Cold War Alliances

During the Cold War, global tensions between the United States and its allies (the Western bloc) and the Soviet Union with its allies (the Eastern bloc) led to the formation of military alliances. The U.S.-led NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) aimed to protect Western nations from Soviet aggression, while the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact with Eastern European countries for mutual defense. These alliances solidified ideological divides and increased military preparedness, shaping international relations for decades, even though the superpowers did not directly fight each other in major conflicts.