The icy tension between the two superpowers of Russia and the United States, infamously known as the Cold War, began its formation even before World War II had officially ended. The superpowers began their relationship as allies, but that affiliation quickly took a turn for the worse as the United States and Russia originated a rivalry that would last over the next thirty years. The first step to this rivalry began in Yalta, when Roosevelt and Churchill met Stalin for an important peace conference with the intentions to resolve any conflicts between the great powers. While the meeting appeared to be a success, the vague resolutions would ultimately lead to the increasing tension between the powers, with the main focus on the future of Poland. When Harry S. Truman took over office after the death of Roosevelt, he was both unprepared and ill-informed for the problems that he was now involved with. Truman disliked Stalin and felt no desire to appease the tyrant. These negative feelings greatly contributed to the growing anxiety between the two superpowers. These actions did not go without consequences, which would drastically change the United States and the rest of the world. Due to the Korean stalemate, the loss of China, and the Soviet development of the atomic bomb, the American people had developed a growing fear of internal communist subversion, which resulted in overall hysteria. This hysteria gave rise to the House Un-American Activates Committee (HUAC) and McCarthyism, accusing people of disloyal communist activity. During this time, the relations between the United States and Soviet Union increased apprehension, and resulted in three decades of pervasive fear.
The United States and Soviet Union were destined to be enemies from the start because of a fundamental difference "in the ways the great powers envisioned the postwar world."" Prior to the Cold War, the two powers were allies and worked together to defeat Hitler and the Nazi Party.
