The cold war

It is called Cold war to ideological confrontation which took place during the 20th century since 1945 (end of the second world war) until the end of the Soviet Union (which occurred between the fall of the Berlin wall, 1989 and 1991 with the coup d ' état in the Soviet Union), between the blocks occidental-capitalista led by United States, and oriental-comunista led by the Soviet Union.
Mapa del mundo en Guerra Fría en 1980, en tonos de rojo los aliados de la URSS y otros países comunistas, y en tonos de azul la OTAN y sus aliados capitalistas; los puntos rojos significan guerrillas comunistas y los puntos azules guerrillas anticomunistas.Map of the world in cold war in 1980, in shades of red the allies of the USSR and other countries Communist, and shades of blue NATO and its capitalist allies; red dots mean Communist guerrillas and speckles anti-Communist guerrillas.
This confrontation took place at the levels of political, ideological, economic, social, technological, military, informative and even sports.
Alianzas económicas en Europa (1949-1989).Economic alliances in Europe (1949-1989).
None of the two blocks never took direct action against the other, reason why it was called the "cold war" conflict.
Mapa de los firmantes del Pacto de Varsovia.Map of the signers of the Warsaw Pact.
These two powers were limited to act as 'axes' influential power in the international context and the economic and military cooperation with the countries allies or satellites of one of the blocks against the other.
Las fotografías tomadas por los aviones U-2 demostraron la construcción de silos soviéticos en suelo cubanoPhotographs taken by U-2 aircraft showed the construction of Soviet silos on Cuban soil

Although these confrontations did not trigger a world war, the entity and the severity of the economic, political and ideological conflicts that pledged, marked significantly large part of the history of the second half of the 20th century. The two superpowers certainly wished to establish his Government in the world model.
Tanques soviéticos enfrentados a tanques estadounidenses en el Checkpoint Charlie, durante la crisis de 1961.Soviet tanks face U.S. tanks at Checkpoint Charlie, during the crisis of 1961.
The time limits of the confrontation are located between 1945 and 1947 (end of the second world war and the post-war order, respectively) until 1985 (beginning of Perestroika) and 1991 (dissolution of the Soviet Union).
El Plan Marshall en Europa. Las columnas indican la cantidad relativa de ayuda recibida.The Marshall in Europe Plan. The columns indicate the relative amount of aid received.

Source: La Guerra Fría