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THE COLD WAR

Following the end of the Second World War, the power vacuum left by the fall of Nazi Party in Germany became a subject of interest of the two leading victors of the war: the United States and the Soviet Union. However, despite their shared interest in filling this void, their inherent ideological differences laid the foundation for a several-decades-long confrontation known as the Cold War. The capitalist principles held by the United States clashed directly with the communist ideology that made up the Soviet Union. As both superpowers sought to expand their influence in post-war Germany, their competing visions for the future of Europe fueled tensions and mistrust between East and West, resulting in the construction of barriers such as the physical Berlin Wall and the ideological “Iron Curtain”.
 
The Cold War period, spanning from the late 1940s to the early 1990s, was characterized by a state of political and military rivalry, albeit without direct armed conflict between the two major powers. Instead, the conflict manifested through proxy wars such as in Korea and Vietnam, espionage activity, propagation of propaganda, and the relentless pursuit of ideological supremacy and political domination. With the increased proliferation of nuclear weapons, an armed race also began between the main participants of the Cold War, spanning its entirety, competing over who can produce the most numerous and advanced nukes, tanks, planes, and associated military equipment. Additionally, the pervasive threat of nuclear annihilation loomed over the world, shaping international relations and leading to a tense atmosphere of deterrence known as MAD, or Mutually Assured Destruction. As a result, the Cold War left a deep impact on the course of modern history, resulting in widespread fear, division, and uncertainty across the globe.

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Overlooking the changes and impact of the Cold War, you can choose different perspectives, analyze, and evaluate different aspects of the cold war.