The cold war is one of the strangest wars ever. In this war no one was ever killed in combat, and there were no POWS. No, this war was a arms race war, and a war of influence between the two great superpowers. It still could have developed into a full fledged war. It was a very tense time in history and if a war broke out it would have been disastrous.
After the second World War the world was dominated by two superpowers; the USA and the USSR. “The Cold War was a result of this division of power and of the important policy of spheres of influence. In the post WWII-era the Americans thought that the Russians were aiming to incorporate Western Europe (the US & British sphere of
influence) into their sphere of influence (Eastern Europe) by supporting the communists in
these countries. Their fears were enforced when a coup substituted communist for
coalition rule in Prague. In this ideologically hostile environment the Cold War began.
(p.15).†That showed the main reasons that the two countries could’ve gone to war for.
Pretty small disputes to warrant a nuclear war.
The cold war was characterised by the arms race between the two
superpowers who were eager to preserve their spheres of influence. Both developed
powerful weapons which were too dangerous to be used in battle, but which contributed
to the feeling of security, because they acted as deterrent to battle. “These weapons could
be used "politically"[as deterrent] but not "militarily"[since they would bring complete
annihilation]. Each side armed itself to win a war which it expected the other to begin but
for which it had no stomach and no plans"(p.34). That showed that neither country really
wanted a full out war because no one would win in the end.