 Redlining is a financial and loan practice of excluding people from certain neighborhoods and denying public services to certain neighborhoods, often with racist motivations.