"There was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported opposing sides in major regional conflicts known as proxy wars."
A period of political and military tension between the Western powers, led by the United States, and the Soviet Union, lasting approximately from 1947 to 1991.
Origins of the Cold War: The tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western powers after World War II that led to the Cold War.
The Iron Curtain: The dividing line created by Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe, separating it from the West.
Nuclear Arms Race: The competition for nuclear weapon superiority between the US and Soviet Union.
Military Alliances: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the Warsaw Pact (the Soviet-led military bloc).
Korean War: The Cold War proxy war fought between North and South Korea, with US and Soviet support respectively.
Cuban Missile Crisis: The 13-day crisis that brought the US and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.
Vietnam War: The Cold War proxy war fought between North and South Vietnam, with US and Soviet support respectively.
Proxy Wars: The conflicts fought by countries or groups that receive support from other major powers with conflicting interests.
Détente: The period of improved relations between the US and the Soviet Union in the 1970s.
Collapse of the Soviet Union: The events that led to the fall of communism in the Soviet Union in 1991.
Berlin Wall: The barrier erected by East Germany to prevent the flow of people fleeing to the West.
McCarthyism: The period of intense anticommunist suspicion and persecution in the US during the Cold War.
Space Race: The competition for supremacy in space exploration between the US and the Soviet Union.
Arms control: The treaties and agreements signed by the US and the Soviet Union to limit the arms race.
Non-alignment movement: The movement of countries that refused to align with either the US or the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Propaganda: The use of media and information to shape public opinion and gain influence during the Cold War.
Domino theory: The idea that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would also fall in succession.
Economic Competition: The competition between the US and the Soviet Union to prove which economic system was superior.
MICC: Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex.
Third World: The group of countries that were neither First World nor Second World, and whose alignment was important in the Cold War.
Ideological Cold War: This was a struggle for global influence between the communist bloc led by the Soviet Union and the western capitalist bloc led by the United States.
Military Cold War: This was a period of intense arms build-up between the two superpowers and their allies, with nuclear weapons being a key focus.
Economic Cold War: This was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for dominance in global trade, investment, and economic influence.
Space Cold War: This was a race between the Soviet Union and the United States to achieve technological supremacy in space exploration, particularly after the launch of the first satellite, Sputnik, by the Soviets in 1957.
Proxy Cold War: This was a conflict fought through third parties, such as guerrilla fighters or local factions, with the Soviet Union and the United States supporting different sides.
Cultural Cold War: This was a battle between the two superpowers to promote their own cultures and ideologies throughout the world, particularly through artistic expression, media, and propaganda.
Scientific Cold War: This was a struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States to achieve scientific and technological breakthroughs ahead of one another, particularly in military fields.
Diplomatic Cold War: This was a period of strained relations between the two superpowers, with both sides engaging in diplomatic maneuvers to gain advantage or prevent the other from gaining ground.
Social Cold War: This was a conflict fought over social issues, such as civil rights, gender equality, or religious freedom, with the Soviet Union and the United States differing in their approaches and priorities.
Cyber Cold War: This was a new frontier in the struggle for dominance between the Soviet Union and the United States, with both sides seeking to gain mastery over the emerging field of computer technology and networks.
"The struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means, such as psychological warfare, propaganda campaigns, espionage, far-reaching embargoes, sports diplomacy, and technological competitions like the Space Race."
"The Western Bloc was led by the United States, as well as a number of other First World nations that were generally liberal democratic but tied to a network of often authoritarian, Third World states, most of which were the European powers' former colonies."
"The Eastern Bloc was led by the Soviet Union and its Communist Party, which had an influence across the Second World and was also tied to a network of authoritarian states."
"The Soviet Union had a command economy and installed similarly Communist regimes in its satellite states."
"United States involvement in regime change during the Cold War included support for anti-communist and right-wing dictatorships, governments, and uprisings across the world, while Soviet involvement in regime change included the funding left-wing parties, wars of national liberation and revolutions around the world."
"As nearly all the colonial states underwent decolonization and achieved independence in the period from 1945 to 1960, many became Third World battlefields in the Cold War."
"They accomplished this most notably through the formation of NATO, which was essentially a defensive agreement in 1949."
"The Soviet Union countered with the Warsaw Pact in 1955."
"The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia to suppress the Prague Spring of 1968."
"Major crises of this phase included the Berlin Blockade of 1948–1949, the Korean War of 1950–1953, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Suez Crisis of that same year, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, and the Vietnam War of 1964–1975."
"Both superpowers competed for influence in Latin America and the Middle East, and the decolonizing states of Africa, Asia, and Oceania."
"By the 1970s, both sides had started making allowances for peace and security, ushering in a period of détente that saw the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the 1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China that opened relations with China as a strategic counterweight to the Soviet Union."
"The sixth phase of the Cold War saw the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introducing the liberalizing reforms of glasnost ("openness", c. 1985) and perestroika ("reorganization", c. 1987)."
"The fall of the Iron Curtain after the Pan-European Picnic and the Revolutions of 1989, which represented a peaceful revolutionary wave with the exception of the Romanian Revolution and the Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), overthrew almost all of the Marxist–Leninist regimes of the Eastern Bloc."
"The Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control in the country and was banned following the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt that August."
"The Cold War has left a significant legacy."
"Its effects include references to the culture during the war, particularly with themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare."
"The Cold War is generally followed by the categorization of international relations since 1989 and post–Cold War era to underline its impact."
"The United States was left as the world's sole superpower."