What is Cold War, who was in the cold war, how and why did it happen (discuss the causes that lead to the Cold War)?

The Cold War took place between 1947 and 1991 and marked the polarization of the world in two blocs: one led by the Americans and the other by the Soviets. This polarization generated a political-ideological conflict between the two nations and their respective blocs, each defending their interests and their ideology.

The Cold War never generated a direct armed conflict between the United States (USA) and the Soviet Union (USSR), but the conflict of interest between the two countries resulted in armed conflicts around the world and in a dispute that took place at several levels such as the economics, diplomacy, technology etc.

The Cold War started right after World War II, a conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945. At the end of that conflict, the USA and the USSR emerged as the two great world powers and this situation contributed to the emergence of a polarization scenario. The beginning of the rivalry between Americans and Soviets in the postwar period is debated by historians.

The Cold War is said to have started with a speech made by Harry Truman, in the American Congress, in 1947. In that speech, the American president requested funds to combat the advance of communism in Europe and claimed that it was the role of the government American combat the advance of Soviet influence.

With that, the Truman Doctrine began, an ideology that encompassed the measures taken by the American government to contain the advance of communism in Europe. One of the stages of this doctrine was the Marshall Plan, the plan for the recovery of Europe destroyed by war. The aim of this plan was to increase American influence in Europe, and the Soviets, realizing this, forbade the countries in their bloc to join the Marshall Plan.

The discourse practiced by the Truman Doctrine used an alarmist discourse that placed the Soviet government as an expansionist government. The American government, however, knew that the position of the Soviets was a defensive one, because the country was destroyed by the war and sought to guarantee its interests only in its zone of influence.

In addition, another important point is that the economic difficulties that European countries would face in the postwar period could open space for the advance of communism and that worried the Americans. Thus, the Americans developed a Manichean discourse, which was responsible for polarizing the relationship between the two nations.

The Soviets, who, at first, were only interested in ensuring control over their area of influence, ended up incorporating the Manichean discourse, which materialized the polarization that marked the Cold War.

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