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by veronique on 11/4/2007, 15:43
Cold War
History of the Cold War
Origins
1947–1953
1953–1962
1962–1979
1979–1985
1985–1991
For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation).
The Cold War was the period of conflict, tension and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies from the mid-1940s until the early 1990s. Throughout the period, the rivalry between the two superpowers was played out in multiple arenas: military coalitions; ideology, psychology, and espionage; military, industrial, and technological developments, including the space race; costly defense spending; a massive conventional and nuclear arms race; and many proxy wars.
The term "Cold War" was introduced in 1947 by Americans Bernard Baruch and Walter Lippmann to describe emerging tensions between the two former wartime allies.[1]
There never was a direct military engagement between the U.S. and the
Soviet Union, but there was a half-century of military buildup, and
political battles for support around the world, including significant
involvement of allied and satellite nations.
Although the U.S. and the Soviet Union had been allied against Nazi Germany,
the two sides differed on how to reconstruct the postwar world even
before the end of the Second World War. Over the following decades, the
Cold War spread outside Europe to every region of the world, as the
U.S. sought the "containment" of communism and forged numerous alliances to this end, particularly in Western Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
There were repeated crises that threatened to escalate into world wars but never did, notably the Korean War (1950-1953), the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), and the Vietnam War (1964-1975). There were also periods when tension was reduced as both sides sought détente. Direct military attacks on adversaries were deterred by the potential for massive destruction using deliverable nuclear weapons.
The Cold War drew to a close in the late 1980s following the launching of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's reform programs, perestroika and glasnost. The Soviet Union consequently ceded power over Eastern Europe and was dissolved in 1991.
History of the Cold War
Origins
1947–1953
1953–1962
1962–1979
1979–1985
1985–1991
For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation).
The Cold War was the period of conflict, tension and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies from the mid-1940s until the early 1990s. Throughout the period, the rivalry between the two superpowers was played out in multiple arenas: military coalitions; ideology, psychology, and espionage; military, industrial, and technological developments, including the space race; costly defense spending; a massive conventional and nuclear arms race; and many proxy wars.
The term "Cold War" was introduced in 1947 by Americans Bernard Baruch and Walter Lippmann to describe emerging tensions between the two former wartime allies.[1]
There never was a direct military engagement between the U.S. and the
Soviet Union, but there was a half-century of military buildup, and
political battles for support around the world, including significant
involvement of allied and satellite nations.
Although the U.S. and the Soviet Union had been allied against Nazi Germany,
the two sides differed on how to reconstruct the postwar world even
before the end of the Second World War. Over the following decades, the
Cold War spread outside Europe to every region of the world, as the
U.S. sought the "containment" of communism and forged numerous alliances to this end, particularly in Western Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
There were repeated crises that threatened to escalate into world wars but never did, notably the Korean War (1950-1953), the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), and the Vietnam War (1964-1975). There were also periods when tension was reduced as both sides sought détente. Direct military attacks on adversaries were deterred by the potential for massive destruction using deliverable nuclear weapons.
The Cold War drew to a close in the late 1980s following the launching of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's reform programs, perestroika and glasnost. The Soviet Union consequently ceded power over Eastern Europe and was dissolved in 1991.
somnul ratiunii naste monstri
