Cold War Facts

The cold war, although called a war, was not actually a war but the name given to the relationship between two powerful nations of the world, namely America (USA) and Soviet Union (USSR). The Cold war began after the end of the Second World War (1945) and lasted up to 1990. The cold war was not actually a war in the literal sense, but simply an exchange of words and threats between the two nations in order to promote their ideologies (USA ~ democracy, while USSR ~ communism) all over the world. Cold war history is quite interesting as during this time, the world witnessed many important events like the Vietnam War, Cuban Missile Crisis and the fall of the Berlin Wall. However, one of the noteworthy aspect of the cold war was that none of the sides was ready to face a direct war and tried hard to avoid the nuclear war as much as possible. The following are the fascinating facts which will tell you about the causes and effects of the cold war.

Interesting Cold War Facts
Here are some simple and fast facts on the cold war.

• After the end of World War II, Communists seized power in Eastern Europe with the support of the Red Army and occupied certain parts of Germany and Austria which were also sealed off by army patrols. This came to be known as the East Germany.
• In a famous speech at Fulton, Missouri, Sir Winston Churchill warned of threat that lay behind a Communist 'iron curtain'.
• The West Germany was ruled by the Allies (US, UK and France) and remained under the rule for nearly 40 years.
• The British and American pilots tried hard to keep West Berlin supplied with various products after the Soviet government closed all outside ground traffic. The pilots made more than 200,000 flights into West Berlin, in order to carry tons of products.
• The East German government erected the Berlin Wall in 1961 to prevent check the flow of East Germans to West Germany.
• In 1949, West Germany became the Federal Republic of Germany and Communist East Germany became the German Democratic Republic.
• Berlin, specifically the Berlin Wall, became a symbol of cold war and division of Germany and Europe.
• The planned posting of missiles in Cuba, a pro-Soviet country, caused a crisis in 1962.
• Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader the Soviet Union and his policies (glasnost and perestroika) led to a change in the Soviet Union and finally to the end of cold war.
• The end of the Cold war occurred with the fall of the Soviet Union when around 20 new nations disintegrated from the Soviet Union and declared independence.
• The Berlin wall was demolished in 1989 which also led to the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990.

Cold War Timeline
The above mentioned cold war facts show that timeline of the cold war runs for nearly 40 years. Here is the timeline with the major events that took place during the cold war.

• 1945 ~ The Yalta Conference takes place to decide the post war status of Germany.
• 1946 ~ Chinese Civil War between the Communist and Nationalist forces.
• 1948 ~ Communist party takes over Czechoslovakia; Joseph Stalin orders blockage of land route from West Germany to Berlin.
• 1949 ~ Foundation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong; formation of the NATO.
• 1950 ~ Beginning of the Korean War when North Korea invades the South Korea.
• 1953 ~ Stalin dies, Nikita Khrushchev seizes power.
• 1957 ~ A Communist insurgency begins in South Vietnam.
• 1961 ~ A CIA-backed invasion of Cuba, known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, fails.
• 1962 ~ The Cuban Missile Crisis.
• 1970 ~ The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, approved by the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom, enters into force.
• 1971 ~ The Four Power Agreement on Berlin is signed by the Soviet Union, the US, the UK and France.
• 1979 ~ The SALT II nuclear weapons treaty is signed by Leonid Brezhnev (of Soviet Union) and President Jimmy Carter (of USA).
• 1987 ~ Gorbachev announces Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring).
• 1989 ~ Fall of the Berlin wall.
• 1990 ~ Reunification of Germany.
• 1992 ~ The US President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin declare the formal end of the Cold War at the Camp David meeting.

These were some of the brief cold war facts that you may find interesting and the cold war still remains one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of mankind and modern world.