The Cold War

The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension and rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted from 1947 to 1991. The two superpowers and their allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, competed for dominance through political maneuvering, military coalitions, espionage, propaganda, arms buildups, economic aid, and proxy wars. The Cold War was characterized by an ideological struggle rather than open warfare, with the United States' democratic capitalism and the Soviet Union's authoritarian communism at odds.   The Cold War had a constant presence in Americans' everyday lives, with people building bomb shelters, practicing attack drills, and watching movies that depicted nuclear devastation and mutant creatures. Some events that seemed to prove that the "Red menace" was real include the Soviet Union exploding its first atomic bomb in 1949 and communist forces winning the Chinese Civil War later that year. The Cold War resulted in anti-communist suspicions, international incidents, and brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster.