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Cold War Period

Cold War Period

For the decades between 1946 and 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, colloquially the ‘Soviet Union’) and its allies in the Eastern Europe – the so-called ‘Soviet bloc’, united under the banner of the Warsaw Pact – and the United States of America (USA), and its allies in Western Europe, united under the banner of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) – were involved in a massive geo-political and military stand-off, known as the Cold War.

The term ‘cold’ was used because no large-scale, direct fighting between the NATO and the Warsaw Pact erupted. However, ideological, economic and other reasons did cause dozens of local conflicts in Europe and elsewhere. Moreover, because the two parties continuously monitored each other with help of their civilian and military intelligence services, and considered each other with utter mistrust, the Cold War also resulted in a large number of direct yet minor armed clashes – so-called ‘incidents’ – and an even more massive military build-up, in the course of which all of the involved nations were continuously building-up and expanding their armed forces in preparation for what may have become the ‘Third World War’.

Finally, because the confrontation between the NATO and the Warsaw Pact became economically and politically entwined with a host of other governments, movements, ideologies, and economic factors around the world, the Cold War caused a number of so-called ‘local’ or ‘proxy wars’, in which – at least nominally – the communist block supported one, and the Western capitalists the other party.

Paraguay coup d'état (1989)

First Intifada (1987-1993)

Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986)

Operation El Dorado Canyon (1986)

Operation Epervier (1986-2014)

South Lebanon War (1985-2000)

Oeration Meghdoot (Cloud Messenger) (1984)

Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005)

Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009)

US Invasion of Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury) (1983)

Falklands War (1982)

First Lebanon War (1982-1985)

Seychelles coup d'état attempt (1981)

Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)

France in Central African Republic (1979-2015)

Salvadoran Civil War (1979-1992)

Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989)

Chadian-Libyan Conflict (1978-1987)

Shaba II (1978)

Ethiopean-Somali War (1977-1978)

Libyan-Egyptian War (1977)

Mozambican Civil War (1977-1992)

Angolan Civil War (1975-2002)

Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990)

Turkish Invasion of Cyprus (1974)

Chilean Coup D'état (1973)

Western Sahara War (1973-1991)

Yom Kippur War (1973)

Indo-Pakistan War (1971)

Ugandan Wars & Insurgencies (1971-1994)

Conakry Assault (Operation Green Sea/Mar Verde) (1970)

Northern Ireland Troubles (1969-1998)

Sino-Soviet Border Conflict (1969)

Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970)

Six Day War (1967)

War of Attrition (1967-1970)

Congo Mercenaries' Mutinies (1966-1967)

South African Border War (1966-1989)

Indo-Pakistan War (1965)

Rhodesian Bush Wars (1964-1980)

Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)

Eritrean War of Independence (1961-1991)

Nicaraguan Revolution (1961-1990)

Portuguese Colonial War (1961-1974)

Congo Crisis (1960-1965)

Suez Crisis (1956)

Argentine Revolucion Libertadora (1955)

CIA in Laos (1955-1973)

Vietnam War (1955-1975)

Kenya Emergency (1952-1960)

Korean War (1950-1953)

Arab-Israeli War (1948-1949)

Malayan Emergency (1948-1960)

Indo-Pakistan War (1947)

Paraguayan Civil War (1947)

First Indochina Wars (1946-1954)

Polish Resettlement Corps (1946-1949)

Cold War (1945-1991)

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