The Cold War was called "cold" because it was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II that did not involve direct military confrontation between the two superpowers. Instead, it was characterized by a war of ideologies—capitalism versus communism—and a struggle for political and economic influence. The "cold" aspect referred to the absence of a "hot" war, meaning no direct fighting occurred between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, largely due to the mutual threat of nuclear destruction serving as a deterrent from full-scale conflict. Instead, the nations engaged through proxy wars, espionage, propaganda, and political maneuvering.
The term was first used by English author George Orwell in 1945 to describe a nuclear stalemate between what he called "super-states".
