Cold War

:For the generic term for a high-tension rivalry between countries, see cold war (war).

Characteristics

The Cold War is usually considered to have occurred approximately from the end of the strained alliance between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the World War II until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Korean War; the Hungarian Revolution; the Bay of Pigs Invasion and Cuban Missile Crisis; the Vietnam War; the Afghan War; and CIA-assisted military coups against governments in Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), and civil wars in countries such as Angola and El Salvador, were some of the occasions when the tension related to the Cold War took the form of an armed conflict. In those conflicts, the major powers operated in good part by arming or funding surrogates, a development that lessened direct impact on the populations of the major powers.

Related Topics:
World War II - Breakup of the Soviet Union - 1991 - Korean War - Hungarian Revolution - Bay of Pigs Invasion - Cuban Missile Crisis - Vietnam War - Afghan War - Iran - 1953 - Guatemala - 1954 - Angola - El Salvador

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In the 1970s, the Cold War gave way to détente and a more complicated pattern of international relations in which the world was no longer split into two clearly opposed blocs. Less powerful countries had more room to assert their independence, and the two superpowers were partially able to recognize their common interest in trying to check the further spread and proliferation of nuclear weapons (see SALT I, SALT II, Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty). U.S.-Soviet relations would deteriorate once again in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but improved as the Soviet bloc started to unravel in the late 1980s. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia lost the superpower status that it had won in the Second World War.

Related Topics:
1970s - Détente - SALT I - SALT II - Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty - 1980s

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In the strategic conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union a major arena was the strategy of technology (see also deterrence theory). It also involved covert conflict through acts of espionage. Beyond the actual killing of intelligence service personnel, the Cold War was heavily manifest in the concerns about nuclear weapons. It was questioned as to if they were being mass produced and whether wars could really be deterred by the mere existence of nuclear weapons. Another manifestation was in the propaganda wars between the United States and the USSR. Indeed, it was far from certain that a global nuclear war would not result from smaller regional wars, which heightened the level of concern for each conflict. This tension shaped the lives of people around the world almost as much as the actual fighting did.

Related Topics:
Strategy of technology - Deterrence theory - Espionage - Nuclear weapon - Nuclear war

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One major hotspot of conflict was Germany, particularly the city of Berlin. Arguably, the most vivid symbol of the Cold War was the Berlin Wall. The Wall isolated West Berlin (the portion of the city controlled by West Germany and the Allies) from East Berlin and the territory of East Germany, which completely surrounded it. In practical terms, the Fulda Gap as the main land attack route into Western Europe for the Warsaw Pact, was an area of constant tension.

Related Topics:
Germany - Berlin - Berlin Wall - West Berlin - West Germany - East Berlin - East Germany - Fulda Gap

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The Korean peninsula remains a hotspot. The states North Korea and South Korea (and her allies) also technically remain at war because although a truce is in effect, no formal peace treaty was ever signed. As a result, tension still remains high on the Korean peninsula.

Related Topics:
North Korea - South Korea

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