With the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, only two ideologies remained to clash on the world stage. Since then, history will be largely dictated by the actions of the communist Soviet Union and the liberal-democratic United States, and the Cold War will be remembered largely as the result of two powerful and contrasting ideological empires. opponent for world domination. People, when considering the large-scale events of the Cold War, had virtually no influence. Whether it is the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, or simply the unfolding of daily life in the two superpowers, almost every significant event can be linked to the actions of small groups of officials governments. When considering the defining events of the beginning, continuation, and conclusion of the Cold War, all accounts suggest that the Cold War was almost exclusively the result of decision-making imposed from above. It was clear that top-down decision-making was solely responsible for sparking this largely ideological battle. To suggest that one type of decision-making had a large impact on the Cold War, it would make sense to see examples of that type of decision-making in each period, and while this is certainly true for a top-down mentality, the same cannot be said for the effects on the general population. Rooted in the debate over what to do with Germany and the rest of Europe after World War II, the two empires' first ideological strikes came as a scramble to secure spheres of influence in the post-war Europe. The events that dominated this period were the spread and support of the Soviets for Eastern European communism and the United States' valiant defense of...... middle of paper ...... the old war turned out to have immediate causes rooted in the people. , but the immediate and ultimately most important causes are the result of political decisions imposed from above. Each period of the Cold War can be characterized by a number of events, and almost each can be attributed to decision-making imposed from above. from government officials. Throughout the beginning, governments set the stage for the Cold War that would follow, throughout the continuation of the Cold War, governments satiate citizens while continuing the ideological conflict, and throughout the events that led to the collapse and conclusion of the Cold War, governments have proposed the proximate causes. which created the circumstances necessary for the fall of communism. Looking to the future and the past, you can see that while social unrest and change mark history, government decisions and their outcomes define history..