They were already planning for that one before Adolf was even in his grave. Patton was eager to get going the moment the Germans surrendered and "kick their asses all the way back to Moscow". ;-) Well, that was a little too abrupt for the powers that be. He really was a loose cannon. They sacked him.

Nope, they needed a bit of time and propaganda to get the public in a mood for the next conflict, but it came round soon enough.

An excuse always has to be found to keep up our massive military production. Remember the "peace dividend" we were all supposed to get after the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War?

It never happened. We shifted rapidly into new conflicts in the Balkans and the Middle East and military production has been maintained, even enlarged. With the declaration of a "War on Terror" (an indefinable enemy with no specific location) an excuse was provided to have a war with no forseeable objectives and no forseeable end. Perfect...if you are in the business of making war materiel.