Introduction
Beginning in 1946, the Cold War was a time of stress, unease, and peril for the United States, the Soviet Union, and the entire human race. The anxiety and suffering continued for decades until 1991, when Communism fell and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) dissolved. Nevertheless, the middle forty-five years of the Cold War--so named due to the two major powers that never met in combat-- was an intense period with both countries attempting to spread their form of government.. There was strain on many fronts--political, religious, economic, military, cultural--especially due to the aftermath of World War ll. The “warming” slowly escalated as each side, both possessing nuclear weapons, feared the other would wipe out their country, the climax of which came in 1962. However, the initial years in the late 1940s were not nearly as climactic as those surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis. The year 1947, for instance, was a time of increasing tension due to the Truman Doctrine, the United States involvement in the Greek Civil War, the Bizone, and the Marshall Plan.