When did the Cold War happen and why was it called so?

The Cold War, a long ideological rivalry between the Western democracies and the Soviet bloc, began in 1947 right after the World War II. It ended in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Empire.

In 1947 the US accepted Truman Doctrine to contain the aggressive behavior of USSR led by Stalin in Eastern Europe. The tensions between USA and USSR peaked in 1962 during the so-called Caribbean crisis, when the mankind was put on the threshold of a full-scale nuclear war.

During 1970-s and 1980-s the tensions between the superpowers continued until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power and some relief was brought to the relationships. The Soviet Union became unstable under the pressure of Baltic states and finally fell apart in December 1991, ending the Cald War, which was named so because no direct armed conflict between the US and the USSR ever happened.

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