It is not difficult to blame either the United States or the Soviet Union for the causes of the Cold War; the blame must be placed on the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin was not trying to do what was best for the economy or the people. His idea of ​​being a dictator became bigger soon after the end of World War II. He immediately tried to take control of Eastern Europe. His reasons for doing so were not financial gain but to become a great world dictator. There were many differences between the United States and the Soviet Union, the main one being their political and economic systems. The United States was capitalist while the Soviet Union was communist. It was this political and economic difference, among other things, that led to the Cold War. Capitalism is a social system based on the principle of individual rights (www.capitalism.org), while communism is a political theory derived from Marxism, advocating a society in which all property is publicly owned and every person is paid and work according to your needs. his needs and abilities. (ttp://teaching.arts.usyd.edu.au/history/hsty3080/3rdYr3080/Cuban/INDEX2.HTML) The United States and the Soviet Union also differed in every other aspect of politics. The United States favored free elections while the Soviets did not. The United States had a democracy and the Soviets a dictatorship. The United States believed in personal freedom while Soviet society was controlled by the NKVD (secret police). (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/coldwar.htm) Although the United States and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II, they faced many opposing points of view soon after the war ended. Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, wanted to gain complete control of Eastern Europe, especially Germany, and turn it into a communist society. Here in the United States, Truman began to worry about the spread of communism in Eastern Europe. The anticipation of the spread of communism concerned Truman because, if it occurred, it would greatly affect the U.S. economy. It would limit trade with other countries and opposed everything the US laissez-faire economic system believed in. Meanwhile the population of the Soviet Union was barely surviving, and it did not appear that this was Stalin's main concern at the time. ; he was more interested in conquering Eastern Europe than in caring for the people of his country. This ongoing struggle over who should control which parts of Eastern Europe drove an even deeper wedge between the United States and the Soviets.