<P> The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc ( the Soviet Union and its satellite states ) and powers in the Western Bloc ( the United States , its NATO allies and others ) . Historians do not fully agree on the dates , but a common timeframe is the period between 1947 , the year the Truman Doctrine , a U.S. foreign policy pledging to aid nations threatened by Soviet expansionism , was announced , and either 1989 , when communism fell in Eastern Europe , or 1991 , when the Soviet Union collapsed . The term `` cold '' is used because there was no large - scale fighting directly between the two sides , but they each supported major regional wars known as proxy wars . </P>
<P> The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc ( the Soviet Union and its satellite states ) and powers in the Western Bloc ( the United States , its NATO allies and others ) . Historians do not fully agree on the dates , but a common timeframe is the period between 1947 , the year the Truman Doctrine , a U.S. foreign policy pledging to aid nations threatened by Soviet expansionism , was announced , and either 1989 , when communism fell in Eastern Europe , or 1991 , when the Soviet Union collapsed . The term `` cold '' is used because there was no large - scale fighting directly between the two sides , but they each supported major regional wars known as proxy wars . </P>
who did the soviet union fight in the cold war
who did the soviet union fight in the cold war
the United States its NATO allies others
the United States its NATO allies others