The Cold War
Explore the Cold War — the decades-long geopolitical rivalry between the United States and Soviet Union that shaped the second half of the 20th century.
The Cold War (1947–1991) was the defining geopolitical struggle of the second half of the 20th century: a global rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union that stopped short of direct military confrontation between the two superpowers but reshaped every corner of the planet. The term 'Cold War' captured the paradox — a state of permanent hostility, massive arms buildup, and ideological combat that never escalated to the 'hot' war both sides feared.
The conflict began in the ruins of World War II, as the wartime alliance between the Western democracies and the Soviet Union collapsed into mutual suspicion. Winston Churchill declared an 'iron curtain' descending across Europe. The Truman Doctrine pledged American support for nations resisting communism. The Berlin Blockade, Korean War, and construction of the Berlin Wall cemented the division of the world into two hostile camps, each with enough nuclear weapons to destroy civilization.
The Cold War was fought through proxy wars (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan), nuclear brinkmanship (the Cuban Missile Crisis), ideological competition (the space race, Olympic rivalries), covert operations, and economic pressure. It ended not with the bang many feared but with the gradual implosion of the Soviet system under the weight of economic stagnation, imperial overreach, and Gorbachev's reforms — culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Lessons covering this topic
Browse all lessons →The Cold War Begins
Superpowers, spheres of influence, and the iron curtain.
The Korean & Vietnam Wars
Hot wars in a cold world.
The Space Race & Nuclear Age
Sputnik, Apollo, and the shadow of the bomb.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
1989 and the end of the Cold War.