With the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, only two ideologies remained to clash on the world stage. History from this date would be largely dictated by the actions of the communist Soviet Union and the liberal-democratic United States, and the Cold War would be remembered largely as the result of two powerful and conflicting ideological empires coming together. they were competing for world domination. The people, when considering the large-scale events of the Cold War, were largely not influential. Whether it's the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, or simply the flow of daily life in both superpowers, nearly every significant event can be tied to the actions of small groups of government officials. 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 top-down decision-making. Throughout the events that began the Cold War it is obvious that top-down decision-making was solely responsible for starting this largely ideological battle. To suggest that one type of decision-making had a major impact on the Cold War, it would be appropriate to see examples of this decision-making in each period, and while this is certainly true of a top-down mentality, the same cannot be say about the effects on ordinary people. Rooted in the debate over what to do with Germany and the rest of Europe after World War II, the first ideological attacks of both empires came as a rush to secure spheres of influence in postwar Europe. The events that dominated this period were the Soviet Union's spread and support of Eastern European communism and the United States' staunch defense of... middle of paper... the old war proved to have causes immediate causes rooted in the people, but the more proximate and ultimately important causes came as a result of top-down political decisions. Each period of the Cold War can be characterized by a series of events, and almost every one of them can be attributed to top-down decision-making. some government officials. Throughout the initial period governments set the stage for the Cold War that followed, throughout the continuation of the Cold War governments satiated citizens by continuing the ideological conflict, and during the events leading to the collapse and conclusion of the War Cold governments have offered the proximate causes that created the circumstances 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..