History Logo
ShowsThis Day In HistoryScheduleTopicsStories
  • History Classics
  • Live TV
  • Your Profile
Your Profile
History
  • Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
Email Updates
  • Live TV
  • History Classics
  • Shows
  • This Day In History
  • Schedule
  • Topics
  • Stories
  • Videos
  • History Podcasts
  • History Vault
  • Shop
  • History Travel
  1. Home
  2. Topics
  3. Cold War
  4. Topics

Cold War - Topics

The Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union lasted for decades and resulted in anti-communist suspicions and international incidents that led two superpowers to the brink of nuclear disaster.

Argentinian-born Marxist revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara (1928 - 1967), Cuban Minister of Industry, dressed in military fatigues, smokes a cigar and appears on the CBS current affairs program 'Face the Nation,' New York, New York, December 14, 1964. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

Che Guevara

Ernesto “Che” Guevara de la Serna, the controversial Marxist revolutionary and guerrilla leader, was a central figure in the Cuban Revolution, serving as second in command to Fidel Castro. 

Read more
3:57 minTV-PG

Here’s Why the Suez Crisis Almost Led to Nuclear War

Discover the history of the Suez Canal and how Egypt’s President Nasser, with the support of the Soviet Union, seized the canal from the British in 1956, causing an international crisis. See how President Eisenhower intervened to help restore order.

Watch now
Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer

Palmer Raids

Red Scare Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, America was on high alert, fearing Communist revolutionaries on their own shores. The Sedition Act of 1918, which was an expansion of the 1917 Espionage Act, was a direct result of the paranoia. Targeting those who criticized the government, the Sedition Act set into motion an effort […]

Read more
3:11 minTV-PG

Formation of NATO

Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in the formation of key alliances that would endure throughout the Cold War.

Watch now
Khmer Rouge soldiers shown in July 1984.

Khmer Rouge

Pol Pot Although Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge didn’t come to power until the mid-1970s, the roots of their takeover can be traced to the 1960s, when a communist insurgency first became active in Cambodia, which was then ruled by a monarch. Throughout the 1960s, the Khmer Rouge operated as the armed wing of […]

Read more
1:59 minTV-PG

Army-McCarthy Hearings

Joseph McCarthy and his role in stoking fears of communism and its sympathizers during the 1950s.

Watch now
1:41 minTV-PG

Hollywood Ten

Historian Yohuru Williams discusses key facts about the Hollywood 10, a group of film directors, screenwriters, and producers blacklisted for Communist affiliations in 1947.

Watch now
1:35 minTV-PG

HUAC: A Cold War Witch Hunt

Take a crash course on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a group that investigated the ‘loyalty’ of those suspected of having Communist ties after World War II.

Watch now
1:09 minTV-PG

Fidel Castro

During Fidel Castro’s tenure as President of Cuba, he survived an estimated 638 attempts on his life – and that’s just from the CIA.

Watch now
0:58 secTV-PG

Dean Acheson

Domino Theory, which governed much of U.S. foreign policy beginning in the early 1950s, held that a communist victory in one nation would quickly lead to a chain reaction of communist takeovers in neighboring states.

Watch now
1:41 minTV-PG

Mao Zedong and China’s Cultural Revolution

Historian Yohuru Williams gives a crash course on the Cultural Revolution led by Communist leader Mao Zedong in China in the 1960s.

Watch now
1:02 minTV-PG

Army-McCarthy Hearings

On June 9, 1954, two-thirds of the way into the 36-day televised Army-McCarthy hearings in which Sen. Joseph McCarthy argued that the U.S. Army was harboring communists, the investigation hits a turning point. When Joseph Welch, the Army’s special counsel, accuses McCarthy of having “no sense of decency,” the tide of public opinion turns and […]

Watch now
A+E NetworksOur Family of Brands
  • History Education
  • History Vault
  • Mobile/Apps
  • News
  • Shop
  • Share Your Opinion
Follow History
  • d
  • e
  • p
  • m
  • +
  • Biography
  • Crime and Investigation
  • History en Espanol
  • LRW
  • Military History
  • Ad Choices
  • Advertise With Us
  • Accessibility Support
  • Copyright Policy
  • Corporate Information
  • Employment Opportunities
  • FAQ/Contact Us
  • Privacy Notice
  • Cookie Notice
  • Terms Of Use
  • TV Parental Guidelines
  • Contact Us
  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Ad Choices
  • Accessibility Support

© 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.