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Where did the Cold War take place?

The Cold War refers to the period after the end of WWII, roughly between 1947-1991. During this time, the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) waged an ideological war that took place almost everywhere on the globe. On a very basic level, Americans were nervous about communism and the USSR resented America’s interventionist policies in world politics. This era was characterized by an arms race between the two superpowers, as both the U.S. and...

The Cold War refers to the period after the end of WWII, roughly between 1947-1991. During this time, the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) waged an ideological war that took place almost everywhere on the globe. On a very basic level, Americans were nervous about communism and the USSR resented America’s interventionist policies in world politics. This era was characterized by an arms race between the two superpowers, as both the U.S. and the USSR developed and refined their nuclear weapons.


In response to your question, the Cold War wasn’t a war that was directly and physically fought. It was more accurately a war that could have happened, but did not. The ideological warfare, however, involved the United States, Russia, Asia, Europe and parts of Africa and Latin America – especially Cuba. The one place the Cold War manifested physically was Korea, during the Korean Conflict from 1950-53. During this time, Soviet-backed North Korea invaded American-supported South Korea, involving both militaries and eventually ending in a stalemate. 

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