War is a horrendous and terrible thing however some wars must be fought to maintain peace. Other times two nations can come so close to war the entire world sits on the edge of their seats waiting to see what will happen. Will someone back down or will the world be destroyed in WW III? The Cold War was one of these wars. Actually the Cold War was not a war as we know it. It was a war of nerves. It started in 1945 right after the bombs were dropped oh Nagasaki and Hiroshima and did not end until November17th 1990 when the Soviet Union and the United States signed the Paris Charter. The Cold War was a time where the two leading powers in the world were in direct competition to win the rest of the world over to their form of government and economics. The Soviets sent the first satellite "Sputnik I" into space on Oct. 4th followed a month later by "Sputnik II". This really put the pressure on the United States to show the rest of the world that they were still the #1 nation. The Americans sent their first satellite into space on Jan 1st 1958 "Explorer I". However the space race was only one of many battles to be the best in the world and to spread its philosophy, Government and economic styles. Both nations were competing to see who could build the biggest and most destructive Bomb and who could do it the fastest. This bomb was known as the Hydrogen Bomb. The United States tested their first "H" Bomb on Marshall Island Nov. 1st 1952. The Soviets tested their first "H" Bomb Aug. 14th 1953. Then the United States trained and backed Fidel Castro to overthrow the dictator, Batista, in Cuba. Once Castro was successful he turned his back on the U.S. and nationalized all the United States' assets in Cuba. This drove a steak into the heart of relations between U.S. and Cuba. The Soviets took this opportunity to form an alliance with Cuba. Khrushchev made this decision with only consulting a few of his closest advisors. H...