What were 3 major conflicts during the cold war?
This is a good site to read http://library.thinkquest.org/22059/index2.html There was a lot happening over the time period. Lots to say. The Cold War began after World War Two. The main enemies were the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold war got its name because both sides were afraid of fighting each other directly. In such a "hot war," nuclear weapons might destroy everything. So, instead, they fought each other indirectly. They supported conflicts in different parts of the world. They also used words as weapons. They threatened and denounced each other. Or they tried to make each other look foolish. Over the years, leaders on both sides changed. Yet the Cold War continued. It was the major force in world politics for most of the second half of the twentieth century. timeline http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/timeline/ international politics were heavily shaped by the intense rivalry between these two great blocs of power and the political ideologies they represented: democracy and capitalism The struggle over the fate of Eastern Europe thus constituted the first crucial phase of the Cold War. By 1948 neither side believed any longer in the possibility of preserving some level of partnership amidst the growing tension and competition. During this new and more intense phase of the Cold War, developments in and around postwar Germany emerged as the core of the conflict.
What is the difference between proxy war and Cold War?
The difference was the Cold War was a standoff between the US and the USSR and their allies. It came out of the post WW II years and went on until 1989 and the collaspe of the Warsaw Treaty, the fall of the wall dividing east Germany/west Germany and subsequent reunification. This collaspe was not only in Europe but around the world. This standoff was maintained over decades, by a policy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), and the ever-present arms race (where the superpowers sought to maintain parity orb even gain advantage through increasing military technology. The idea that either side could not attack the other side with such overwhelming force, quickly enough and completely enough to avoid there own destruction. That a first strike would get a response of a fatal second strike, in return.A proxy war is a war in which the three superpowers (US, USSR, and later China) avoided direct confrontation, by having more minor surrogates attack each other. The superpowers aided their surrogates with money, arms, technical help and foreign aid. Sometimes, they became involved in the fighting but only indirectly as an adjunct to the surrogates. Korea, Vietnam and many other wars are an example of this. A surrogate does not necessarily have to be a state but it might be a civil war, with the current government aided by one superpower, another superpower aids rhe insurgent guerillas. In Afganistan in the eighties, insurgents supported by the US, fought the USSR for independence. A proxy war allows the superpowers to fight a low grade war and not have it flash into a nuclear exchange. The problem is both sides must tacitly agree to keep the proxy war in bounds. The danger is it may escalate due to miscalculation. That they didn’t force a nuclear exchange was fortunate but possible. An example was when communist Castro defeated the Batista government of Cuba.The US raised a force of ex patriate Cubans living in the US, to invade and Cuba. This effort failed. However, the USSR started stationing nuclear weapons in Cuba which is just off the coast of Florida. The US caught the Soviets doing this with U2 spy flights over Cuba. The US invoked the Monroe Doctorine and embargoed Cuba. A full alert was in place and the danger was eventually de-esulated by diplomacy and everyone stood down.So the Cold War was the major effort of the superpowers to hold each other at bay. The proxy wars took place within the overarching context of the Cold War.
What are the causes and effects of the cold war?
Causes of the Cold War * The Soviet Union wanted to spread its ideology of communism worldwide, which alarmed the Americans who followed democracy. * The acquisition of atomic weapons by America caused fear in the Soviets. * Both countries feared an attack from each other. * The Soviet Union’s action of taking control over Eastern Europe was a major factor for US suspicions. * The US President had a personal dislike of the Soviet leader Josef Stalin. * America was annoyed by the Soviet Union’s actions in the part of Germany it had occupied. * The Soviets feared that America would use Western Europe as a base to attack it. Effects of the Cold War * Both the United States of America and the Soviet Union built up huge arsenals of atomic weapons and ballistic missiles. * The military blocs NATO and The Warsaw Pact were formed * It led to destructive conflicts like the Vietnam War and the Korean War. * The Soviet Union collapsed due to economic weaknesses. * The Berlin Wall was demolished and the two German nations were unified. * The Warsaw Pact disintegrated. * The Baltic States and some former Soviet republics achieved independence. * America became the sole superpower of the world. * Communism collapsed worldwide.