Describe conditions on the European continent after World War II. How did those conditions contribute to the United States and the Soviet Union became enemies, despite having been allies during the war?

After the devastation of World War II, Europe was completely destroyed and in disarray. Millions of people had become refugees, and entire cities had been leveled. Much of Europe had to be rebuilt.

The world's leading superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, viewed these struggles in Europe as an opportunity to spread their own ideologies, with the U. S. favoring capitalism and democracy and the Soviet Union favoring communism. Although the U. S. and USSR were allies during World War II, tensions mounted as the Soviets began their attempt to establish communist governments in struggling nations. In the months after World War II, Americans hoped the Soviet Union would not force communism on the countries of Eastern Europe. However, the Soviet Union did not relinquish its grasp. This situation contributed to the growing animosity between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Explanation:

From Plato

The European economies had been ravaged by the war. French, Italian, German economies were in ruins. Recovery was needed. There were serious disagreements between the United States, on one side, and the Soviet Union, on the other side.

One major polemic issue was the fate of Germany in the postwar period. The Soviets opposed rebuilding Germany and the Marshall Plan that provided aid to rebuild European economies. In 1948, Soviet top leader Stalin ordered the Berlin Blockade, which ended in failure because of the air bridge organized by the US to supply West Berlin. The Truman administration and European governments were distrustful of the USSR intentions and feared aggressive moves to expand communism in Western Europe; Red Army contingents were stationed in Eastern Europe.