The

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

was reflected in culture through music, movies, books, television, and other media, as well as sports, social beliefs, and behavior. Major elements of the Cold War included the presumed threat of a

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear w ...

, annihilation, and espionage. Many works use the Cold War as a backdrop or directly take part in a fictional conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. The period 1953–62 saw Cold War themes becoming mainstream as a public preoccupation. For the historical context in the US, see

United States in the 1950s United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two ...

Fiction: spy stories

Cloak and dagger stories became part of the popular culture of the Cold War in both East and West, with innumerable novels and movies that showed how polarized and dangerous the world was. Soviet audiences were thrilled by spy stories showing how their KGB agents protected the motherland by foiling dirty work by the United States' nefarious Central Intelligence Agency, Britain's devious MI6, and Israel's devilish

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

. After 1963, Hollywood increasingly depicted the CIA as clowns (as in the comedy TV series '' Get Smart'') or villains (as in Oliver Stone's 1992 film '' JFK''). Ian Fleming's infamous spy novels about the MI6 agent James Bond also referenced elements of the Cold War when being adapted into films. One example of this includes the first Bond film, Dr. No, which was released in 1962 and used the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

as a plot base. However, Cuba was substituted for Jamaica in the film.

Books and other works

* ''

Atomsk Atomsk may refer to: * ''Atomsk'' (novel), a novel by Carmichael Smith (Paul M. A. Linebarger) * Atomsk (FLCL character), a character in the anime FLCL {{Disambiguation ...

'' by Paul Linebarger, published in 1949, is the first espionage novel of the Cold War. * '' Alas, Babylon'' by Pat Frank * '' Arc Light'' by

Eric L. Harry Eric L. Harry (born December 2, 1958) is an American author and lawyer, best known for his novels '' Arc Light'' and ''Invasion''. He has also written ''Society of the Mind'', along with ''Protect and Defend''. Early life and education Harry wa ...

* '' Berts vidare betraktelser'' – Anders Jacobsson and Sören Olsson (1990), features Bert traveling with his family to New York City in July 1989, but fearing United States agents arriving to Öreskoga to prevent him from going to the US, as he has fallen in love with

Paulina Paulina or Paullina (, ) was a name shared by three relatives of the Roman Emperor Hadrian: his mother, his elder sister and his niece. Mother of Hadrian Domitia Paulina or Paullina, Domitia Paulina Major or Paulina Major, (''Major'' Latin fo ...

, whose cousin Pavel arrived to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

from Czechoslovakia (under Communist rule), and Bert has been talking to Pavel. * '' Cat's Cradle'' by Kurt Vonnegut * '' The Dispossessed'' by Ursula Le Guin is a science fiction novel exploring the differences in culture and philosophy between several alien societies, including that of an anarcho-syndicalist planet where most of the novel is set. * '' Red Alert'' by Peter George * ''

Resurrection Day ''Resurrection Day'' is a novel written by Brendan DuBois in 1999. In its alternate history, the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated to a full-scale war, the Soviet Union is devastated, and the United States has been reduced to a third-rate power tha ...

'' by

Brendan DuBois Brendan DuBois is an American mystery fiction and suspense writer who has twice won a Shamus Award for Best Short Story of the Year. He also had his short story "The Dark Snow'" published in ''Best American Mystery Stories of the Century'', edite ...

* '' Twilight 2000'',

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

. * ''

Warday ''Warday'' is a novel by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, first published in 1984. It is a fictional account of the authors travelling across the U.S. five years after a limited nuclear attack in order to assess how the nation has changed ...

'' by Whitley Strieber and

James Kunetka James William Kunetka (born September 29, 1944) is an American writer best known for his science fiction novels ''Warday'' and '' Nature's End''. He has also written non-fiction on the topic of the atomic age.Red Storm Rising'' a

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

novel by Tom Clancy, about a conventional NATO/ Warsaw Pact war. ** Other Tom Clancy novels which are part of the Jack Ryan universe, most especially '' The Hunt for Red October'' and '' The Cardinal of the Kremlin'', though all of his books from this era are featured against a background of east–west conflict. Later ''

Red Rabbit ''Red Rabbit'' is a spy thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and released on August 5, 2002. The plot occurs a few months after the events of ''Patriot Games'' (1987), and incorporates the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. Main c ...

'' narrates a "What-If" scenario of the Soviets being behind the 1981 assassination attempt on the Pope. * ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

'' by

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

* Frederick Forsyth's spy novels sold in the hundreds of thousands. ''

The Fourth Protocol ''The Fourth Protocol'' is a thriller novel by British writer Frederick Forsyth, published in August 1984. Etymology The title refers to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which (at least in the world of the novel) contained four secr ...

'', whose title refers to a series of conventions that, if broken, will lead to nuclear war and that are now, of course, all broken except for the fourth and last thread, was made into a major film starring British actor Michael Caine. * '' The Manchurian Candidate'', by Richard Condon, took a different approach and portrayed a Communist conspiracy against the US acting not through leftists or pacifists but through a thinly veiled allusion to

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

. The logic of this was that if McCarthyists were accusing so many people of being communist agents, it could only be to divert attention from the real communists. The theme of collusion between international communists and Western rightists would be picked up again by many movies ('' Goldfinger'', '' A View to a Kill'') or television shows (episodes of '' MacGyver'' or '' Airwolf''), which would feature an alliance between power-hungry communists attacking the free world from the outside and profit-driven capitalists undermining it for financial gain. * ''

Glasnost ''Glasnost'' (; russian: link=no, гласность, ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, ...

'' radically changed Russian culture, as books that had been forbidden suddenly became available, and people were reading them all the time, everywhere. * ''

The Ugly American ''The Ugly American'' is a 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer that depicts the failures of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Southeast Asia. The book caused a sensation in diplomatic circles and had major political implic ...

'' by

William J. Lederer William Julius Lederer, Jr. (March 31, 1912 – December 5, 2009) was an American author and naval officer. Biography U.S. Navy service After dropping out of high school, Lederer enlisted in the United States Navy in 1930. He graduated from ...

and Eugene Burdick. Originally published in 1958, this book tells the story of how the US government handled foreign policy very poorly. The main character, Homer Atkins, discovers this sad truth when he is dispatched to the fictitious country of Sarkhan (in Southeast Asia.) * '' One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich'' by

Alexander Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repress ...

. This acclaimed book, first published in 1962, exposed the horrors of the Russian prison camps during WWII under the

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...

regime. It is a semi-autobiographical tale about a dutiful soldier who is sent to a Siberian camp, after being falsely accused of treason. Solzhenitsyn received the Nobel Prize in literature. * Twilight Struggle is a 2005 card-based board game by GMT Games that depicts the events of the entire Cold War, starting from Joseph Stalin to

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

. The game was turned into a video game in 2016.

Cinema

Cinema as early Cold War propaganda

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union each invested heavily in propaganda designed to sway both domestic and foreign opinion in the respective country's favor, especially using motion pictures. The quality gap between American and Soviet film gave the Americans a distinct advantage over the Soviet Union; the United States was readily prepared to utilize their cinematic superiority as a way to effectively impact the public opinion in a way the Soviet Union could not. Americans hoped that achievements in cinema would compensate for America's failure to keep up with Soviet development of

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

and advancements in space technology. The use of film as an effective form of widespread propaganda transformed cinema into another Cold War battlefront alongside the

arms race An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more states to have superior armed forces; a competition concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and t ...

and Space Race. Films from both the United States and Soviet Union can be seen as artifacts of propaganda as well as resistance.

US cinema

The Americans took advantage of their pre-existing cinematic advantage over the Soviet Union, using movies as another way to create the Communist enemy. In the early years of the Cold War (between 1948 and 1953), seventy explicitly anti-communist films were released. American films incorporated a wide scale of Cold War themes and issues into all genres of film, which gave American motion pictures a particular lead over Soviet film. Despite the audiences' lack of zeal for Anti-Communist/Cold War related cinema, the films produced evidently did serve as successful propaganda in both the United States and the Soviet Union. The films released during this time received a response from the Soviet Union, which subsequently released its own array of films to combat the depiction of the Communist threat. Several organizations played a key role in ensuring that Hollywood acted in the national best interest of the US, like the Catholic Legion of Decency and the

Production Code Administration The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios#Present, five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Pic ...

, which acted as two conservative groups that controlled a great deal of the national repertoire during the early stages of the Cold War. These groups filtered out politically subversive or morally questionable movies. More blatantly illustrating the shift from cinema as an art form to cinema as a form of strategic weapon, the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals ensured that filmmakers adequately expressed their patriotism. Beyond these cinema-specific efforts, the FBI played a surprisingly large role in the production of movies, instituting a triangular-shaped film strategy: FBI set up a surveillance operation in Hollywood, made efforts to pinpoint and blacklist Communists, secretly laundered intelligence through

HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

, and further helped in producing movies that "fostered

he FBI He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

image as the protector of the American people." The FBI additionally endorsed films, including Oscar winner ''

The Hoaxters ''The Hoaxters'' is a 1952 American documentary film about the threat posed by communism to the American way of life. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The Warner Home Video DVD release of the 1998 CNN documenta ...

''. In the 1960s, Hollywood began using spy films to create the enemy through film. Previously, the influence of the Cold War could be seen in many, if not all, genres of American film. By the 1960s, spy films were effectively a "weapon of confrontation between the two world systems." Both sides heightened paranoia and created a sense of constant unease in viewers through the increased production of spy films. Film depicted the enemy in a way that caused both sides to increase general suspicion of foreign and domestic threat.

Soviet cinema

Between 1946 and 1954, the Soviet Union mimicked the US adoption of cinema as a weapon. The Central United Film Studios and the Committee on Cinema Affairs were committed to the Cold War battle. Under Stalin's rule, movies could only be made within strict confines. Cinema and government were, as it stood, inextricably linked. Many films were banned for being insufficiently patriotic. Nonetheless, the Soviet Union produced a plethora of movies with the aim to blatantly function as negative propaganda. In the same fashion as the United States, the Soviets were eager to depict their enemy in the most unflattering light possible. Between 1946 and 1950, 45.6% of on-screen villains in Soviet films were either American or British. Films addressed non-Soviet themes that emerged in American film in an attempt to derail the criticism and paint the US as the enemy. Attacks made by the United States against the Soviet Union were simply used as material by Soviet filmmakers for their own attacks on the US. Soviet cinema during this time took its liberty with history: "Did the Red Army engage in the mass rapes of German women and pillage German art treasures, factories, and forests? In Soviet cinema, the opposite was true in ''

he Meeting on the Elbe He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

'." This demonstrated the heightened paranoia of the Soviet Union. Despite efforts made to elevate the status of cinema, such as changing the Committee of Cinema Affairs to the Ministry of Cinematography, cinema did not seem to work as invigorating propaganda as was planned. Although the anti-American films were notably popular with audiences, the Ministry did not feel the message had reached the general public, perhaps due to the fact that the majority of moviegoers seeing the films produced were, perhaps, the Soviets most likely to admire American culture. After Stalin's death, a Main Administration of Cinema Affairs replaced the Ministry, allowing the filmmakers more freedom due to the lack of direct government control. Many of the films released throughout the late 1950s and 1960s focused on spreading a positive image of Soviet life, intent to prove that Soviet life was indeed better than American life. Russian science fiction emerged from a prolonged period of censorship in 1957, opened up by de-Stalinization and real Soviet achievements in the space race, typified by Ivan Efremov's galactic epic, ''Andromeda'' (1957). Official Communist science fiction transposed the laws of historical materialism to the future, scorning Western nihilistic writings and predicting a peaceful transition to universal communism. Scientocratic visions of the future nevertheless implicitly critiqued the bureaucratically developed socialism of the present. Dissident science fiction writers emerged, such as the Strugatski brothers, Boris and Arkadi, with their "social fantasies," problematizing the role of intervention in the historical process, or Stanislaw Lem's tongue-in-cheek exposures of man's cognitive limitations.

Films depicting nuclear war

* '' Duck and Cover,'' a 1951 educational movie explaining what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. * '' Five,'' a 1951 film about five survivors, one woman and four men, of an atomic war that has wiped out the rest of the human race (while leaving all infrastructure intact). The five come together at a remote, isolated hillside house in Southern California, where they try to figure out how to survive while also being forced to face an unknown future. * '' On the Beach'' (1959) depicted a gradually dying, post-apocalyptic world in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

that remained after a nuclear Third World War. * ''

Ladybug Ladybug "Ladybird! Ladybird!" is the first line of an English-language nursery rhyme that also has German analogues. It is included in the Roud Folk Song Index as number of 16215. The rhyme This traditional verse relates to ladybirds, brightly colou ...

'' (1963) an elementary school nuclear bomb warning alarm sounds. * '' Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'' (1964) – A black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War and the threat of nuclear warfare. * '' Fail-Safe'' (1964) – A film based on a novel of the same name about an American bomber crew and nuclear tensions. * '' The War Game'' (BBC, 1965; aired 1985) – Depicts the effects of a nuclear war in Britain following a conventional war that escalates to nuclear war. * '' Damnation Alley'' (20th Century Fox, 1977) – Surprise

ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

attack launched on the United States, and the subsequent efforts of a small band of survivors from a missile silo in the Mojave Desert in California to reach another group of survivors in Albany, New York. * '' The Children's Story'' (1982) short film, which originally aired on TV's Mobil Showcase, depicts the first day of indoctrination of an elementary school classroom by a new teacher, representing a totalitarian government that has taken over the United States. It is based on the 1960 short story of the same name by

James Clavell James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994) was an Australian-born British (later naturalized American) writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best ...

. * '' The Day After'' (1983) – This made-for-television-movie by ABC that depicts the consequences of a nuclear war in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

and the surrounding area. * '' WarGames'' (1983) – About a young computer hacker who unknowingly hacks into a defense computer and risks starting a nuclear war. * ''

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller nov ...

'' ( PBS, 1983) – Depicts the after-effects of a nuclear war in a small town, 100 miles north of San Francisco, California. * '' Countdown to Looking Glass'' (

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, 1984) – A film that presents a simulated news broadcast about a nuclear war. * ''

Threads Thread may refer to: Objects * Thread (yarn), a kind of thin yarn used for sewing ** Thread (unit of measurement), a cotton yarn measure * Screw thread, a helical ridge on a cylindrical fastener Arts and entertainment * ''Thread'' (film), 2016 ...

'' ( BBC, 1984) – A film that is set in the British city of Sheffield and shows the long-term results of a nuclear war on the surrounding area. * '' The Sacrifice'' (Sweden, 1986) – A philosophical drama about nuclear war. * ''

The Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

'' (1986) – Though not about a nuclear war, it was seen as a cautionary tale. * '' When the Wind Blows'' (1986) – An animated film about an elderly British couple in a post-nuclear war world. * '' Miracle Mile'' (1988) – A film about two lovers in Los Angeles leading up to a nuclear war. * '' By Dawn's Early Light'' (

, 1990) – About rogue Soviet military officials framing NATO for a nuclear attack in order to spark a full-blown nuclear war. * '' On the Beach'' ( Showtime, 2000) – A remake of the 1959 film. * ''Fail-Safe'' (CBS, 2000) – A remake of the 1964 film.

Films depicting a conventional United States–Soviet Union war

In addition to fears of a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union, during the Cold War, there were also fears of a direct, large scale conventional conflict between the two superpowers. * '' Invasion U.S.A.'' (1952) – The 1952 film showed a Soviet invasion of the United States succeeding because the citizenry had fallen into moral decay, war profiteering, and

isolationism Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entang ...

. The film was later parodied on

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. ...

. * '' Red Nightmare'', a 1962 government-sponsored short subject narrated by

Jack Webb John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Joe Friday, Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise) ...

, imagined a Soviet-dominated United States as a result of the protagonist's negligence of his "all-American" duties. * '' World War III'', a 1982 NBC miniseries about a Soviet invasion of Alaska. * '' Red Dawn'' (1984) – presented a conventional Soviet attack with limited, strategic Soviet nuclear strikes on the United States, aided by allies from Latin America, and the exploits of a group of high schoolers who form a guerrilla group to oppose them. * '' Invasion U.S.A.'' (1985) – This film depicts a Soviet agent leading Latin American Communist guerillas launching attacks in the United States, and an ex-CIA agent played by Chuck Norris opposing him and his mercenaries. * '' Amerika'' (ABC, 1987), a peaceful takeover of the United States by the Soviet Union.

Films depicting Cold War espionage

* '' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 2011

spy

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

adaptation of the 1974 John le Carré novel of the same name. It is set in London in the early 1970s and follows the hunt for a Soviet double agent at the top of the British secret service. *'' The Spy Who Came In from the Cold'' is a 1965 British

spy film based on the 1963 John le Carré

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

. The film depicts a British agent's mission as a faux defector to East Germany to sow damaging disinformation about a powerful East German intelligence officer. *'' Firefox'' is a 1982 film based on a Craig Thomas novel of the same name. The plot details an American plot to steal a highly advanced Soviet fighter aircraft ( MiG-31 Firefox) which is capable of Mach 6, is invisible to radar, and carries weapons controlled by thought. * '' The Hunt for Red October'' is a 1990 film based on a Tom Clancy novel of the same name about the captain of a technologically advanced Soviet ballistic missile submarine that attempts to defect to the United States. * James Bond first appeared in 1953. While the primary antagonists in the majority of the novels were Soviet agents, the films were only vaguely based on the Cold War. The Bond movies followed the political climate of the time in their depictions of Soviets and "Red" Chinese. In the 1954 version of ''Casino Royale'', Bond was an American agent working with the British to destroy a ruthless Soviet agent in France, but became more widely known as Agent 007, James Bond, of Her Majesty's Secret Service, who was played by

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

until 1971 and by several actors since. Although Bond films often used the Cold War as a backdrop, the Soviet Union itself was almost never Bond's enemy, that role being more often left to fictional and apolitical criminal organizations (like the infamous SPECTRE). However, Red China was in league with Bond's enemies in the films '' Goldfinger'', '' You Only Live Twice'' and '' The Man With the Golden Gun'', while some later movies ('' Octopussy'', '' The Living Daylights'') featured a rogue Soviet general as the enemy. * TASS Upolnomochen Zayavit... ( TASS is Authorized to Announce ... ) – a Soviet TV series based on Julian Semenov's novel. The plot of the movie is set around fictional African country Nagonia, where CIA agents are preparing a military coup, while KGB agent Slavin is trying to prevent it. Slavin succeeds by blackmailing the corrupt American spy John Glebe. * The Falcon and the Snowman is a 1985 film directed by John Schlesinger about two young American men, Christopher Boyce and

Daulton Lee Andrew Daulton Lee (January 3, 1952) is a former drug dealer who was convicted of espionage for his involvement in the Cold War spying activities of his childhood friend, Christopher Boyce. Lee was the adopted eldest son of Dr. Daulton Lee, a wea ...

, who sold United States security secrets to the Soviet Union. The film is based upon the 1979 book ''The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage'' by Robert Lindsey. * ''Gotcha!'' (1985 film) is a film about a college student named Jonathan ( Anthony Edwards) who plays a game called Gotcha in which he hunts and is hunted by other students with paint guns on campus. Jonathan goes to France on vacation, meets a beautiful woman named Sasha ( Linda Fiorentino), travels with her to East Germany, and unknowingly becomes involved in the spy game between the US and USSR. *'' The Kremlin Letter'' is a 1970

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

neo-noir espionage thriller set in the winter of 1969–1970, at the height of US- Soviet tensions. * '' No Way Out'' a 1987 film about a spy myth that is created to cover up the killing of the mistress of a high American official.

Other films about Soviet Union–United States fears and rivalry

* '' The Third Man'' (1949) – A major subplot deals with the refugee status of a Czechoslovakian woman, and the Russian attempts to deport her back to Czechoslovakia. * '' The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming'' (1966) – A film about a Soviet submarine that accidentally runs aground near a small New England town. * '' Russian Roulette'' (1975) – A film starring

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...

about a Canadian Mounty attempting to stop a KGB plot to assassinate a Soviet premier in Vancouver. *'' Telefon'' (1977) – A film starring

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and war ...

and Donald Pleasence about the net of deep-cover

sleeper agent A sleeper agent, also called sleeper cell, is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization not to undertake an immediate mission but to act as a potential asset if activated. Even if unactivated, the "sleeper agent" is still an asset ...

s in the US who are being activated by the deserted KGB agent. * '' Rocky IV'' (1985) – In this installment of the Rocky saga,

Rocky Balboa Robert "Rocky" Balboa (also known by his ring name The Italian Stallion), is a fictional title character and the protagonist of the ''Rocky'' film series. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in all eigh ...

has to fight an extremely powerful boxer from the Soviet Union. * '' Spies Like Us'' (1985) – A comedy film starring

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

and Chevy Chase as decoy agents send to infiltrate the Soviet Union. * ''

Russkies ''Russkies'' is a 1987 American comedy-drama film starring Whip Hubley and Leaf Phoenix, directed by Rick Rosenthal with cinematography by Reed Smoot. Plot A few nights before Independence Day, three 12-year old military brats (Danny, Adam, ...

'' (1987) – A movie about a shipwrecked Soviet Navy sailor who washes ashore in Key West, Florida and is befriended by three American boys. * '' Project X'' (1987) – A film starring Matthew Broderick where a US airman works with chimpanzees on Cold War-related projects.

Television

* '' Airwolf'' * '' Danger Man'', (Known as Secret Agent in the United States) * ''

I Led Three Lives ''I Led 3 Lives'' (also known as ''I Led Three Lives'') is an American drama series syndicated by Ziv Television Programs from October 1, 1953, to January 1, 1956. The series stars Richard Carlson. The show was a companion piece of sorts to th ...

'' – The first foray into mass culture dealing with the Cold War. * '' I Spy'' (1965–68 US television series) * '' Get Smart'' * '' MacGyver'' * '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' * '' Mission: Impossible'' * '' Quatermass II'' * Several episodes of ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' featured a futuristic version of the Cold War, in terms of the United Federation of Planets vs. The Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire, analogs for the United States, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China, respectively. "

A Taste of Armageddon "A Taste of Armageddon" is the twenty-third episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series (season 1), first season of the American science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek''. Writ ...

" also showed the concept of MAD in a war between opposing sides. * ''

Scarecrow and Mrs. King ''Scarecrow and Mrs. King'' is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to September 10, 1987, on CBS. The show starred Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner, as divorced housewife Amanda King and top-level "Agency" operative ...

'' * ''

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

'' 1976 sitcom * '' The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'' 1960s cartoon for children and adults where the villains are Boris and Natasha, who were both parodies of the soviets. * '' The Sandbaggers'' * '' The Twilight Zone'', a number of episodes of which depicted fallout shelters, such as the 1961 episode, '' The Shelter'', produced as a social commentary on the

Civil Defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...

push during the

Berlin Crisis of 1961 The Berlin Crisis of 1961 (german: Berlin-Krise) occurred between 4 June – 9 November 1961, and was the last major European politico-military incident of the Cold War about the occupational status of the German capital city, Berlin, and of po ...

, and the 1987 Ronald Reagan era "

Shelter Skelter "Shelter Skelter" is the second segment of the thirty-third episode and the ninth episode of the second season (1986–87) of the television series ''The Twilight Zone''. The segment follows two men living in a fallout shelter following a nuclear ...

". Twilight Zone episodes commenting on other aspects of the Cold War, and World Peace include the 1986 ''

A Small Talent for War "A Small Talent for War" is the second segment of the fifteenth episode from the first season (1985–86) of the television series ''The Twilight Zone''. In this segment, an advanced alien race claims to have created human beings and proposes to w ...

''. * '' The Transformers (TV series)'', including the fact that the two first seasons take place during the latter years of the Cold War, an episode, ''Prime Target'' directly refers to an event of the episode as ''The highest point of tension between United States and Soviet Union, since the Cuban Missile Crisis''.

Television commercials

Wendy's Hamburger Chain ran a television commercial showing a supposed "Soviet Fashion Show", which featured the same large, unattractive woman wearing the same dowdy outfit in a variety of situations, the only difference being the accessory she carried (for example, a flashlight for 'nightwear' or a beach ball for 'swimwear'). This was supposedly a lampoon on how the Soviet society is characterised with uniformity and standardisation, in contrast to the US characterised with freedom of choice, as highlighted in the Wendy's commercial.

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

's "

" ad, despite paying homage to George Orwell's novel of the same name, follows a more serious yet ambitious take on the freedom vs. totalitarianism theme evident between the US and Soviet societies at the time.

Political commercials

Daisies and mushroom clouds

'' Daisy'' was the most famous campaign commercial of the Cold War. Aired only once, on 7 September 1964, it was a factor in Lyndon B. Johnson's defeat of

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

in the 1964 presidential election. The contents of the commercial were controversial, and their emotional impact was searing. The commercial opens with a very young girl standing in a meadow with chirping birds, slowly counting the petals of a daisy as she picks them one by one. Her sweet innocence, along with mistakes in her counting, endear her to the viewer. When she reaches "9", an ominous-sounding male voice is suddenly heard intoning the countdown of a rocket launch. As the girl's eyes turn toward something she sees in the sky, the camera

zooms Zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry, commonly referred to by the abbreviation ZooMS, is a scientific method that identifies animal species by means of characteristic peptide sequences in the protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macrom ...

in until one of her pupils fills the screen, blacking it out. The countdown reaches zero, and the blackness is instantly replaced by a simultaneous bright flash and thunderous sound which is then followed by footage of a nuclear explosion, an explosion similar in appearance to the near

surface burst A ground burst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an artillery shell, nuclear weapon or air-dropped bomb that explodes at ground level. These weapons are set off by fuses that are activated when the weapon strikes the ground or some ...

Trinity test of 1945, followed by another cut to footage of a billowing mushroom cloud. As the

fireball Fireball may refer to: Science * Fireball (meteor), a brighter-than-usual meteor * Ball lightning, an atmospheric electrical phenomenon * ''Bassia scoparia'', a plant species Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Fireball'', a 1950 film starring ...

ascends, an edit cut is made, this time to a close-up section of

incandescence Incandescence is the emission of electromagnetic radiation (including visible light) from a hot body as a result of its high temperature. The term derives from the Latin verb ''incandescere,'' to glow white. A common use of incandescence is ...

in the mushroom cloud, over which a voiceover from Johnson is played, which states emphatically, "These are the stakes! To make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die." Another voiceover then says, "Vote for President Johnson on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home." (Two months later, Johnson won the election in an electoral landslide.)

Bear in the woods

Bear in the woods was a

campaign advertisement endorsing

for President that depicted a brown bear (likely symbolizing the Soviet Union) wandering through the woods. Despite the fact that the ad never explicitly mentioned the Soviet Union, the Cold War or Walter Mondale, it thematically suggested that Reagan was more capable of dealing with the Soviets than his opponent.

Humor

The 1984 "

We begin bombing in five minutes "We begin bombing in five minutes" is the last sentence of a controversial, off-the-record joke made by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1984, during the Cold War. While preparing for a scheduled radio address from his vacation home in California ...

" incident is an example of cold war dark humor. It was a personal microphone gaffe joke between Ronald Reagan, his White House staff and radio technicians that was accidentally leaked to the US populace. At the time, Reagan was well known before this incident for telling Soviet/ Russian jokes in televised debates, many of which have now been uploaded to video hosting websites. :''My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.'' The joke was a parody of the opening line of that day's speech: :''My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you that today I signed legislation that will allow student religious groups to begin enjoying a right they've too long been denied—the freedom to meet in public high schools during nonschool hours, just as other student groups are allowed to do.'' Following his trip to Los Angeles in 1959 and being refused entry into Disneyland, on security grounds, a dejected Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev joked, "...just now I was told that I could not go to Disneyland, I asked 'Why not?' What is it, do you have rocket launching pads there?" The only person more disappointed than Khrushchev was Walt Disney himself, who claimed he had been looking forward to showing off his 'submarine fleet', which was actually the ''

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...

'' ride.

Arts

The United States and the Soviet Union engaged in competition vis-à-vis the arts. Cultural competition played out in Moscow, New York, London, and Paris. The Soviets excelled at ballet and chess, the Americans at jazz and abstract expressionist paintings. The US funded its own ballet troupes, and both used ballet as political propaganda, using dance to reflect life style in the "battle for the hearts and minds of men." The defection of a premier dancer became a major coup. Chess was inexpensive enough—and the Russians always won until America unleashed Bobby Fischer. Vastly more expensive was the Space Race, as a proxy for scientific supremacy (with a technology with obvious military uses). As well when it came to sports the two countries both competed in the Olympics during the Cold War period which also created severe tension when the West boycotted the first Russian Olympics in 1980.

Music

1940s

As President Franklin D. Roosevelt died and World War II concluded with the detonation of nuclear weapons over Japan in 1945, the stage was quickly set for the emergence of Cold War hostilities between the new superpowers in 1946. Musicians concertizing in the United States during this period were suddenly exposed to rapidly shifting diplomatic and political circumstances. In 1946 the US State Department assumed control of the

cultural diplomacy Cultural diplomacy is a type of public diplomacy and soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose ...

initiatives in South America which were initiated in 1941 by President Roosevelt's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. At first, the State Department continued to encourage leading musicians to concertize and broadcast music in support of its Pan-Americanism policy in the region through its Office of International Broadcasting and Cultural Affairs. As a result, live radio broadcasts to South America by such musicians as Alfredo Antonini, Néstor Mesta Cháyres and

John Serry Sr. John Serry Sr. (born John Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voic ...

on CBS's '' Viva América'' show continued into the first years of the cold war era. As the decade came to a close, however, the focal point for American foreign policy shifted toward the superpower rivalry in Europe and such cultural broadcasting to South America was gradually eliminated.

1950s and 1960s

Musicians of these decades, especially in jazz and folk music, were influenced by the shadow of nuclear war. Probably the most famous, passionate and influential of all was Bob Dylan, notably in his songs " Masters of War" and " A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" (written just before the

). In 1965 Barry McGuire's version of

P. F. Sloan Philip Gary "Flip" Sloan (born Philip Gary Schlein; September 18, 1945 – November 15, 2015), known professionally as P. F. Sloan, was an American singer and songwriter. During the mid-1960s, he wrote, performed, and produced many Billboard H ...

's apocalyptic " Eve of Destruction" was a number one hit in the United States and elsewhere. Van Cliburn was a pianist who was celebrated with a ticker tape parade after winning a musical competition in the Soviet Union. From 1956 through the late 1970s, the US State Department sent its finest jazz musicians to show off music that appealed to youth, to demonstrate racial harmony at home, and to undergird freedom as jazz was a democratic music form, free flowing and improvised. Jazz tours of the Soviet Union were organized in 1956, and lasted through the 1970s. In addition to jazz, the US State Department also supported the performance of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

by noteworthy American orchestras as part of its

initiatives during the cold war. In 1961-1962 Howard Hanson's Eastman Philharmonia Orchestra at the Eastman School of Music was selected to represent the nation on an international concert tour which included thirty four cities and sixteen countries in Europe, the Middle East and Russia. The United States Seventh Army also played an integral role in supporting cultural diplomacy and strengthening international ties with Europe during the cold war. The Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra was founded by Corporal Samuel Adler in Stuttgart, Germany as part of an effort by the US Army to demonstrate the common cultural heritage which existed in the United States, its European allies and the conquered nations in Europe during the cold war period. The orchestra concertized extensively throughout Europe from 1952 until 1961 and performed works from the classical repertoire as well as contemporary compositions from the United States. Listed among the ensemble's earliest "musical ambassadors" were several young conductors including: John Ferritto,

James Dixon James Dixon (August 5, 1814 – March 27, 1873) was a United States representative and United States Senator, Senator from Connecticut. Biography Dixon, son of William & Mary (Field) Dixon, was born August 5, 1814 in Enfield, Connecticut, ...

, Kenneth Schermerhorn and Henry Lewis.

Later

Many protest songs during the 1980s reflected general unease with escalating tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States brought on by

's and Margaret Thatcher's hard line against the Soviets. For example, various musical artists wore military uniform-like costumes, as a reflection of the increased feeling of militarism seen in the 1980s. Songs symbolically showed the superpowers going to war, as in the Frankie Goes to Hollywood song " Two Tribes". This song's MTV music video featured caricatures of United States President

and

Soviet General Secretary The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Konstantin Chernenko in a wrestling match. Other songs expressed fear of World War III, as in the

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

song, " Russians", with lyrics such as "I don't subscribe to his eagan's or Khrushchev'spoint of view" (that Reagan would protect Europe, or that

Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and Premier of the Soviet Union, chairm ...

would "bury" the West). Other examples include Sly Fox's "Let's go all the way", a song about "going all the way" to nuclear war,

The Escape Club The Escape Club are an English pop rock band that was formed in London in 1983. They are best known for their 1988 No. 1 US hit "Wild, Wild West (The Escape Club song), Wild, Wild West" and for their top-ten 1991 hit "I'll Be There (The Escape ...

's "Wild Wild West" with its various references to the Cold War and Fischer-Z's album " Red Skies over Paradise". The

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...

song " Land of Confusion" expressed a desire to make some sense out of the world, especially in relation to nuclear war. A number of punk rock bands from the 1980s attacked Cold War era politics, such as Reagan's and Thatcher's

nuclear deterrence Deterrence theory refers to the scholarship and practice of how threats or limited force by one party can convince another party to refrain from initiating some other course of action. The topic gained increased prominence as a military strategy ...

brinkmanship. A small sampling includes The Clash, Dead Kennedys, Government Issue, Fear, Suicidal Tendencies, Toxic Reasons, Reagan Youth, etc. Noted punk compilation '' P.E.A.C.E.'' included bands from around the world in an attempt to promote international peace. The Scars covered apocalyptic poem "Your Attention Please" by Peter Porter, a radio broadcast announcing nuclear war. Probably the most famous of the 1980s songs against increased confrontation between the Soviets and the Americans was Nena's " 99 Luftballons", which described the events – ostensibly starting with the innocent release of 99 (red) toy balloons – that could lead to a nuclear war. The Swedish band Imperiet's "

Coca Cola Cowboys Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...

" is rock song about how the world is divided by two super powers that both claim to represent justice. Roman Palester, a classical music composer had his works banned and censored in Poland and the Soviet Union, as a result of his work for Radio Free Europe, even though he was thought to be Poland's greatest living composer at the time.

Musicals and plays

*'' Chess'' The game of chess was another mode of competition between the two

superpower A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political and cultural s ...

s, which the musical demonstrates.

Consumerism

Historians debate whether the spread of American-style consumerism to Western Europe (and Japan) was part of the Cold War. Steigerwald reviews the debate by looking at the book ''Trams or Tailfins? Public and Private Prosperity in Postwar West Germany and the United States'' (2012) by Jan L. Logemann:

In arguing that West Germany was not "Americanized" after the war, Logemann joins a long debate about American consumer capitalism's power, sweep, and depth of influence in the developed world through the second half of the twentieth century. In pointed contrast to Reinhold Wagnleitner's ''Coca-colonization and the Cold War'' (1994) and Victoria de Grazia's ''Irresistible Empire'' (2005), Logemann argues that, for all the noisy commentary, pro and con, about postwar Americanization, West Germans shaped their version of the affluent society according to deeply held and distinctly un-American values. Rather than a sweeping homogenization of the developed world, postwar affluence ran along "different paths to consumer modernity" ... Instead of the "consumer-as-citizen" (whom Lizabeth Cohen, in ''The Consumer's Republic'' 003 defined as the main social type in postwar America), West Germans promoted the social consumer who practiced "public consumption," which Logemann defines as "the provision of publicly funded alternatives to private consumer goods and services in areas ranging from housing to transportation or entertainment" (p. 5).

The Freakonomics Radio podcast episode "How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Ep. 386)" explores the impact that the

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

had and has on American culture, including the depth of policy decisions by the US Government that impacted agriculture, as well as serving a propaganda weapon against the Soviet Union.

Sports

Cold war tensions between the US and the USSR were the backdrop of sports competitions, especially in hockey and in the Olympics of 1980 and 1984. *1956:

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

– USSR-Hungary Blood in the Water match following the Hungarian Revolution *1969:

1969 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1969 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 36th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships, which also doubled as the 47th European ice hockey championships. For the first time the Pool A, B and C tournaments were hosted by different natio ...

– USSR-Czechoslovakia following the 1968 events in Czechoslovakia *1972:

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

– The USSR defeats the United States in men's basketball in a controversial gold medal game *1972: Canada–USSR

Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (russian: Суперсерия СССР — Канада, Superseriya SSSR — Kanada), or Series of the Century (french: Série du siècle, Séries of the Century), was an eight-game ic ...

– Canada defeats the Soviets in this eight-game series. *1972: 1972 World Chess Championship Fischer (USA)- Spaasky (USSR)- Bobby Fischer beat Spaasky in this championship held in Reykjavik, Iceland. *1980:

The Miracle on Ice The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's hockey tou ...

– The United States defeats the USSR in the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

. The first time the USSR hockey team did not win gold since 1960, and the last time they would not until the USSR fell apart. Also the first and only time the United States would beat them in hockey until 1991. *1980:

1980 Summer Olympics boycott The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its allies later ...

– by the United States *1984:

1984 Summer Olympics boycott The boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles followed four years after the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The boycott involved 14 Eastern Bloc countries and allies, led by the Soviet Union, which initiate ...

– by the Soviet Union

Playground equipment

Playground equipment constructed during the Cold War was intended to foster children's curiosity and excitement about the Space Race. It was installed in both Communist and non-Communist countries throughout the Cold War.

Video games

* '' Firefox'' * '' Missile Command'' * ''

Raid over Moscow ''Raid Over Moscow'' (''Raid'' in some countries and on reissue) is a computer game by Access Software published in Europe by U.S. Gold for the Commodore 64 in 1984 and other microcomputers in 1985-1986. Released during the Cold War era, ''Raid ...

'' * '' SDI'' * '' Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'' * '' DEFCON'' * '' World in Conflict'' * ''

Crisis in the Kremlin ''Crisis in the Kremlin'' is a 1991 strategy video game with managerial aspects in which the player acts as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 2017. The player assumes the role of the reformist Mikhail Go ...

'' * '' Call of Duty: Black Ops'' * '' Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified'' * '' Call of Duty: Black Ops II'' * '' Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War'' * '' Fallout''

Protest culture

Anti-nuclear protests first emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the United Kingdom, the first

Aldermaston March The Aldermaston marches were anti- nuclear weapons demonstrations in the 1950s and 1960s, taking place on Easter weekend between the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, England, and London, over a distance of fifty ...

, organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, took place in 1958.A brief history of CND
/ref> In 1961, at the height of the

, about 50,000 women brought together by Women Strike for Peace marched in 60 cities in the United States to demonstrate against

. In 1964, Peace Marches in several Australian capital cities featured "Ban the bomb" placards. In the early 1980s, the revival of the nuclear arms race triggered large protests about

. In October 1981 half a million people took to the streets in several cities in Italy, more than 250,000 people protested in Bonn, 250,000 demonstrated in London, and 100,000 marched in Brussels. The largest anti-nuclear protest was held on June 12, 1982, when one million people demonstrated in New York City against

. In October 1983, nearly 3 million people across western Europe protested nuclear missile deployments and demanded an end to the arms race; the largest crowd of almost one million people assembled in the Hague in the Netherlands. In Britain, 400,000 people participated in what was probably the largest demonstration in British history.Lawrence S. Wittner (2009). ''Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement'', Stanford University Press, p. 144.

Other

* Barbie—Barbie represented the American way of life, because she was the ultimate consumer.Whitfield, Stephen J., ''The Culture of the Cold War'', page 71 *

New Math New Mathematics or New Math was a dramatic but temporary change in the way mathematics was taught in American grade schools, and to a lesser extent in European countries and elsewhere, during the 1950s1970s. Curriculum topics and teaching pract ...

was a strong reaction to the launch of

Sputnik Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for t ...

, by changing the way mathematics was taught to school age children. *The Kitchen Debate was an impromptu debate (through interpreters) between Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, on July 24, 1959.

References

External links

A Historical Look at Campaign Commercials

*{{KLOV game, id=8715, name=Missile Command Cold War Cold War terminology Cultural history Articles containing video clips

Fiction: spy stories

Books and other works

Cinema

Cinema as early Cold War propaganda

US cinema

Soviet cinema

Films depicting nuclear war

Films depicting a conventional United States–Soviet Union war

Films depicting Cold War espionage

Other films about Soviet Union–United States fears and rivalry

Television

Television commercials

Political commercials

Daisies and mushroom clouds

Bear in the woods

Humor

Arts

Music

1940s

1950s and 1960s

Later

Musicals and plays

Consumerism

Sports

Playground equipment

Video games

Protest culture

Other

See also

References

Further reading

External links