The United States and the Soviet Union

The United States and the Soviet Union, the two superpowers after World War II, jockeyed for power in the Cold War, dominating the military affairs of Europe through NATO and the Warsaw Pact respectively. While they engaged in proxy wars throughout the world and developed powerful nuclear weapons that could guarantee mutual assured destruction, the two countries avoided direct military conflict. Resisting leftist land and income redistribution projects around the world, the United States often supported authoritarian governments. American troops fought Communist Chinese forces in the Korean War of 1950–53. The House Un-American Activities Committee pursued a series of investigations into suspected leftist subversion, while Senator Joseph McCarthy became the figurehead of anticommunist sentiment.lysspejle
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