Cold War in Asia and Europe: Compared
Asia – Yellow
Europe – Blue
Both – Green

Second world war caused ‘bipolar world’
‘Bipolar world’ meant the US and USSR dominated
Both powers had nuclear weapons so confrontation could lead to nuclear war.
To avoid this advantage was gained through diplomacy and applying political pressure.
‘Cold War’ is the title given to a ‘war without war’.
Power was won or lost through diplomacy rather than force.

The implications on other countries as well as USA and USSR because of their allies.
USA and USSR aimed to gain power over other countries using their economies, ideology and military invasion.
Europe and Asia were also separated to balance the two sides.
Many independent states had to choose sides between the capitalist Western world (USA) and the communist Eastern world (USSR).
Many countries in the European and Asian continents chose to side with either USA or USSR.

European nations were divided geographically as well as ideologically (either Eastern or Western).
Great Britain became a representative of this western (USA) because of it historical loyalty.
Other nations that chose to side with the United States were Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium.
Countries in Eastern Europe were forced to side with the Eastern communism (USSR) because they had communist governments.
Communist influenced countries include Poland, Czechoslovakia, Belarus.
Germany was important to both sides because of the recent second world war.
A compromise meant Germany was split in half.

The Cuban Missile crisis was a key point.
It meant the world came close to confrontation between the two major powers which could have lead to nuclear war.
Cuba had always been of concern to the United
Fidel Castro’s power made Cuba a real danger.
Cuba could have become a threat beacsue they would be a communist country that was geographically close to the USA.
The Bay of Pigs invasion was supposed to get rid of Castro but it failed.
The attack on Cuba made relations between the two countries worse.

Castro then chose to side with the USSR.
It was good for the USSR as they gained a base close to the American coast.
The events lead up to the cold war.
It was a period of economic and technological advancement for both USA and USSR, which made the conflict more dangerous.
Soviet missiles positioned just 90 miles off the coast of the USA in Cuba.
Khrushchev stopped soviet ships heading to Cuba and therefore stopped the outbreak of nuclear war.

The Asian continent became key cold-war battleground.
The Vietnam War was waged between the 1950’s and 1970’s.
Communist North Vietnam was seen as a threat by the American government.
The USA thought communism would spread to democratic South Vietnam too.
American government decided to send troops to retain its democratic government.

The USA was forced leave because it military campaign failed and it was not publically popular.
There was growing unrest of the