Question

Read carefully the passage given below and answer the following questions: 

The Cold War was not simply a matter of power rivalries, military alliances and of the balance of power. These were accompanied by a real ideological conflict as well, a difference over- the best and most appropriate way of organizing political, economic and social life all over the world. 

1. Why is a war like situation called Cold War?

 2. Identify one military pact each signed by each of the two superpowers to balance the power rivalries.

3. Differentiate between the ideologies represented by the rival blocs.

Answer 1

1. The Cold War referred to the competition, the tensions and a series of confrontations between the US and Soviet Union. It never escalated into a hot war, i.e. a full-scale war between these two powers. 

2. The US and USSR decided to collaborate in limiting or eliminating certain kinds of nuclear and non-nuclear weapons. A stable balance of weapon, they decided, could be maintained through ‘arms control’. Starting in the 1960s, the two sides signed significant agreements, namely, Limited Test Ban Treaty and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

3. The Western alliance, headed by the US, represented the ideology of liberal democracy and capitalism while the eastern alliance, headed by the Soviet Union, was committed to the ideology of socialism and communism.