The Cold War was a state of political and military tension after
World War II between powers in the
Western Bloc (the
United States, its
NATO allies and others) and powers in the
Eastern Bloc (the
Soviet Union and its allies in the
Warsaw Pact).
Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but
1947–91 is common. The term "cold" is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary wartime alliance against
Nazi Germany, leaving the
USSR and the US as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences: the former being a single-party
Marxist–Leninist state operating a planned economy and controlled press and owning exclusively the right to establish and govern communities, and the latter being a capitalist state with generally free elections and press, which also granted freedom of expression and freedom of association to its citizens. A self-proclaimed neutral bloc arose with the
Non-Aligned Movement founded by
Egypt,
India,
Indonesia and
Yugoslavia; this faction rejected association with either the US-led
West or the Soviet-led
East. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were heavily armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. Each side had a nuclear deterrent
that deterred an attack by the other side, on the basis that such an attack would lead to total destruction of the attacker: the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (
MAD). Aside from the development of the two sides' nuclear arsenals, and deployment of conventional military forces, the struggle for dominance was expressed via proxy wars around the globe, psychological warfare, massive propaganda campaigns and espionage, rivalry at sports events, and technological competitions such as the
Space Race.
The first phase of the
Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the
Second World War in
1945.
The USSR consolidated its control over the states of the Eastern Bloc, while the United States began a strategy of global containment to challenge
Soviet power, extending military and financial aid to the countries of
Western Europe (for example, supporting the anti-communist side in the
Greek Civil War) and creating the NATO alliance.
The Berlin Blockade (1948–49) was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With victory of the communist side in the
Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the
Korean War (
1950–53), the conflict expanded. The USSR and
USA competed for influence in
Latin America, and the decolonizing states of
Africa, the
Middle East and
Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the
Soviets. The expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the
Suez Crisis (
1956), the
Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the
Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, a new phase began that saw the
Sino-Soviet split complicate relations within the communist sphere, while US allies, particularly
France, demonstrated greater independence of action. The USSR crushed the
1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in
Czechoslovakia, and the
Vietnam War (
1955–75) ended with a defeat of the US-backed
Republic of South Vietnam, prompting further adjustments.
- published: 15 Mar 2016
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