cold war

cold war, term used to describe the shifting struggle for power and prestige between the Western powers and the Communist bloc from the end of World War II until 1989. Of worldwide proportions, the conflict was tacit in the ideological differences between communism and capitalist democracy.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Detente and the End of the Cold War
• The Cold War Worldwide
• The Iron Curtain and Containment
• Bibliography

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