Russia

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On Havana waterfront, Cuban soldiers wait by anti-aircraft artillery, after receiving warning of an invasion from the United States

Max Hastings "If the Americans had bombed Cuba in 1962, escalation would have been almost inevitable" . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Afghan fighters on top of a destroyed Soviet helicopter, 1980 (Photo by Alain Dejean/Sygma via Getty Images)

War without end: conflict in Afghanistan, from the Cold War Soviet invasion to the Taliban . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Russian men called up to fight attend a ceremony to mark their departure

Russia-Ukraine conflict How the latest developments echo the Second World War . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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A missionary preaches to the Native Americans of Massachusetts, c1650. By now, colonists were imposing their values on the indigenous population, encouraging them to dress like the English – and worship the English God. (Photo by Ian Tyas/Keystone/Getty Images)

Britain's nuclear fears How has the UK prepared for Armageddon? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The USSR showcases its military might at the 1961 annual May Day parade in Red Square, Moscow. (Photo by Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images)

Nuclear fall-out: how the USA & USSR became bitter enemies

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Pod Orlando Figes WL

Russia’s national past: unpicking history from propaganda . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Victims of the February Revolution are carried through the Field of Mars in Petrograd

Russia's Civil War Why the 1917 uprisings descended into disaster . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Troops engaged in street fighting in the battle of Stalingrad,1942 (Photo from akg-images)

Second World War

The battle of Stalingrad: a German officer’s account of WW2’s bloodiest battle

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East German leader Willi Stoph greets West German chancellor Willy Brandt at Erfurt. (Getty images)

Cold War summits: how USA & USSR leaders worked to end the conflict . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev together

What brought a thaw in the Cold War? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Second World War allies Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin (left to right) at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. East and west would soon become bitter rivals, however

The Cold War: 9 key questions

George C Marshall, architect of the Marshall Plan, which pledged billions of dollars to help rebuild war-torn Europe

What was the Marshall Plan?

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Pod Geoffrey Roberts WL

Stalin’s library: inside the mind of a dictator . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Pod Antony Beevor WL

Antony Beevor on the Russian revolution . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

American citizens Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, following their arrest by the FBI 1950. They were convicted of passing infomation to the Soviets and executed in 1953

The secrets and lies of Cold War spies