But the ideological rivalry of two superpowers enabled violence and tensions. So the two contenders fought a covert and indirect 'Cold' war through 'Hot' conflicts in other nations such as: Korea, Viet-Nam and Afghanistan (helping one nation or the other with weapons, logistic support or intelligence, for example).Īlso they spent all the time aggressively spying each other and sabotaging one the activities of the other fomenting instability through civil unrest and coup d’états. We called it a cold war because there were fewer guns and bombs than usual. The problem was that a direct and effective war between them was impractical for two big reasons:ġ) People on both sides were tired of wars (after 2 World Wars) Ģ) Both had terrible nuclear weapons that would have destroyed (if used) both contenders. The Cold War began after the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, when the uneasy alliance between the United States and Great Britain on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other started to fall apart. They even divided the World in Blocks (Soviet and American controlled) with even an ideal barrier between them, The Iron Curtain. Once Germany lost the war the two started immediately to antagonize each other (in particular about territories, areas of influence and politics). Basically the two nations accepted each other as ally only to fight successfully against Hitler.

After WWII, and maybe even during it, the relation between the US and Stalin's USSR where not very good. A cold war is a state of conflict between nations that does not involve direct military action but is pursued primarily through economic and political.

Why was it called the cold war