[-Cold War-] NATO -USA- VS USSR 1981 [-the March toward Moscow-]

The Cold War was a long period of political and military tension between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted from 1947 to 1991 After World War II ended in 1945, the US and the Soviet Union became the world's two strongest nations The US supported democratic capitalism with individual freedoms. The Soviet Union promoted authoritarian communism with strict government control. The two sides did not trust each other. Europe split into a Western capitalist half and a communist Eastern half. The main US goal was to stop communism from spreading to other countries. The US and its friends formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 for mutual defense Programs like the Marshall Plan gave money to friendly nations so they would not fall to communism Nuclear Arms Race: Both nations built massive nuclear arsenals. Fear of total destruction kept them from fighting face-to-face. Proxy Wars: The superpowers fought indirect wars by backing opposite sides in places like Korea and Vietnam Space Race: Both countries competed to achieve firsts in space exploration, leading to the first human moon landing in 1969. Flashpoints: Crises like the Berlin Blockade and the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world close to nuclear war Economic Strain: The Soviet economy struggled under high military costs and internal reform pressures. Collapse: The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and the Soviet Union broke apart into independent nations in December 1991.