The United States were seen as the champions of democracy, so their interests in communism was seen all around the world. The United States was not trying to specifically expand their empire, but spread capitalism. The West saw capitalism as the means of destruction to communism. This heightened tension between the U.S. and Soviets because the Soviets called the U.S. out for taking interest in Eastern Europe, half-way across the world. The Soviets were trying to expand their empire and the U.S. was trying to destroy communism. The Soviet Union started the Cold War and the U.S.’s response to the threat was to spread capitalism. Though one could argue that the U.S.’s interest in parts of the world far from the States caused the Soviets to protect their beliefs, the United States was trying to defend freedom of the individual. This was seen as a way to avoid future armed conflicts. The Cold War was a response to the effects communism was having on the world. The Soviet Union was seen as a threat to democracy and individual freedom around the …show more content…
The Soviet Union believed communism was the solution to preventing future wars. They also saw capitalism as the problem. The Soviets also believed capitalism caused WWII. Russian leader Stalin says, “Actually, the war was the inevitable result of the development of world economic and political forces on the basis of modern monopoly capitalism.” This is why the United States was so committed to defending capitalism and increasing their interests. They believe capitalism was the solution to communism, “Overall, Truman projected American power onto the world stage with unprecedented activity, expanding American interests worldwide, providing American solutions to problems afflicting countries far distant from the United States, establishing the United States as the pre-eminent nation in the postwar era.” The United States, the champion of freedom, had to establish itself as a world power in order to gain creditability and influence. After gaining those two characteristics, they could attack communism. The United States were not trying to expand its empire, but merely trying to stop communism by spreading capitalism. This had to be done because the Soivet Union would have wanted to spread communism and take over the world in some sense. They believed the world would be a better place without capitalism. U.S. NSC-68 policy paper said, “…the Soviet Union, unlike previous