In 1962 the Soviet Union set up nuclear missiles on the island. Soon, the Soviet Union sent supplies and weapons to support Cuba. In 1959 rebel leader Fidel Castro overthrew western leaders and installed a Communist government on the island. It became the most famous symbol of the Cold War.Īnother political and military showdown took place in Cuba. In 1961 the East German government erected a wall around Berlin. During this decade thousands of people crossed the border to freedom. The East German government had no way of stopping them. In the 1950s many East Berliners moved to West Berlin to escape Communism. When the Soviets tried to cut off supply routes to the city the Americans reacted by airlifting food, clothes and other supplies to Berlin to help the city survive.
The French, British and American zone became West Berlin and the Soviet zone became East Berlin. After World War II the city was divided into four zones. Two of the major events of the Cold War took place in Berlin. Both military blocs wanted to defend themselves in case the other attacked. In 1949 the United States and other western countries founded NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), on the other side the Soviets led the Warsaw Pact, a military organization of eastern European countries.
The border between the Communist east and the free west was called the Iron Curtain and ran straight through the middle of Europe.Īfter World War II two military organizations emerged. It helped Western European countries to stay free and also gave them big sums of money to help rebuild their weak economies. The United States, on the other side, wanted to stop Communist ideas from spreading. At the end of the war the Soviets controlled much of Eastern Europe and installed Communist governments there. Even if the conflict did not result in a real war, there were many situations in which the world was very close to it.Īlthough the United States and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II, they had different ideas about the future of the world. It was a time of political tension, in which both superpowers tried to prevent each other from gaining too much power. It started at the end of World War II and ended with the collapse of communism at the end of the 1980s. The Cold War was the time of rivalry and conflict between the USA and the Soviet Union.
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