What was the Cold War?

Cold War (1947-1991) was an open confrontation, non-military (although it caused the weapons race) and limited, that has been developed after World War II, between two groups of countries that had diametrically opposed ideologies and political systems.

In one group were the USSR and its allies, who were also called Oriental or Eastern Bloc. The other group comprised the U.S. and their allies, also called Western or Western bloc.

At the military-political level, it was a confrontation between NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization, North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the Warsaw Pact.

Economically,it has been a confrontation between capitalism and socialism.

Confrontation between the two blocks was called "Cold War" because there was no direct military confrontation between the superpowers (there was not a "hot" war).

At the ideological-political level,it has been a confrontation between Western liberal democracies (so-called "free world," "open society") and totalitarian communist regimes (so-called "closed society").

In terms of intelligence services, it was a confrontation between Western services of "intelligence" (primarily the U.S., CIA, NSA, but also British, German, French, Italian, etc..) and the political police communist regimes (above all, the KGB, also Security, Stasi, etc.).

It was also called "Cold War" also because it was conducted among former allies in the war against Nazi totalitarian regime, between the two types of political regimes that had the same ideological roots, ie the democratic struggle for human emancipation from any form of domination.