Cold war 2 (The cold war)

The rivalry of the USSR and USA had a number of features:

·         Spying – this was mainly to find out military developments. They even used spy planes which could fly at a great height and take aerial photographs

·         Propaganda – both sides used propaganda to create the worst possible image of the other side and ensure that national public opinion supported the government. The Soviets even used sporting success to show the superiority of the communist system

·         Arms Race – each side competed to build more conventional and nuclear weapons. By the 1960s they both had enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other (and the world) many times over

·        Space Race – they competed with one another to put men into space and then onto the Moon. Success in this was then used as a propaganda weapon

·         Loans and aid – each side competed to provide loans and aid to less developed countries in order to win their support in the Cold War.

·         There were two sides – East (USSR) v West (USA)

·         There were two rival alliances – Warsaw Pact v NATO

·         The two sides assisted rival sides in civil wars such as Korea (1950-53) and Vietnam (1960s and 1970s)

BUT the Superpowers did not ever directly fight each other