TheCold Warwas a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, which began following World War II. The period is generally considered to have lasted from 1947 to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

This article lists historic sites associated with the Cold War.

Understand

The Cold War began in 1945 at the conclusion ofWorld War II(World War II in Europeand thePacific War) and continued until the fall of theBerlinWall in 1989 and the breakup of theSoviet Unionin 1991, leaving the United States standing as the world's sole superpower. It was a key period in modern history, because it occurred primarily due to rivalries between capitalist and communist societies, and was also a power struggle between the world's superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States.

During the Cold War, the border between the capitalist and communist parts of Europe was known as theIron Curtain.While the two superpowers never went to war with each other, both sides were often indirectly involved in various proxy wars through their respective allies.

History

WhileWorld War IIhad brought theUnited States,United Kingdom,theSoviet UnionandChinainto an uneasy alliance by necessity, the lack of a common enemy after the end of the war, and competing political ideologies led to a break between the United States, the United Kingdom and their capitalist allies on one side, and the Soviet Union and its communist allies on the other. In China, while the Nationalists and Communists had briefly put aside their differences to unite in fighting the Japanese during World War II, both sides would swiftly turn on each other following the defeat of Japan, and the country rapidly descended into civil war. The Communists emerged victorious in 1949, and the Nationalists were forced to retreat toTaiwan.

Following the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, his successor, Nikita Khrushchev, embarked on a de-Stalinization policy, in which Stalin's cult of personality was suppressed, and his human rights abuses were revealed and denounced. This offended Chinese leader Mao Zedong, who had admired Stalin greatly, and led to theSino-Soviet Splitin 1961. Following this split, the United States attempted to court China as an ally against the Soviet Union, culminating in Richard Nixon's historic visit to China and meeting with Mao in 1972. This was followed by the normalization of ties between the United States and Communist China under the Jimmy Carter administration in 1979. China allied itself with the United States against the Soviet Union during the 1979 Soviet invasion ofAfghanistan,and also joined the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980Summer OlympicsinMoscow.

Destinations

• Canada's Cold War Museum,in Carp, west ofOttawa,is housed in what is popularly known as the "Diefenbunker" (named after the Canadian leader Diefenbaker). The underground bunker was built to protect the Canadian government from nuclear attack. In addition to preserving and promoting Canada's Cold War history, the museum offers a variety of visitor programs and services.

Topics

Multiple topics cover the Cold War era:

• Military tourism
• Cold War Europe
• Post-war United States
• Soviet Union

Although the United States and the Soviet Union never went to war with each other, they often backed opposing sides in various proxy wars around the world. Key rivalries in this time period include:

• TheKorean War,which left a bitterly-dividedNorth KoreaandSouth Koreadivided by a heavily-fortifieddemilitarized zone
• Thenuclear arms racebetween theUnited States of Americaand the Soviet Union
• TheCubanrevolution,Cuban missile crisis andU.S. embargoof the island nation
• TheIndochina Wars,which ended in a humiliating U.S. withdrawal and full communist control overVietnamandLaos
• TheChinese Civil Warpitted the Kuomintang (Nationalists) against the Chinese Communist Party, resulting in a win for the Communists inthe mainlandand the retreat of the Nationalists toTaiwanin 1949.
• The race forspace,which began with Sputnik in 1957 and ended with multiple USmoonlandings in 1969-1972.
• TheBangladeshLiberation War,whereIndiaand the Soviet Union backed the Bangladesh independence fighters, while the United States, the United Kingdom and China backedPakistan,ending with Bangladesh gaining its independence from Pakistan.
• Thecivil war in Nicaragua,beginning with the fall of (U.S.-backed) Somoza and ending with a bizarre combination of military victory and electoral defeat for the left wing FSLN
• MalaysiaandThailandhad communist insurgencies that ended peacefully in 1989 and 1983 respectively.
• TheSoviet invasion ofAfghanistanfrom 1979-1989, during which the United States, Saudi Arabia, China and their allies sponsored, trained and/or provided other types of support to Muslim extremist fighters known as theMujahedeento fight the Soviets, ending in a humiliating defeat for the Soviet Union that led to its collapse two years later. The Mujahedeen splintered into various factions such as theTalibanandAl-Qaedaafter the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Destination articles

• Cape Canaveral,the location of Kennedy Space Center, was important in the space race
• Minuteman Missile National Historic Site,U.S. ICBM site inSouth Dakota
• Mödlareuth,Franconianborder village divided by the East German border wall
• Berlin;the city was divided at the Brandenburg Gate and some sections of the Berlin Wall have been preserved