Explain the origins of Cold War competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
A. Cold War competition began between the U.S. and the Soviet Union right at the start of World War II, when its alliance unraveled.
B. Cold War competition began between the U.S. and the Soviet Union right after the end of World War II, when its alliance unraveled.
C. Cold War competition began between the U.S. and the Soviet Union right at the beginning of the Korean War, when its alliance unraveled.
D. Cold War competition began between the U.S. and the Soviet Union right after the end of the Vietnam War, once the U.S. had retreated from the country.
B. Cold War competition began between the U.S. and the Soviet Union right after the end of World War II, when its alliance unraveled.
After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the two superpowers with contrasting ideologies - capitalist democracy in the U.S. and communist dictatorship in the Soviet Union. The disagreement over the future of post-war Europe, as well as conflicting economic and political interests, eventually led to the breakdown of their wartime alliance and the beginning of the Cold War. This competition manifested in various ways, including political, economic, ideological, and military conflicts, and lasted until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.