While the Cold War never escalated into direct confrontation between the United States and Soviet Union , the conflict was waged through number of conflicts around the world throughout its duration in which the two superpowers each backed one side, albeit sometimes to differing degrees. The following is a list of those conflicts.
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The Cold War is typically considered to have formally started on 12 March 1947 when President Harry Truman of the United States explicitly requested Congress allocate military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey to limit the perceived spread of Soviet influence in those countries during the Greek Civil War and Turkish Straits crisis respectively, after which point the United States committed itself to a foreign policy of containing the spread of Soviet influence around the world, putting the two superpowers directly at odds with each other.
However, prior to this declaration, there were several conflicts that showcased the initial tensions between the Soviet Union and its growing sphere of influence and that of the United States that are listed here.
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Conflict Start date End date Country[ a] Region
Greek Civil War 30 March 1946 16 October 1949 Greece Southern Europe
Hukbalahap rebellion 24 August 1946 17 May 1954 Philippines Southeast Asia
First Indochina War 19 December 1946 21 July 1954 French Indochina Southeast Asia
Czechoslovak coup d'état 21 February 1948 25 February 1948 Czechoslovakia Central Europe
Malayan Emergency 16 June 1948 31 July 1960 Malaya Southeast Asia
Berlin Blockade 24 June 1948 12 May 1949 Germany Central Europe
Korean War 25 June 1950 27 July 1953 Korea East Asia
Egyptian revolution 23 July 1952 26 July 1952 Egypt North Africa
East German uprising 16 June 1953 17 June 1953 Germany Central Europe
Cuban revolution 26 July 1953 1 January 1959 Cuba Caribbean
Iranian coup d'état 15 August 1953 19 August 1953 Iran West Asia
Guatemalan coup d'état 18 June 1954 27 June 1954 Guatemala Central America
First Taiwan Strait Crisis 3 September 1954 1 May 1955 China East Asia
Vietnam War 1 November 1955 30 April 1975 Vietnam Southeast Asia
Poznań protests 28 June 1956 30 June 1956 Poland Central Europe
Hungarian revolution 23 October 1956 10 November 1956 Hungary Central Europe
Suez Crisis 29 October 1956 7 November 1956 Egypt North Africa
Iraqi revolution 14 July 1958 Iraq West Asia
Second Taiwan Strait Crisis 23 August 1958 2 December 1958 China East Asia
Tibetan uprising 10 March 1959 23 March 1959 China East Asia
Laotian Civil War 23 May 1959 2 December 1975 Laos Southeast Asia
U-2 incident 1 May 1960 Soviet Union North Asia
Congo Crisis 5 July 1960 25 November 1965 Congo-Léopoldville Central Africa
Angolan War of Independence 4 February 1961 15 January 1975 Portuguese Angola Southern Africa
Bay of Pigs Invasion 17 April 1961 20 April 1961 Cuba Caribbean
Berlin Crisis 4 June 1961 9 November 1961 Germany Central Europe
Nicaraguan revolution 19 July 1961 25 April 1990 Nicaragua Central America
Cuban Missile Crisis 16 October 1962 28 October 1962 Cuba Caribbean
Sino–Indian War 20 October 1962 21 November 1962 China , India South Asia
Guinea-Bissau War of Independence 23 January 1963 10 September 1974 Portuguese Guinea West Africa
Brazilian coup d'état 31 March 1964 1 April 1964 Brazil South America
Rhodesian Bush War 4 July 1964 12 December 1979 Rhodesia Southern Africa
Mozambican War of Independence 25 September 1964 8 September 1974 Portuguese Mozambique Southern Africa
Dominican Civil War 24 April 1965 3 September 1965 Dominican Republic Caribbean
United States occupation of the Dominican Republic 28 April 1965 21 September 1966 Dominican Republic Caribbean
Second Indo–Pakistani War 5 August 1965 23 September 1965 India , Pakistan South Asia
30 September Movement insurgency 1 October 1965 Indonesia Southeast Asia
Indonesian mass killings 1 October 1965 11 March 1966 Indonesia Southeast Asia
South African Border War 26 August 1966 15 January 1990 South West Africa Southern Africa
Cambodian Civil War 11 March 1967 17 April 1975 Cambodia Southeast Asia
Greek junta 21 April 1967 24 July 1974 Greece Southern Europe
Six-Day War 5 June 1967 10 June 1967 Egypt , Jordan , Syria West Asia
War of Attrition 1 July 1967 7 August 1970 Egypt West Asia
Communist insurgency in Malaysia 17 June 1968 2 December 1989 Malaysia Southeast Asia
Sino–Soviet border conflict 2 March 1969 11 September 1969 China , Soviet Union East Asia
Operation Menu 18 March 1969 26 March 1970 Cambodia Southeast Asia
Libyan revolution 1 September 1969 Libya North Africa
First Quarter Storm 26 January 1970 17 March 1970 Philippines Southeast Asia
Black September 1 September 1970 23 July 1971 Jordan West Asia
Bangladesh Liberation War 26 March 1971 16 December 1971 Pakistan South Asia
Third Indo-Pakistani War 3 December 1971 16 December 1971 India , Pakistan South Asia
Chilean coup d'état 11 September 1973 Chile South America
Yom Kippur War 6 October 1973 25 October 1973 Egypt , Syria West Asia
Carnation Revolution 25 April 1974 Portugal Southern Europe
Ethiopian Civil War 12 September 1974 28 May 1991 Ethiopia East Africa
Lebanese Civil War 13 April 1975 13 October 1990 Lebanon West Asia
Indonesian invasion of East Timor 7 December 1975 17 July 1976 Portuguese Timor Southeast Asia
Cambodian–Vietnamese War 1 May 1975 26 September 1989 Kampuchea , Vietnam , Thailand Southeast Asia
Angolan Civil War 11 November 1975 2 August 2002 Angola Southern Africa
Argentine coup d'état 24 March 1976 Argentina South America
Entebbe raid 3 July 1976 4 July 1976 Uganda East Africa
Mozambican Civil War 30 May 1977 15 October 1992 Mozambique Southern Africa
Ogaden War 13 July 1977 23 March 1978 Ethiopia East Africa
Iranian revolution 7 January 1978 11 February 1979 Iran West Asia
Korean Air Lines Flight 902 shootdown 20 April 1978 Soviet Union Eastern Europe
Sino–Vietnamese War 17 February 1979 16 March 1979 Vietnam Southeast Asia
Salvadoran Civil War 15 October 1979 16 January 1992 El Salvador Central America
Soviet–Afghan War 24 December 1979 15 February 1989 Afghanistan Central Asia
Falklands War 2 April 1982 14 June 1982 British Falkland Islands South America
Ethiopian–Somali Border War 23 June 1982 3 August 1983 Somalia East Africa
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 shootdown 1 September 1983 Soviet Union North Asia
United States invasion of Grenada 25 October 1983 15 December 1983 Grenada Caribbean
People Power Revolution 22 February 1986 25 February 1986 Philippines Southeast Asia
United States bombing of Libya 15 April 1986 Libya North Africa
8888 uprising 12 March 1988 21 September 1988 Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma Southeast Asia
Tiananmen Square protests and massacre 15 April 1989 4 June 1989 China East Asia
Velvet Revolution 17 November 1989 29 December 1989 Czechoslovakia Central Europe
Mongolian revolution 10 December 1989 9 March 1990 Mongolia East Asia
Romanian revolution 16 December 1989 25 December 1989 Romania Southern Europe
United States invasion of Panama 20 December 1989 31 January 1990 Panama Central America
Gulf War 2 August 1990 28 February 1991 Iraq , Kuwait West Asia
Soviet coup attempt 18 August 1991 22 August 1991 Soviet Union Eastern Europe
1 2 or colonial unit where applicable Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page ). 
French Indochina
Iran
Albania
