Cold War There Are Two

¶ … Cold War

There are two things that we need to refer in this explanation. First of all, we need to determine whether the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union was a war and, if so, what kind of war was it, on what plans was it being fought and how it transformed itself into a "cold war," as it is nowadays currently referred to.

In my opinion, the Cold War was a war in the theoretical sense of the term. Indeed, it was first of all a confrontation. If we look at the two societies, the two economic systems that had been developed in each country, the political systems and the society in itself, with its rules and the way it had evolved - these were all completely different.

The U.S. had practiced for two hundred years a democratic system, with a market economy and a freedom that became universally known. In the Soviet Union, the Communist Party was in power and regulated every significant aspect of life and society. There was no freedom, society was ruled with an iron fist under the dictatorship "of the people." In fact, the Communist Party also dictated in the economy, regulating the production flows and deciding where to send the products and services, in the Soviet Union and the satellite countries of Eastern Europe.

The fact that two systems are completely different does not necessarily lead to war, as in confrontation. However, this was not the case here. After being allied during the Second World War and fighting together against the Germans, the Russians and the Americans, as soon as the peace treaties were signed, the Cold War practically started. It was difficult not to, otherwise.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, on the political stage were left two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, competing for global supremacy. At first, this meant economic and political supremacy, but, as time evolved, other aspects were being taken into consideration, such as supremacy in sports. It is notorious, for example, that the ice hockey finals between the two national teams were considered the most important event of the Winter Olympics.

The last paragraph gives us a clue as to why the war was cold: there was no direct military confrontation. Indeed, if any, military confrontation between the two countries took the form of support towards different factions in a third country. This is the case in the Korean War, for example. While the Americans actually had troops and fought in the Peninsula, the Russians were satisfied to military supply the North Korean Army.