Cold War

The geopolitical rivalry between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies from the 1940s to 1991. It combined ideological competition, arms racing, proxy wars, and crises without direct full-scale war between the superpowers.

Nuclear deterrence: A strategy in which the threat of nuclear retaliation discourages an adversary from attacking. Mutual fear of catastrophic retaliation helped prevent direct war between the superpowers.
Berlin Blockade: The Soviet Union’s 1948–1949 blockade of land routes to West Berlin, answered by a Western airlift. It was the first major Cold War crisis and hardened the division of Germany.
Yalta Conference: A February 1945 meeting where the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union discussed postwar Europe. Its unresolved agreements over Eastern Europe became a source of postwar distrust.
Arms race: Competition between states to build larger or more advanced military forces and weapons. US and Soviet weapons programs expanded sharply under mutual strategic competition.
Détente: A period of reduced tension and increased diplomatic engagement between the United States and the Soviet Union, especially in the 1970s. It marked a partial easing of rivalry rather than an end to it.
Mutually assured destruction: A condition in which nuclear attack by either superpower would bring devastating retaliation from the other. It expressed the extreme logic underpinning the Cold War nuclear balance.
Korean War: A 1950–1953 war in which North Korea, supported by China and the Soviet Union, fought South Korea and United Nations forces. It turned containment into a major military conflict on the Korean peninsula.
Potsdam Conference: A July–August 1945 meeting of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union on postwar arrangements. Disputes at Potsdam exposed the weakening alliance between the wartime powers.
Space Race: The US–Soviet competition in space exploration and technology, especially from the late 1950s through the 1960s. Space achievements became public measures of scientific and ideological strength.
Rollback: A strategy of actively reversing an adversary’s political or territorial gains. It contrasted with containment’s aim of limiting further Soviet expansion.

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