When World War II ended in 1945, the world hoped peace would last. But instead, a new kind of conflict began — the Cold War, a long rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. This struggle for global power defined the second half of the 20th century and still influences the world today.
After WWII, the U.S. and the USSR emerged as superpowers with opposite beliefs. The United States promoted democracy and capitalism, while the Soviet Union pushed for communism and state control. Their alliance during the war was based on defeating Hitler, not on shared values. Once the common enemy was gone, mistrust and fear quickly grew.
The Soviet Union wanted to control Eastern Europe to create a protective “buffer zone.” The U.S. saw this as expansionism and responded with the Truman Doctrine (1947), pledging support to nations resisting communism, and the Marshall Plan, which rebuilt Western Europe’s economies. These policies deepened the division between East and West.
Soon, Europe was split by what Winston Churchill called the “Iron Curtain.” Western Europe aligned with the U.S. through NATO, while Eastern Europe followed Moscow. The world had entered a bipolar era — two dominant powers leading rival systems.
The discovery of nuclear weapons made the rivalry even more dangerous. The arms race between the two sides created constant fear of nuclear war. Instead of fighting directly, they clashed indirectly through proxy wars in places like Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan, as well as through propaganda and technological competition like the Space Race.
By the 1980s, economic problems weakened the Soviet Union. Reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev couldn’t stop the decline, and by 1991, the USSR collapsed. The Cold War ended, leaving the U.S. as the world’s only superpower.
The Cold War started because of deep ideological differences, mistrust, and competition for influence after World War II. Even though it ended decades ago, its legacy still shapes modern geopolitics — from tensions in Europe and Asia to the race for technology and space dominance.
