Earliest "Cold War"

There was some level of that between Athens and Sparta before the Peloponnesian war, I believe.


Something like OTL's Cold War would require polities being able to act on that scale, though.
 
Another possible earlier Cold War could be a three way cold war between a Napoleonic France victorious in Europe, Great Britain and the Russian Empire. Basically, Russia remains loyal to the Continental System, and Britain sues for peace, perhaps after a naval war of attrition. France and Britain would still be tense toward each other, while relations between France and Russia sour later on. That would most certainly be on a worldwide scale. :cool:

If you would want to go earlier, albeit "less worldwide", a Cold War between a more tightly knit Holy Roman Emprie and the Byzantines; a sort of west vs. east religious Cold War, in the Middle Ages. :D Not sure how it could happen exactly, just thinking alloud I guess.
 
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