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Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference lasted eight days in the Soviet Union. Many compromises were made at this conference. Roosevelt convinced Churchill to a temporary division of Germany and Stalin promised "free and unfettered elections" in Poland and other Soviet-occupied Eastern European countries. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference took place in Berlin from July 17th to August 2nd. Churchill was replaced by Clement Attlee mid-conference because his party lost general election. Harry Truman replaced Roosevelt. It was evident that Stalin wouldn't keep the promise of free elections that he made at the Yalta Conference in February. -
First A-Bomb Dropped in Japan
The first atomic bomb, named Little Boy, was dropped by a B-29 bomber named Enola Gay in Hiroshima. It was dropped in Hiroshima because this was an important Japanese military center. Even after the whole city was destroyed, the Japanese leaders hesitated to surrender. -
VJ Day
VJ stands for Victory over Japan. Japan had finally surrendered and World War II was over. Thsi day is depicted by a sailor kissing a woman in a white dress in Times Square. -
"Iron Curtain Speech"
On this day, Churchill traveled to the United States and gave a speech that described the situation in Europe. "Iron curtain" stood for the division of Europe. -
Truman Doctrine announced
The Truman Doctrine was a U.S. policy of providing military aid to free nations threatened by internal or external opponents. Truman asked Congress for $400 million in economic and military aid for Greece and Turkey. -
Marshall Plan announced
The Marshall Plan was the program under which the United States supplied economis aid to European nations to help them rebuild after World War II. Over the next four years, 16 countries received some $13 billion in aid. By 1952, Western Europe was flourishing, and the Communist party had lost much of its appeal to the voters. -
Berlin Airlift begins
The United States and Britain were attempting to break the blockade, so the officials of both countries flew food and supplies into West Berlin. This last for 327 days and in the end, about 2.3 million tons of supplies were dropped--including Christmas presents that the troops bought with their own money. -
NATO Treaty ratified
The Berlin blockade increased the Western European fear of Soviet aggression, so ten of the Western European nations joined the United States and Canada to form NATO. NATO is a defensive military alliance and it stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. -
End of the Berlin Blockade
West Berlin survived because of the airlift and it also boosted the American prestige around the world. The Soviet Union finally realized that it was beaten and lifted the blockade. -
Soviets Explode A-Bomb
News of the Soviets exploding an A-Bomb shocked the United States because they weren't expecting the Soviet Union to possess nuclear weapon knowledge so soon. This caused Americans to question their own safety. -
Communist Takeover in China
Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People's Republic of China. This ended the full-scale civil war between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationaliost Party. -
Beginning of McCarthyism
McCarthy took advantage of the people's concerns abouts communicsm and made one unsupported accusation after the other. In the early 1950s, these attacks on suspected Communists became known as McCarthyism. Since then , McCarthyism has referred to the unfair tactic of accusing people of disloyalty without providing evidence. -
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg Executed
Julius was arrested in July 1950 and was the first of the couple to be executed. However, his wife, Ethel, wasn't arrested until August 1950. They were asked if they were Communsits and pleaded the Fifth Amendement so they wouldnt incriminate themselves. THey believed they were being persecuted both for being Jewish and for holding radical beliefs. They were found guilty of espionage and sentenced to death. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviets recognized West Germany and concluded peace treaties with Austria and Japan. However, when West Germany was allowed to rearm and join NATO, the Soviet Union grew fearful. It formed its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact, with seven Eastern European countries. -
Geneva Summit
The Geneva Summit took place in Switzerland in 1955. Eisenhower met with representatives from France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. Eisenhower put forth an 'open skies' proposal, which would mean the United States and the Soviet Union would allow flights over each other's territory to guard against surprise nuclear attacks. The Soviet Union rejected this proposal, but it was still considered to be a step toward peace. -
Suez War
Great Britain and the United States agreed to help Egypt finance construction of a dam at Aswan on the Nile RIver. However, Egypt's head of government tried to play the Americans and the Soviets against each other. When Dulles withdrew his offer of a loan, Nasser responded by nationalizing the Suez Canal, which also affected Israel. Nasser refused to let ships bound for Israel pass through the canal. -
Hungarian Uprising
Soviet tanks rolled into Hungary and killed approximately 30,000 Hungarians. They were only armed wtih pitols and bottles, so they thres up barricades in the streets and fought the invader to no avail. The Soviets overthrew the Nagy government and Nagy himself was executed. -
Launching of Sputnik
The Soviets launched Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite and took the lead in the space race. This shocked Americans and money began pouring into the space program. Sputnik traveled around the earth at 18,000 miles per hour, circling the globe every 96 minutes. -
US U2 Plane Shot Down
After Eisenhower's "open skies" proposal was rejected at the 1955 Geneva summit conference, the CIA began making secret high-altitude flights over Soviet territory. Dulles persuaded Eisenhower to authorize one last flight even though he wanted the flights discontinued. Francis Gary Powers was flying the plane that got shot down and was forced to parachute into Soviet-controlled territory. He was sentenced to ten years in prison.
