The Causes of the Cold War.

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THE CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR

The Cold War is the name given to the period from 1945 to 1991 when a high level of distrust existed between two superpowers, the USA and the USSR (otherwise called the Soviet Union). The cold war dominated world events because each of the two superpowers tried to influence the world in ways that suited its own interests. These interests were based on very different ideas about the organisation of society, which led to each side fearing the other.

The Cold War led to a series of conflicts in different parts of the word where the two superpowers found themselves in confrontation. In some of these situations, the state of mutual fear led to a dangerous level of tension because each superpower possessed many nuclear weapons. Despite tensions reaching a significantly heightened level, the conflict never developed into a state of direct-armed war between the USA and USSR. Such a direct war would have been a “hot” war and, because this never happened the opposition of the USA and the USSR continued to be called the Cold War.

        

The Cold War lasted for 45 years and over this time it involved conflicts in more parts of the world than WW2. In central and South America, in Africa and the middle east, real wars caused by the cold war led to the deaths of millions of people. The course of world events was shaped by the Cold War and even after it had ended, the consequences continued to influence events in different parts of the world.

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Historians do not agree over who started the Cold War, though many see both the USA and USSR as being responsible in different ways. The beginning of the cold war was like a game of ping-pong, with each side responding to a move made by its opponent. One of the first moves occurred when the USA decided to strengthen the economies of countries in Western Europe and win their support with the Marshall Plan. Named after the USA secretary of state George Marshall, and announced in 1947, this scheme devoted huge amounts of money to dealing with the food ...

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