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The name "Western Bloc" emerged in response to and as the antithesis of its communist counterpart, the Eastern Bloc. Throughout the Cold War, the governments and the Western media were more inclined to refer to themselves as the " Free World " or the "First World", whereas the Eastern bloc was often referred to as the "Communist World" or less ...
The Free World is a propaganda term, [1] [2] primarily used during the Cold War from 1945 to 1991, to refer to the Western Bloc and aligned countries. The term refers more broadly to all liberal democracies collectively, [ 3 ] as opposed to authoritarian regimes and communist states . [ 4 ]
After the West Bloc refused, the East German government put up the Berlin Wall to block traffic between the Western and Eastern sectors of Berlin. Cuban Missile Crisis (October 16–28, 1962) – 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba .
The Eastern Bloc was often called the "Second World", whereas the term "First World" referred to the Western Bloc and "Third World" referred to the non-aligned countries that were mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America but notably also included former pre-1948 Soviet ally Yugoslavia, which was located in Europe.
They were also referred to as the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The circumstances of these two blocs were so different that they were essentially two worlds, however, they were not numbered first and second. [2] [3] [4] The onset of the Cold War is marked by Winston Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech. [5]
The Cold War was a period of global geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
in Europe (dark grey) Show globe Location of West Germany (dark green) in Europe (dark grey) Show map of Europe Territory of West Germany Lands of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), claimed by West Germany until 1973 Lands of pre-1937 Germany that were annexed by Poland and the Soviet Union after World War II, claimed by West Germany until 1972 Show territorial claims Capital Bonn ...
This is an incomplete list of Western Bloc intelligence agents, military personnel, scientists, politicians, diplomats, and other prominent people who defected to the Eastern Bloc or non-aligned countries during the Cold War and after.