Could the Cold War have been avoided?

Patton wanted to have gone in a kicked Stalin the ass, but Trumann refused! Ergo the cold war was the only logical alternativ!
Patton was an idiot, not a policy maker, he didn't decide if there was another war or not.

Regarding the Cold War being avoided, the only way I see it being avoided is if there was another war with the Soviets in the aftermath of the Second World War; otherwise, I don't see how two superpowers with opposing ideologies competing for the same ground (Europe) couldn't be in some kind of Cold War with each other. Perhaps with renewed isolationism in the US? Although I don't think that's too likely.
 
Patton definitely wasn't an idiot. He simply recognized that our next major war would be against Russia, and since we had the manpower and equipment in place, why not fight it now rather than later. Would make an interesting POD.

Ultimately, TPTB made the right decision. A war weary America wouldn't have supported any further major military action, especially since the countries we had been fighting against were defeated.
 
If the Soviets withdrew behind their borders as Russian armies historically did, I don't think there would have been a Cold War.

The Soviets withdrawing peacefully and allowing democratic governments to take power would defang most of "the Commies are coming" ideologues.

If the Soviets were solely interested in protecting their borders, all of Eastern Europe could have been like Finland, which could do what it liked provided it didn't ally with the enemies of the USSR. Instead, they imposing Communist dictatorships.
 
Patton definitely wasn't an idiot. He simply recognized that our next major war would be against Russia, and since we had the manpower and equipment in place, why not fight it now rather than later. Would make an interesting POD.

Ultimately, TPTB made the right decision. A war weary America wouldn't have supported any further major military action, especially since the countries we had been fighting against were defeated.

Remember Churchill was onboard too, like Patton he talked out rearming the Wehrmacht and going after the Red Army and defeating Stalin eventually.

A limited conflict with Russians could only have happened before 1949 (or 1951?), because if I remember correctly that was the year the USSR detonated its first Nuclearbomb building with the planes stolen by the Rosenbergs!

My intial idear for a conflict between the US and the USSR:

A US General surgested putting together an amored column and forcing their way through to West Berlin via the Autobahn.This was rejected, but what if hadn't?

A Yak and US Airforce transport Collide or Yak pilot opens fire on a US Airforce plane. Could that have cursed way?


/Fred
 
avoiding the Cold War falls pretty much on the shoulders of the Soviets. If they chose to be quiet about the Communist ambitions to eventually rule the whole world, the US wouldn't have gotten it's back up so badly as it did (I suppose that's a POD from before WW2 though). I think that in the goodwill aftermath of WW2, our former allies would have been accepted easily if they had backed off of the whole "Iron Curtain" setup....
 
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