51. Cold War

The Cold War is the name given to the historical period of strategic disputes and indirect conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union, comprising the period between the end of World War II in 1945 and the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, a conflict of political order, military, technological, economic, social and ideological between the two nations and their zones of influence.

The Cold War was also a dispute between capitalism, which sponsored dictatorial regimes in Latin America, represented by the United States, and the expansionist totalitarian socialism, which had abolished private property, defended by the Soviet Union and China. However, this characterization can be considered only for the period of the immediate post-WWII until the 50s. Soon after, in the 60s, the socialist bloc was divided and during the 70s and 80s, Communist China allied with the United States in the race against the Soviet Union.

It is cold calling because there was no direct war between the two superpowers, given the impossibility of victory in a nuclear war. The arms race by building a large arsenal of nuclear weapons was the central goal during the first half of the Cold War, stabilizing in the 60s to 70s.

Given the impossibility of resolving the conflict in the strategic plan, the traditional system of open and direct war would involve nuclear confrontation, the two superpowers began to dispute the power of political, economic and ideological influence worldwide. This process was characterized by the involvement of the United States and the Soviet Union in various regional wars, where each power supported one side in war. United States and the Soviet Union not only financed opposite sides in the clash, vying for political and ideological influence, but also to show their firepower and strengthening regional alliances.

The Korean War (1950-1953) and Vietnam (1962-1975) War are the most famous conflicts of the Cold War. Besides the famous tension in the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) and also in South America, the Falklands War (1982).

In 1991 the superpowers agreed to eliminate all ground tactical missiles armed with tactical nuclear warheads that were in Europe and on the Korean Peninsula by putting a definitive mark the end of the Cold War.

51. Cold War

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