Why were the US and the USSR two superpowers during the Cold War?

Comments ( 9 )

1. peevee says

   For its size, Russia was held to be a great power. USA came into limelight mainly after she shed her policy of isolation. The Second World War brought them together to fight the Nazis. While other countries were defeated and overrun, Russia and USA remained more or less un affected(except for the short period of Nazi invasion of Russia). By the end of the war there was Victorious USSR, championing the cause of communism and USA, championing the cause of Liberalism and democracy. Britain and France lost much of their importance with the collapse of their colonial empires and they line up with USA. The result was the polarisation of the world into two camps, one led by USA and the other, by USSR. When rivalry between Democracy and /communism showed up after the War, these two countries emerged as the natural leaders .

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2. armouror says

   Edit there was 5 countries involved in the Manhattan Project the British Canadians and the USA who designed and built the weapons the Russians and Germans who had spies in the camp

   Du Pont the american chemical company was working on the Manhattan project and also working for the NAZIS at Auschwitz

   so the USA were NOT the only county to he the ability to build Nukes the British Built their own In 1946

   and Russian tested their first a copy from Los Alamos in 1952

   they were NOT there was 3 super powers during the cold War

   the British had 30 Air Force Bases In Germany

   with 3 Squadrons on each base

   the United States Navy was reduced after WW2 leaving the Biggest blue water navy as the RN until 1972 when the British had secured the Independence of its Colonies east of Suez

   then we Reduced our Navy Air Force and Army Just because the British were Quiet during the cold war does Not reduce its capability

   the RAF from 1948 had the Best Bomber the Canberra followed By the Valiant Victor and the Mighty Vulcan all nuclear capable

   the Best Fighter in 1961 was the English Electric Lightning and let us Not forget the Harrier

   the British also Had its own Nuclear capability that could wipe Out every city in the USSR alone

   so why do people Insist that the USA and Russia were the Only super powers

   if the USA was so Good why did they insist that the British Join the USA in Vietnam

   and what did the USA sell to its new alli the widow maker even as an alli the USA was Killing germans with its rubbish aircraft

   When the U.S.-designed F-104 Starfighter was adopted by the West German air force in 1961, the sophisticated warplane seemed to be the ideal craft for that country's air defense system. It was a technological marvel with a maximum speed of 1,450 m.p.h. and a reputation as the hottest fighter in America's arsenal. In West Germany, however, the Starfighter has won no encomiums; the aircraft has instead become known as the "widow-maker." In the 15 years that the Luftwaffe has been flying the F-104s, 178 have crashed, claiming the lives of 85 pilots.

   and in 1961 the average of the Luftwaffe Fighter Pilots was 19

   The English Electric Lightning is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, noted for its great speed and unpainted natural metal exterior finish. It is the only all-British Mach 2 fighter aircraft. The aircraft was renowned for its capabilities as an interceptor; RAF pilots described it as "being saddled to a skyrocket"

   so much for the Real superpowers

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3. Gerald Cline says

   During the course of WW II both were able to build huge armies supported by a strong Industrial base. German and Japans industrial bases were wiped out and their armies dispersed and defeated. The UK got through the war, but was badly damaged economically and in the post war era had to take a back-seat to the USA and the USSR. The USA was stronger overall, but dispersed all over the world. The USSR was concentrated in Eastern Europe and they had local superior forces available there at the end of the war.

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4. Beau says

   It was more to do with the fact that the other great powers – Germany, Japan, Britain and France – were severely weakened after WW2, leaving the US and USSR as the last two standing.

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5. TGI11 says

   OK…..

   U.S had ended WW2 with a nuclear weapon. U.S was the only country with this information to build the bomb. After seeing the Soviet troops invade Berlin the allies feared that U.S.S.R would be their new enemy. To show their might U.S used the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki to scare the shit out of the soviets. The soviets responded to this by hiring the top physicists to work on their own Nuclear program. That's basically it…

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6. Don't call me d says

   They were the two strongest powers of the winning side in WW2. Everybody else had been bombed, strangled, occupied, overseas investments taken, etc.

   The Soviets had been hit quite badly by the Nazis in that way, but the USSR was so huge that even maimed and bleeding from Hitler's assaults, they were still in the big leagues. And they still had the military machine that had done the vast majority of the Allies' fighting against the Nazis.

   The U.S. had been protected by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with very little direct home involvement in the war, and lost less than half a million casualties. And involvement in the war had revved-up U.S. tech and industry as well.

   The other big powers? Britain had been so weakened that its empire was a fading memory, China was not yet even really unified and had been bled by Japanese occupation, and France had been occupied by the Nazis.

   Not even counting the capitalist vs. communist thing, and ignoring the fact that the U.S. had been doing warlike things against the Soviets since their revolution, including sending U.S. troops during their Civil War — a post-WW2 conflict between the two was still inevitable.

   The USSR and the USA were the only two big boys left standing. That in and of itself guaranteed something like the Cold War would happen
   .

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7. ranger_co_1_75 says

   Because they had the biggest economies at that time and could afford the military technology necessary for competition. Most of the world depended on the two super powers for protection from aggression so they spent their money on the General Welfare of the People.

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8. darkpreacher says

   basically everybody else had gotten totally wrecked during WW2

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9. ♫ says

   I'm not sure about the USSR, but if you remember, most of the world war took place in Europe and pacific islands, so the US was not destroyed as much as other countries. therefore it didn't have to spend it's money rebuilding, thus leading the US to be a super power, because of it's economy

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