The Cold War began around 1947, at the end of World War II. In the fight against the Nazis, the democratic and communist nations that fought in the Cold War were allies. Many nations suffered terrible losses during WWII, including the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Great Britain and France. This left the United States as the most powerful country on Earth. The U.S. didn't take to the problems arising from being the most powerful country, and decreased the size of its forces, while the U.S.S.R. kept its forces alligned and ready. The U.S.S.R. then took over various Eastern European countires, forcing their dictators upon them.

The U.S. saw the troubles arising in Eastern Europe, and formed the North Atlantic treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.), which intensified the troubles between the East and West. During the 1940s and 1950s, Free World nations (United States, France, Great Britain, West Germany, Canada, Japan, Philippines, and other nations in Western Europe and Latin America) and Communist nations (Soviet Union, Cuba, China, Rumania, Bulgaria, Poland, and other nations in Eastern Europe and Asia) had very poor relations. This was the time of the bomb scares, with everyone building bigger and better nuclear weapons than the next country, and then threatening to use them.

In the 1960s, relations changed because of internal changes, China was challenging Soviet leadership, and France and West Germany were acting free of U.S. oversight. In the 1970s, West Germany signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union, and the U.S. began having diplomatic relations with China, after 30 years.

In the 1980s, the Soviets intervened with activities in Afghanistan, and the United States increased its defense budget in case a counter-action was needed. Then, as peace seemed to grow out of reach, the Berlin Wall fell and the U.S.S.R. fell, this was the end of the Cold War.