History question.

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How far was the Cold War after the Second world War primarily caused by Ideological differences between the Capitalist and Communist blocs?


The Cold War existed between the 1940s-1990s. It was a conflict between the U.S. & the USSR together with their respective allies after the WWII. The powers at war engaged in boosting their respective defense systems that led to massive spending of their national resources.

It was firmly expressed through propaganda, military coalitions, weapons development, espionage, industrial advances as well as technological development. Such activities successfully heightened further competition and tension between the warring parties.

It led to numerous proxy wars, and new developments in both nuclear & conventional arms. Hence, because of the Cold War, numerous countries in the world today possess nuclear weapons that pose a great threat to world existence.

It also led to significant effects in neighboring countries as well as those far away. Such international crises as the Korean War, the Berlin Blockade, the Vietnam War, the Berlin crisis, and Soviet's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 were a direct manifestation of the cold war. Quite a number of countries experienced massive losses in wealth and life at such times.

Yet another adverse effect of the war was the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 that widely drew fears of an impending Third World War. In addition, in Nov. 1983, a ten-day NATO command exercise that spanned a major part of Western Europe simulated a time of conflict escalation, with heightened nuclear alerts, which finally culminated in a well-coordinated nuclear release.

At the end of War in the 1990s, several counties including the Soviet Union suffered monumental economic stagnation as a direct result of investment in the war. The effects of the war are far reaching and they contributed to the final collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, leaving the US as a sole superpower. Finally, there are no winners in the nuclear war.