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# Cold war

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The cold war was a metaphorical "war" describing the tensions between the western and the eastern countries between 1950-1990 (particularly between NATO and the countries of the [Warsaw Pact]?). Except for the Korean War, [Vietnam War]? and the conflict in Afghanistan, the aggression between those two parts of the world never shaped in an armed conflict, but was held by spies and traitors which were working undercover. Because of that, the population of the countries (this war took place mostly in eastern and western Germany) never took much notice about this war going on. Also, the armies of the countries involved never had much participation in the Cold War; the war was fought by intelligence organizations like the CIA? (United States), MI6? (Great Britain), BND? (West Germany), STASI? (East Germany) and the KGB? (USSR). The Cold War also inspired a lot of movie-companies and writers, resulting in an enormous amount of books and movies which tell about the cold war, some more fictional (James Bond) some less.

Beyond the actual fighting and killing that went on through intelligence services, the Cold War was heavily manifest in the concerns about nuclear weapons and the wars which could be fought with them, as well as in the propaganda wars between the United States and the USSR. It was far from clear, going through these times, that global nuclear war would not result from the smaller arenas of conflict, giving each of them an added degree of concern. These pressures impacted many aspects of life throughout the world, much more so than the actual fighting going on between intelligenc services.

Arguably, the most vivid symbol of the Cold War was the Berlin Wall, isolating West Berlin (the portion controlled by France, England and the United States, and governed as part of West Germany) from East Germany, which completely surrounded it. Many East Germans risked death attempting to cross the defenses surrounding the wall to reach freedom in West Berlin, and many were killed in the attempt. President Ronald Reagan's challenge "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" in 1988 seemed mere grandstanding, yet the wall was torn down within two years -- not by Premier Gorbachev's order, but by the citizens of East and West Berlin.

/Talk?

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Last edited August 16, 2001 5:09 pm (diff)
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