Question

in what ways was the Cold War actually a hot war?

Answer 1

Well, the nukes race for one. The competition between us and Russia was pretty hot

Answer 2

The Cold War was indeed an ironic title. If you look into its history, there are various hot topics.

According to https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/postwarera/postwar-era/a/the-cold-war-part-1 ,

"The Cold War was hot in the outright conflicts between communist and capitalist supporters in countries like Korea and Vietnam (as well as other countries)."

Answer 3

the cold war was hard and a lot of people died

Answer 4

Cuban Missile Crisis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis