Cold War

{{DC Database:Historical Event Template
 * Image                  =
 * OfficialName           = Cold War
 * Aliases                =


 * Locations              = Europe, Africa, Asia


 * Heroes                 = Blackhawk, Wonder Woman
 * Villains               = Communist Party
 * Others                 =


 * Origin                 =
 * Titles                 = Blackhawk, Modern Comics, Wonder Woman
 * Collected              =
 * Creators               =
 * First                  = Blackhawk Vol 1 25
 * Last                   =


 * HistoryText            = The Cold War was a prolonged global espionage, sabotage, and terrorism conflict, frequently flaring into military actions, spread across almost the entire globe, for forty years. The conflict dominated most of the history of the post-WWII 20th Century.

1945
The defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan freed the victorious Allied nations to turn their hostile intentions against one another, while the cataclysmic potential of their weapons inhibited those foes from fully engaging against one another. Decades of nuclear brinksmanship followed.

Quality Universe Events
In the Quality Universe, as elsewhere, the post-World War II "Cold War" kept Europe divided for decades, between the (mostly) democracies in the west and the (mostly) communist dictatorships in the east. During this era, the famous and popular Blackhawk Squadron enjoyed an incredible latitude of operational freedom, and functioned almost as a law unto themselves. This arrangement was formalized in 1948, in a secret meeting in Washington DC, in which a high-ranking official told Blackhawk: "We will invest you with complete power and authority to take immediate action! We'll back you to the hilt with all the concentrated power of the International Security Force."

The International Security Force changed its name several times, and by 1951, the United World (UW), led by its World Council, in London, acted in the combined roles of the early UN and NATO and SEATO. Seemingly no dictatorships were members of UW. UW had its own armed forces. UW had, or seemed to have, direct authority over the Blackhawks.

In the Quality Universe, the United World included, or at least defended: Badarstan, Balvania, Bargovia, Belgium, Bolania, Borovar, Brez, Brosnia, Bulgania, Bulvania, Carabas, China, Costa Marca, Delanza, Denmark, Drozh, France, Galvia, Grelhara, Italy, Jinnestan (Post-1951), Kahara, Karlovna, Khartoor, Kimrouk, Kondida, Lashore, Liberra, Lorphah, Luonia, Luxembourg, Malkaria, Malvania, Marlanx, Monclova, Netherlands, Nurvania, Ontavia*, Otero, Pangoy, Porvay, Ramastan, Ramonia, Ranagia, Samanthia, South Korea, South Vietnam, Tacna, Ulma, West Germany, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Valnadia, Voldania, Yugovia, and others.

In the Quality Universe, the Communist Bloc included: Albania, Bulgaria, (Red) China, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Jinnestan (Pre-1951), North Korea, North Vietnam, Poland, Romania, Rugaria, Transvania, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and others.

During that time, several nations were able to remain independent and unaligned with either of the two world superpowers. Among these unaligned nations, a few were Fascist dictatorships, such as Azaria, Portugal, Russlo, Spain, Valga, and Viglandt. Others were principalities or sultanates or other traditional monarchies, such as Andorra, and Ghanpat. Parliamentary and other republics included Austria, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Sweden, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, and others.

Several of the major events of the Cold War were unique to the Quality Universe:
 * In 1953, in London, the Headquarters city of the United World organization, a Red scientist impersonating an extraterrestrial alien used a tidal-wave-generating weapon to smash a tsunami into the downtown area of the city, destroying many buildings and killing thousands.
 * In 1955, in France, the town of Vichye was destroyed by a renegade Russian scientist's atomic explosive formula. The town was evacuated shortly beforehand.
 * In 1956, in Russia, a missile base in the Ural Mountains was destroyed by five Russian ICBMs.

Real World National Leaders

 * (USSR)
 * (PRC)
 * (PRC)
 * Dwight Eisenhower (US)
 * (USSR)
 * Gerald Ford (US)
 * Harry Truman (US)
 * (PRC)
 * James Carter (US)
 * John Kennedy (US)
 * Josef Stalin (USSR)
 * (USSR)
 * (USSR)
 * Lyndon Johnson (US)
 * (PRC)
 * (USSR)
 * (USSR)
 * Richard Nixon (US)
 * Ronald Reagan (US)
 * (USSR)
 * (PRC)
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 * Notes                  =
 * It must be noted that the only known instance of the Blackhawk Squadron ignoring a call for help from a beleaguered government was Ontavia in 1951, at a time when the team's leader was preoccupied on a case in Ramastan and the team itself was on the verge of breaking up.
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 * Links                  =
 * Cold War article at Wikipedia