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Period: to
Cold War Timespan
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Yalta Conference (Meeting of the "Big Three")
The Yalta Conference was the wartime meeting of the heads of the government for the United States, USSR, and the United Kingdom ( FDR, Stalin, and Churchill). Germany and Berlin would be split into four sections, and Nazi Germany would surrender. The three leaders agreed that Stalin would oversee free elections. -
Potsdam Conference
This conference took place in Potsdam, Germany, in which the "Big Three" leaders (Stalin, Churchill and Truman) met to discuss post-war arrangements in Europe. Amongst the agreements, Germany and Austria were to be divided into four occupation zones snd each capital, Berlin and Vienna, into four zones. Prosecutions were also launched against Nazi war crimes. Germany was also supposed to give back the annexed lands in Europe such as the Sudetenland and Alsace-Lorraine. -
Marshall Plan
Western Europe was suffering greatly from poverty and hunger, therefore, it made the foundation for communist ideas. In response, the United States offered them this major aid package. Within it the US assisted them with food and economic assistance to help countries rebuild. This helped Europe recover rapidly and it reduced communist ideas. Stalin forbade this plan, saying the USSR would help assist Europe instead. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine stated that Americans would resist Soviet expansion in Europe or anywhere else in the world. To resist communist threat in Greece and Turkey, Truman sent both military and economic aid there. An idea belonging to this doctrine was containment, which mean limiting communism in areas that were Soviet-controlled, although Stalin thought the US was attempting to isolate them. -
Russian blockade of Berlin
This was one of the first international crises of the Cold War. The Soviet Union blocked the western Allies' access to sectors of Berlin that were under Allied control. The goal was to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin with food and fuel, granting the Soviet Union control over the city. -
The Berlin Airlift
In response to the Russian blockade of Berlin, the western powers followed it by a constant airlift in order to get supplies to those inside the city. For almost over a year, cargo planes supplied west Berlin with food and fuel. This success caused the Soviets to end the blockade. The West had won a victory in the Cold War. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a result of the division of Korea along the 38th parallel of latitude. The North was supported and occupied by the Soviets and the South was supported and occupied by the US. On June 25, 1950 North Korea invaded the South in attempt to unify the country. Under the lead of Douglas MacArthur, both Amercian and Korean forces pushed the invaders back across the parallel until they reached the Yalu River. This brought China into action because they feared American invasion. -
Rosenberg Spy Case
David Greenglass, the prosecution's primary witness, said that Ethyl Rosenberg had typed notes containing U.S. nuclear secrets in her apartment. The notes that were found had secret Soviet information about nuclear bomb projects. Along with this prosecution, Ethyl was indicted with Julius so that the prosecution could use her to pressure Julius into giving up any names that were apart of this crime. However, this didn't work. The Rosenbergs were convicted on March 29, 1951, and later killed. -
The Nuclear Arms Race
The Arms Race was a competition for nuclear supremacy between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. Both nations began to create stockpiles of deadly weapons after the first nuclear weapon created at the Manhattan Project. The Soviet Union shock the U.S. with their first Soviet bomb called the "Joe One". Both sides spent massive amounts to increase the quality and quantity of their nuclear arsenals. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam war is considered to be one of the longest wars in US history, lasting from November 1, 1955 until April 30, 1975. North Vietnam was battling for ownership of South Vietnam, so that they would be a unified communist nation. To prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism, the U.S stood behind the South Vietnamese leader, Diem. By the end of the war, over 2 million Vietnamese were killed. After the war, Vietnam was unified. -
Hungarian Uprising
The Hungarian Uprising or revolution was a nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet constrained policies. The revolution spanned from October 23 until November 10, 1956.
A student demonstration began the revolt, attracting many people as it moved through Budapest to the Parliament building. The revolt spread quickly across Hungary, and the government fell. New gov't wanted to leave Warsaw Pact and reestabh free elections. -
U-2 Crisis
During the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and leadership of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down over the airspace of the Soviet Union. The U.S. denied the plane was on a mission of espionage, but was sooner or later forced to admit the plane's role as a surveillance aircraft. This was very revealed incident was very humiliating to the U.S. -
The Bay of Pigs
This was an unsuccessful event launched by the United States when they backed a plot by anti-Castro exiles to invade Cuba and lead to an uprising to overthrow the Cuban government under the leadership of Fidel Castro. The invasion mainly took place at the beach named Playa Girón. The uprising was a disaster because it was quickly crushed, only helping Castro rally Cuban popular opinion against foreign interference. -
Construction of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic on this date that blocked West Berlin from Eastern Germany and East Berlin. The purpose of the wall's creation was to protect the population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. It also wanted to prevent educated East Germans from leaving East Germany. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
This was a confrontation between the Soviet union and Cuba against the United States. After the Bay of Bigs incident, the Cuban and Soviet governments built secret bases in Cuba that supplied dballistic nuclear missiles. The U.S. discovered these secret bases suring a secret air mission. The U.S. felt threatened, bringing the U.S. and Cuba to the brink of nuclear war. With Castro defending his island, Kennedy quarantined the island, wanting the missles removed. War was averted. -
Prague Spring
The period of the political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union. During this time, Alexander Dubček was elected the First Secretary of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia that launched reforms. Dubček attempted to grant additional rights to the citizens. Soviet troops did not agree with the decentralization of administrative authority, invading the country to stop the reforms. -
Tet Offensive
On the first day of the celebration of the new year, Vietnamese communists launched the Tet Offensive, or series of battles throughout South Vietnam. After the offensive, it took the US and South Vietnamese several weeks to regain control of the cities lost to the communists who led the offensive. -
Detente
The Detente was Nixon's Cold War policy and it replaced brinkmanship. Although the US was still working towards containing communism, the US and Soviets agreed to pursue the detente to reduce tensions, which was the goal. -
Fall of Saigon (South Vietnam)
The Fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam war and the start of unification in Vietnam, turning it into a whole communist country. On April 30th American troops completely withdrew, leaving South Vietnam to fall under northern control. -
Regan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine was created by the United States under the Reagan Administration to oppose the global influence of the Soviet Union during the final years of the Cold War. It was designed to get rid of Soviet influence in certain areas and imply the ideas of capitalism. -
Perestroika
Perestroika was the rebuilding of the Soviet economy. From a Russian word meaning ‘restructuring’, perestroika was adopted as the official policy of the Soviet Communist Party in April 1987. Although the term itself was not new in Soviet politics, the policy is somehow linked to Mikhail Gorbechev. -
Collapse of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed to completely cut off West Berlin from East Germany & East Berlin. Around September of 1989 travel restrictions were placed, making it harder for Germans to travel. Since it was around the end of the Cold War, certain areas began to lift their "iron curtains", and after the resignation of East Germany's leader, a new goverment was put in place and new laws lifting the travel restrictions were created, thus ending the existence of the Berlin Wall. -
End of the USSR
The end of the USSR not only marked the end of the Cold War, but also the end of the world's largest communist state. One of the reasons for the fall of the USSR was the failing economy. The USSR's economy was going downhill, so a free-market economy was one of their options.
