What is the Cold War in a nutshell?

Joel

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed primarily between the United States and the Soviet Union and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s. Throughout this period, the conflict was expressed through military coalitions, espionage, weapons development, invasions, propaganda, and competitive technological development, which included the space race. The conflict included costly defense spending, a massive conventional and nuclear arms race, and numerous proxy wars; the two superpowers never fought one another directly.

MathBioMajor

The Cold War was essentially a contest for global control, using insidious, perfidious, immoral, and otherwise reprehensible tactics, between the two biggest goons on the planetary block - The Soviet Union, and the United States. The big, bad Soviet Empire once had the notion that they would try to impose Communism on the rest of the world. Meantime, the big, bad, American Empire had the notion that they could impose Capitalist Imperialism, under the guise of democracy, on the rest of the world. The only catch was that those member states who joined the American Empire had to become lackeys of Corporate America and the American Military-Industrial Complex. So they traded one form of bondage for another. Ultimately the contest ended in a draw, because most member states of the Soviet Empire rebelled and threw off the yoke the evil Russians had imposed upon them. Meanwhile, many of the European countries, who had become members of the equally sinister American Empire, woke up and realized they were being used. So they decided to form their own mega-country, now known as the European Union, which would act in concert to defend the interests of their member states against both the big bullies on the block. Now it has become apparent that they were right to do so, because American prosperity has been shown to be what it truly is - a chimerical illusion created primarily to serve the interests of wealthy American corporate and banking executives, who are determined to maintain their exalted economic status at whatever expense, to the lower socioeconomic classes that is. However, they forgot about the lessons of the French Revolution. That is that the people will not tolerate economic tyranny indefinitely. Eventually, if things get bad enough, the people will revolt, and cast down their economic masters by force if necessary.

tinaah

the cold war was an arms race between the u.s. and the soviet union. basically if one had a powerful weapon, the other had to have it too, or a stronger one. but they were too afraid to use it because it could destroy everything. kind of like now, no one wants to get into another world war because the u.s. alone has enough nuclear weapons to blow up the earth 5 times over. well thats what we were taught in school.

Mercer Devil

The Cold War was mostly between the USA and the USSR. It was called the "Cold War" because the USA and the USSR didn't shoot at each othe much. Mostly we competed by trying to convert other countries to our forms of government. The Korean War, our quagmire in Vietnam, and the USSR's quagmire in Afghanistan were all the result of this Cold War and attempts to convert other countries.

We also competed in an arms race. I believe the arms race was what finally caused the USSR to break up. USSR's pseudo-communist society was not as economically successful as the USA's capitalist one. Russia is still feeling the repercussions of the economic near-collapse the USSR experienced.

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