Cold War

The Cold War was a long period of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, especially from the late 1940s to 1991. The two powers had different political and economic systems and competed for influence around the world. They generally avoided direct war, but confronted one another through alliances, diplomacy, propaganda and support for opposing sides in regional conflicts.

After the Second World War, Europe became divided into a Western bloc linked to the United States and an Eastern bloc dominated by the Soviet Union. In 1949, the United States and its allies created NATO; in 1955, the Soviet Union and several Eastern European states formed the Warsaw Pact. Berlin became a major symbol of this division, especially after the Berlin Wall was built in 1961.

The rivalry also produced a nuclear arms race and a space race. Crises such as the Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 showed the danger of escalation, while conflicts such as the Vietnam War became part of the wider confrontation. From the 1970s, détente brought negotiations and some arms-control agreements, although competition continued.

In the 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced reforms and sought better relations with the West. Communist governments in Eastern Europe collapsed in 1989, and the Berlin Wall fell that year. The Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991, marking the end of the Cold War.