Originals of the Cold War. The wartime alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union began to unravel even before the end of World War I. Submarine & Cold War History: Cold War Timeline

From 1945 to 1991, the Cold War dominated international affairs. The global competition between the United States and the Soviet Union took many forms: political, economic, ideological, cultural. At times the constant arms race burst into armed conflict. But overshadowing all was the threat of nuclear war.

Despite vast numbers of tanks, warships, and other conventional weapons, nuclear weapons defined the Cold War. Soviet planners accepted the possibility of fighting and winning a nuclear war, but United States policy stressed deterrence—discouraging the use of nuclear weapons by threatening nuclear annihilation and millions of deaths in retaliation.

Only secure retaliatory forces could make the threat credible, and that led the United States to develop the "Strategic Triad"—long-range bombers, land-based missiles, and submarines, each force independently able to inflict catastrophic damage on an attacker.


Back to: Home / Submarine & Cold War History

Copyright © 2000, The National Museum of American History

A Different Kind of War. The threat of nuclear annihilation restrained in the armed forces of the United States and the Soviet Union from directly confronting each other in battle.
The End of the Cold War. During 1989 and 1990, the Berlin Wall came down, borders opened, and free elections ousted Communist regimes everywhere in eastern Europe.
The Cost of Submarines. During the Cold War, the United States invested heavily in submarine technology to counter a much larger Soviet Submarine force.



From 1945 to 1991, the Cold War dominated international affairs. The global competition between the United States and the Soviet Union took many forms: political, economic, ideological, cultural. At times the constant arms race burst into armed conflict. But overshadowing all was the threat of nuclear war.

Despite vast numbers of tanks, warships, and other conventional weapons, nuclear weapons defined the Cold War. Soviet planners accepted the possibility of fighting and winning a nuclear war, but United States policy stressed deterrence—discouraging the use of nuclear weapons by threatening nuclear annihilation and millions of deaths in retaliation.

Only secure retaliatory forces could make the threat credible, and that led the United States to develop the "Strategic Triad"—long-range bombers, land-based missiles, and submarines, each force independently able to inflict catastrophic damage on an attacker.