The Cold WarThe Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between the Soviet Union, the United States, and their allies. The USSR sought to exert communist influence throughout Central and Eastern Europe. The United States had decided to take a stand against the communist movement and sought to exert its influence in France, West Germany, Japan, and Korea by creating leaders who supported capitalism. An "iron curtain", as Winston Churchill defined it, divided Europe: half capitalist and half communist. The United States feared that there would be a domino effect as countries fell to communism. So they wanted to stop it before all of Europe and Asia fell into this new ideology. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In 1947, a plan was developed to establish a policy of containment of communism. Shortly thereafter, a document called the Truman Doctrine was drafted that promised that the United States would support other nations in their defense against communism. The USSR which was spreading communism didn't exactly appreciate this reaction, and the Cold War began. The Cold War took place from approximately 1947 to approximately 1999. These dates are not exact because the Cold War was actually more than one era and has no fixed beginning or end. The Cold War got its name because there was no direct conflict between the USSR and the United States. However, there were proxy wars that erupted due to the Cold War, such as the Korean and Vietnam wars. The main reason for the Cold was because the US had capitalist ideologies and the USSR had communist ideologies. This led to huge differences in governance and economy between the two world powers, which led to dispute and tension between the two. There was this climate of political distrust that increased tensions because they would never take each other for their word. This mistrust made peace almost impossible. It also didn't help that both sides adopted a brinkmanship stance, meaning simply that neither attempted to calm the rising tensions. No one would lower their weapons first. Neither of them would hold back and they would let the situation go as far as it could before doing anything. There was also an arms race going on during this time, which doesn't help with the tensions. Much of their economies have been devoted to funding research and military spending. Each side's ability to completely destroy each other with their nuclear capability was the problem and the main reason why the war remained "cold". These nuclear weapons had the potential to wipe out the entire world, and since neither side would back down, many people feared that the war would end with everyone dead. Many espionage activities were also carried out in this period. The CIA and KGB spied on each other, which further increased tensions between the counties. Psychological warfare was also huge during the Cold War due to the rise of mass media. The American media portrayed the USSR as the bad guys and the United States as the good guys; however, the opposite occurred in the Soviet Union. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The Cold War actually ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, which tore down the “Iron Curtain” . The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 ended tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States.