The Cold War was a period of great rivalry between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the USA from 1945 – 1991. Both sides feared and distrusted the other. They each tried to increase their own military and economic power. The USSR and USA never fought each other directly because they were scared that this could lead to a nuclear war but they each became involved in other wars (proxy wars) as they believed that the result of these would affect the balance of power in the world. Both sides also tried to win the Cold War through the Arms Race, the Space Race and propaganda.
The Cold War was a period of great rivalry between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the USA from 1945 – 1991. Both sides distrusted the other because they had different ideologies and they feared that the other side wanted to harm them. The USSR and USA never fought each other directly because of the fear of nuclear war, however, they tried to increase their power and reduce the power of their rivals through other means:
- Proxy Wars - this was when the USA or USSR became involved in other conflicts around the globe because they felt that the balance of power between the superpowers would be affected by the outcome. The most famous examples are the Korean and Vietnam wars.
- Arms Race - both sides spent billions of dollars trying to become militarily more powerful than their opponents, with both conventional and nuclear weapons.
- Space Race - this was of huge propaganda importance to show which country had the best scientists and technology. There were also possible military advantages.
- Propaganda - both sides were keen to show that their civilisation was superior so they worked hard to try to have the best athletes, sports teams, orchestras, ballet companies and chess players.
- Spies - just like in books and films, spies were used to assassinate opponents and gather information about the enemy's industry, technology and military.
The Cold War was a period of great rivalry between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the USA from 1945 – 1991. Both sides distrusted the other because they had different ideologies and they feared that the other side wanted to harm them. The USSR and USA never fought each other directly because of the fear of nuclear war, however, they tried to increase their power and reduce the power of their rivals through other means:
- Proxy Wars - this was when the USA or USSR became involved in other conflicts around the globe because they felt that the balance of power between the superpowers would be affected by the outcome. The most famous examples are the wars in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan.
- Arms Race - both sides spent billions of dollars trying to become militarily more powerful than their opponents, with both conventional and nuclear weapons.
- Space Race - this was of huge propaganda importance to show which country had the best scientists and technology. There were also possible military advantages.
- Propaganda - both sides were keen to show that their civilisation was superior so they worked hard to try to have the best athletes, sports teams, orchestras, ballet companies and chess players.
- Spies - just like in books and films, spies were used to assassinate opponents and gather information about the enemy's industry, technology and military.
