This series contains 9 animated historical maps. For a preview, see the maps on :

The Berlin Crisis (1948-1949)

For online access to this series of 9 historical maps

Histoire de la guerre froide et de la confrontation entre les deux blocs Est Ouest

Home The Map as History > The Cold War and Confrontation between East and West 1947-1991

The Cold War and Confrontation between East and West 1947-1991

The alliance established between the USSR and the United States during the Second World War broke down in 1947.
The US President Harry S. Truman announced a new policy of containment to prevent further Soviet advances into Europe which Jdanov, one of Stalin’s close advisors, condemned as ‘imperialism’. This marked the beginning of the Cold War.


Map of the western bloc and the eastern bloc  during the cold war

A bipolar world 1947-1991

The ideological and strategic positions taken by the USSR and USA led to the division of large sections of the world into alliances with one or other of the Great Powers. This bipolar situation remained in place despite the emergence of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Map of the division of Europe and the Iron Curtain

Europe is divided in two after the Second World War

Europe was the principal theatre for ideological warfare between the Soviet Union and the United States. It was divided into two separate blocs by what Winston Churchill called the 'Iron Curtain".


Map of the military alliances during the Cold War

Military alliances in Europe 1949-1991

Faced with threats from the Soviet military powers, the Western European nations and the United States were convinced that they had to negotiate and sign a military alliance in April 1949: the North Atlantic Treaty. The USSR and the popular democratic states in Europe countered this move with the Warsaw Pact which was signed in 1955.

Map of the Berlin Blockade during the Cold War

The Berlin Crisis (1948-1949)

On 24 June 1948, following a decision by the West to introduce a single currency inside their occupied zones, Stalin launched a coup de force by setting up a tight blockade to prevent the delivery of essential supplies to the 2 million inhabitants of West Berlin.

Map and history of the Korean War 1950-1953

The Korean War (1950-1953)

This war cost many lives, but neither side could claim victory.  It ended with the long-term division of the Korean Peninsula into two separate states.

Map of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 between USA and USSR

The Cuban missile crisis

The deployment on the island of Cuba of Soviet missiles which could reach almost the entire territory of the United States brought the world very close to an outbreak of nuclear war in October 1962.

Map of the Berlin Wall during the Cold War

The construction of the Berlin Wall

During the night of 13 August1961, thousands of soldiers were deployed to supervise the installation of fences and barbed wire around the Western perimeter of Berlin in order to prevent people from fleeing the Eastern European countries for the free world.

Before long, West Berlin was surrounded by a 155-kilometre long wall.

Map of military operations of the Vietnam War

The Vietnam War

To avoid the spread of Communism to all regions of Vietnam and neighbouring countries, the United States provided support for Saigon in its conflict with Hanoi.

Despite its considerable superiority in terms of men and equipment, the US Army’s involvement was a failure and Vietnam became a unified Communist state.

Map history of the Euro-missile Crisis during the Cold War

The Euro-missile Crisis 1977-1987

In 1977 the USSR installed its new SS20 medium-range missiles in Europe which led to a new period of tension between the East and West and sparked a huge series of peace movements.

© The map as History - Credits