From the end of World War II in 1945 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War was the center of attention to international affairs. . It was a struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. From the American perspective, the Cold War was primarily a war against communism. The United States caused and sustained the Cold War, it is responsible for the Cold War for the communist Soviet Union's disparity in favor of political and economic systems. At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union suffered huge losses and the country was almost destroyed. For Russia to protect itself in the future, it should be surrounded by countries loyal to Soviet Russia. These countries would serve as a buffer zone to prevent possible future invading armies. The Soviet takeover of Poland was a defensive tactic to protect Russia, not to attempt to convert Europe to communism as America claimed. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established just after the end of World War II. Meanwhile, many Soviet troops remained in Eastern Europe. The governments established by these forces were pro-communist and are called the Warsaw Pact countries. Besides the USSR, these countries include Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. Western countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Member countries agreed that an attack on one would be considered an attack on all. NATO was another event that triggered Stalin's power and it was seen as a defensive tactic against the USSR that caused tensions to rise. Effective UN action has in fact been hampered by superpower conflict based on both geopolitical and ideological factors. This led to many other wars that ...... middle of paper ...... blockade; he prevented all access to and from East Germany. Access to Berlin from the west was cut off in stages and culminated in the complete blockade on June 24, 1948. To support part of Berlin, the United States began airlifting more than 5,600 tons of supplies every day during the blockade. Stalin viewed the American air response to the Berlin blockade as confrontational. Constant pressure from the United States and the British finally forced Stalin to end the blockade in 1949. Russia was only defending itself by keeping Germany dismantled. The United States refused to recognize communism as a valid form of government. The United States' skewed view of communism, linked to its responsibility to manipulate governments and economies throughout Europe, sparked the Cold War. The actions of the United States infuriated the Soviet Union and their ideology posed a global threat to the Soviet Union and communism..