What was the and what events caused it? is the term used to describe the intense rivalry that developed after World War II between groups of Communist and non-Communist nations. On one side were the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) and its communist allies that referred to as the Eastern bloc. On the other side were the United Staes and its democratic allies, usually referred to as the Western bloc. was characterized by mutual distrust, suspicion, and misunderstandings by both the United States and the Soviet Union, and their ....