vaticanmeos:

history meme - one war (1/1)

The Cold War (1947-1981) was a sustained period of conflict, primarily between the USSR and the USA. Spurred on by continuing tensions from the end of WWII, The Cold War was a clash of ideologies - communism (Soviet Russia) vs. capitalism (America), with each side vying for dominance in a bitter power struggle. The term ‘Cold War’ comes not from Russia’s climate, but instead refers to the lack of actual army-to-army warfare taking place. Instead, both counties fought for their beliefs through technological advances such as the space and arms races, while their client states fought in proxy wars - e.g. Vietnam and Korea.

What may have eventually ensured that The Cold War didn’t become ‘hot’ was the impending threat of nuclear warfare. Both the USSR and the USA had frantically stockpiled as many nuclear weapons as possible in the struggle to be the superior military force, but the threat atom bombs posed was not so well known until 1952, when America exploded the H-Bomb; 2500 times more powerful than that dropped in Hiroshima. Russia followed suit, possessing their own H-Bomb by the following year. Suddenly, the world was a much more dangerous place. Both nations knew that if they were to fire their missiles, the enemy would respond immediately; resulting in wide-spread mass destruction for them both. As Soviet leader Nikita Chrushev said: “The survivors of a nuclear war would envy the dead.” [+more]