Where is Russia now?
The Cold War was waged between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). They fought of a war of ideology and propaganda that resulted in the creation of nuclear arsenals still in existence that can destroy the world many times over.
Some would argue that the Cold War began even before World War II ended. Already the United States and USSR were in the midst of carving up the former Axis territories when the first atomic bombs were tested in New Mexico, then used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thus, the Nuclear Age and the nuclear arms race that fueled the Cold War began together. Calls by scientists and diplomats for international control and monitoring of nuclear weapons went unheeded. The Soviets developed their own atomic and hydrogen bombs shortly after the US.
In the 1950's fears in the United States of the Soviet's "war without borders" led to the House Committee on Un-American Activities attack on "Communism" in American culture. In the USSR, Stalin's iron-fisted rule and culture of intolerance led to millions of deaths.
Tensions during the Cold War sparked many critical situations including the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the USSR placed nuclear weapons 90 miles off the coast of Florida in Cuba. Thirteen days of teetering on the brink of nuclear war ended with a secret agreement in which the Soviets consented to take their missiles out of Cuba and the United States promised to remove their missiles from Turkey six months later.
The effects of the Cold War spread throughout the globe like the radiation clouds from the atmospheric nuclear tests in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. The ideologies on both sides included a vision of world dominance. In addition, the US military/industrial complex's "Domino Theory"- the fear that if one country turned Communist it would lead to their neighbors to following suit and to increased regional instability- led to many military conflicts, including the Vietnam War, funded and aided by both Superpowers.
The Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Some would argue that the Cold War began even before World War II ended. Already the United States and USSR were in the midst of carving up the former Axis territories when the first atomic bombs were tested in New Mexico, then used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thus, the Nuclear Age and the nuclear arms race that fueled the Cold War began together. Calls by scientists and diplomats for international control and monitoring of nuclear weapons went unheeded. The Soviets developed their own atomic and hydrogen bombs shortly after the US.
In the 1950's fears in the United States of the Soviet's "war without borders" led to the House Committee on Un-American Activities attack on "Communism" in American culture. In the USSR, Stalin's iron-fisted rule and culture of intolerance led to millions of deaths.
Tensions during the Cold War sparked many critical situations including the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the USSR placed nuclear weapons 90 miles off the coast of Florida in Cuba. Thirteen days of teetering on the brink of nuclear war ended with a secret agreement in which the Soviets consented to take their missiles out of Cuba and the United States promised to remove their missiles from Turkey six months later.
The effects of the Cold War spread throughout the globe like the radiation clouds from the atmospheric nuclear tests in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. The ideologies on both sides included a vision of world dominance. In addition, the US military/industrial complex's "Domino Theory"- the fear that if one country turned Communist it would lead to their neighbors to following suit and to increased regional instability- led to many military conflicts, including the Vietnam War, funded and aided by both Superpowers.
The Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.