Following the end of World War II, democracy in the West found itself at odds with the rise of communism in the East — and a new war for the future of civilization began. Stalin was the first leader of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. jpg; 28 Iconic Pictures That Defined The Cold War. Below you will find the correct answer to Cold War Soviet leader Crossword Clue, if you need more help finishing your crossword continue your navigation and try our search function. Soviet Russia eventually won the war in 1922, and established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union), along with the newly formed Soviet Socialist Republics of Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The Cold War was a twentieth-century conflict between the United States of America (U.S.), the Soviet Union (USSR), and their respective allies over political, economic, and military issues, often described as a struggle between capitalism and communism—but the issues were actually far grayer than that. Review of Jack F. Matlock Jr.’s book, Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended. The Cold War as a system of states ended on a cold and gray December day in Moscow in 1991, when Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Soviet Union out of existence. Step 1: Cold War Pre-Test (Class Time: 15 minutes) Distribute copies of the Cold War Pre-Test (CWW/A1.1).The pre-test assesses what students remember from earlier units about the Russian Revolution, the rise of dictators, and WWII. He died in 1953 and was followed by Nikita Khrushchev. The start of the Cold War in 1947 was due to a belief that all governments would become either communist or capitalist. Procedures .