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Iron Curtain Speech
Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers his famous line, "From Stettinin the baltic to Trieste in Adriatic, an iron curtain has decended across the continent" in the Sinews of Peace speech. This speech was said to mark the beginning of the Cold War. Tension Meter: 4 It had been seen to make the war but had no real effect on either country. -
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Cold War
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Truman Doctrine
The United States asked Britian to provide $400 million in military and economic service for the governments of Greece and Turkey because if those two countries fell it would be likely that communism would be spread faster through out the middle east and as far as India. Tension Meter: 2 It didn't involve The Soviet Union as much as it has with the British. -
Marshall Plan
After aidn to Turkey and Greece was given, the United Nations had been formed to help countries in need. The Marshall Plan, created by George marshall, was made to help countires that are in finacial aid. Tension Meter: 6 because it was preventing other countries from not becoming Communist but the Soviets were communists. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War.The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies railway, road and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control. Tension Rating: 5 because it was the first major crisis in the Cold War. -
NATO
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty and made up of 28 indepentdent countries. Stood as the main military alliance against the Soviet Union against teh Cold War. Tension Scale: 7 because it was an act of rebeling against the USSR and involved other countries as well. -
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong was born December 26th and died September 9 1976. He was a communist and socio-polition and converted China into a single-party socialist state. He had passed a series of plans, one being about land reform. He was responsible for hundreds of people's deaths because of instances like ordering in every village that at least one land lord was to be executed and the property was to be equally redistributed. Tension Rating: 5 because it hadn't involved either the Soviets nor the Americans -
Korean War
Armed forced from North Korea had invaded South Korea and began the Korean War. The United Sattes took responsibility and notified the UN and the United Nations called for assistance for South Korea. Korea was the first "limited war" and the United States helped by protecting South Korea. Tension Scale: 7 this was the first "hot war" of the Cold War. -
Joe McCarthy's Communist Witch Hunt
Senator Joe McCarthy was seemed to be the least qualified politicain at his time. He had accused several innocent citzens of being accosiated with communism. His evidence and case was weak and based on other people's opinions. He was inovled with investigating 'communist infiltration into the military." President Dwight D Eisenhower realized his actions needed to be stopped. (has been referred to as McCarthism)Tension Scale: 4 it showed the increasing tension Amercians felt about communism. -
Rosenberg Executions
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage and are put to death in the electric chair marked the first- and most- dramatic- espionage case of the Cold War. They were suspected of passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Tension Scale; 6 because someone because they had contact with the Soviet Union. -
Warsaw Pact
Warsaw pact was a mutual defense treaty between eight communist states of central and Eastern Europe that existed during the Cold War. The treaty called for the members to come to the defense of any member attacked by an outside force. -
Soviet Invasion of Hungary
The Soviet Invasion of Hungary followed thhe defet of Hungary in WWII and lasted for 45 years. Tension Rating: 6 because it had went against what the Americans were trying to prevent the spread of communism. -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the first thing to be launched into space which helped develop the American Space System due to our jealousy over the fact of them being the first to go into space. Tension rating: 4 because it shows the non-war competeion between the Soviets and the Americans. -
Cuba taken over Fidel Castro
Cuba was taken over by communist, Fidel Castro in 1959 and he has been the leader for over five decades. American's had reacted badly because there was a communist territory in the Western Hemishepre. Tension: 5 because there was more ommunits and they are in the American part of the world. -
U.S Spy Plane
An American U2 plane was shot down over Soviet territory. At first, the United States had denied the plane's mission but then reluctantly admitted it was a spy plane. The incident became a great embarressment to the United States. Tension: 6 because the Soviets had found a spy plane from America which could have angered the Soviets to the point of war. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs invasion was an unsuccessful military invasion of Cuba. American citzens attemtped to spy on Cuba with Cuban Americans but were eventually caught. Tension: 4 because this could've lead to war with the Cubans but not the Soviets but was still dangerous to get caught. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German democratic republic that completly out off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The wall had seperated innocent people from their families. Tension: 3 becaus the germans had built the wall which the Soviets had signed a pact with germany in 1939 and they had caused the pain in innocent families. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The Cuban Missle Crisis was the closest incident to combat in the Cold War. after the United States had failed to take over Cuba the Soviets placed Nuclear missiles at Cuba. -
Vietnam War
The U.S viewed involvement with the Vietnam War as a way to keep South Vietnam from becoming communist, a startegy that came to be known as containment. American involvement in the war peaked in1968 with the Tet Offensive which was a series of surprise attacks when no attacks where meant to take place. After this U.S forces were drawn out of the war. Tension: 7 because there was U.S involvement in a war, but not diredtly with the Soveit Union. -
SALT I
The signing of SALT (Strategic Arms Limitaion Talks) I had led to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty which was a treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile systems used in defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear weapons. Tension: 2 because it seemed to be stopping a problem not causing one -
Invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan angered Americans because they did not want the spread of communism. Because of this,the Americans threatened to Boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The Soviets ignored the threat and continued the invasion. Americans did withdraw from the Olympics as did many other countries, Tension: 2 because the biggest reprocusion was that the Americans did not participate in Olympics. -
Strategic Defense Initiative
President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative was to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from nuclear missiles. The initiative focused on defense rather than offence. Tension: 4 because this was perparing for war but was more of a starategy of defense than combat. -
Removal of Nuclear Missiles
President Reagan and Soviet President Gorbachev had held a confrence which this was the first time in eight years two leaders from each of these fueding super powers met. In this meeting they had discussed removing all intermediate nuclear missiles from Europe. Tension: 2 because there was still angst between the two powers but they were finally coming to an agreement. -
Berlin Wall Falls
The fall of the Berlin Wall happened as suddenly as the rise. people had chipped and fought their way through the wall to get to their loved ones on the opposite side. In the reunion was kissing and hugging and the Berlin Wall had become a symbol for the struggle of freedom. Tension: 2 becaus ethe Wall has been torn down and people are being reunited with familes. -
End of Cold War
Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall came the end of a forty year war. Gorbachev (president of USSR) introduced glasnost (meaning openness) and perestroika (which allowedlinited market incentives). Which resulted in freedom and ended the Cold War. Tension: 1 because the war has ended.
