The Cold War refers to a period of time from 1945 to 1990, and its main protagonists were the United States and the former Soviet Union.
The end of World War II saw the Red Army stay behind in countries in which they had vanquished the Germans, and this raised tensions between the Soviet Union and the rest of the world.
The Soviet Union even blockaded the city of Berlin for a period of time in 1946, but the Allies got around this blockade by flying supplies into the city. After this, tensions grew higher and higher for a number of years.
The high point of tensions in the Cold War came in 1962, when it was discovered that the Soviet Union was building missile sites in Cuba, just 75 miles from the shores of America.
President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade to stop the shipment of missiles to the island nation, and declared that any attack from Cuban shores would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States.
After a few tense days, the Soviet Union backed down and dis-assembled the missiles and the missile launch sites. The situation is referred to in the history books today as the Cuban Missile Crisis, and is thought to be the very closest the world has ever come to a full-blown nuclear war.
There was such military build-up during these years that both the United States and the Soviet Union had enough nuclear warheads to blow up the entire planet.
During the 80s, the Soviet Union slowly modernized, though, and the Communist government was eventually overturned, thus ending the Cold War.
The weapons from the Cold War still exist to this day, however, so the danger of nuclear attack is still present, and may be worse with supervision of the sites in Russia now being lax, compared to what it was.
The end of World War II saw the Red Army stay behind in countries in which they had vanquished the Germans, and this raised tensions between the Soviet Union and the rest of the world.
The Soviet Union even blockaded the city of Berlin for a period of time in 1946, but the Allies got around this blockade by flying supplies into the city. After this, tensions grew higher and higher for a number of years.
The high point of tensions in the Cold War came in 1962, when it was discovered that the Soviet Union was building missile sites in Cuba, just 75 miles from the shores of America.
President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade to stop the shipment of missiles to the island nation, and declared that any attack from Cuban shores would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States.
After a few tense days, the Soviet Union backed down and dis-assembled the missiles and the missile launch sites. The situation is referred to in the history books today as the Cuban Missile Crisis, and is thought to be the very closest the world has ever come to a full-blown nuclear war.
There was such military build-up during these years that both the United States and the Soviet Union had enough nuclear warheads to blow up the entire planet.
During the 80s, the Soviet Union slowly modernized, though, and the Communist government was eventually overturned, thus ending the Cold War.
The weapons from the Cold War still exist to this day, however, so the danger of nuclear attack is still present, and may be worse with supervision of the sites in Russia now being lax, compared to what it was.
