Cold War: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:50, 24 May 2006

Revision as of 22:51, 24 May 2006

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The greatest fear during the Cold War was the risk it would escalate into a full nuclear exchange with hundreds of millions killed. Both sides developed a [[deterrence theory|deterrence policy]] that prevented problems from escalating beyond limited localities. Nuclear weapons were never used in the Cold War.

The Cold War cycled through a series of high and low tension years (the latter called détentedetente). It ended in the period between 1989 and 1991, with the dissolution of the [[Warsaw Pact]] and later the Soviet Union. Historians continue to debate the causes in the [[1940s]], and the reasons for the Soviet collapse in the [[1980s]].

==Historical overview==