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Coup attempt
The coup attempt sparked anger against the Communist Party. Gorbachev resigned as general secretary of the party. The Soviet parliament voted to stop all party activities. Having first seized power in 1917 in a coup that succeeded, the Communist Party now collapsed because of a coup that failed. The coup also played a decisive role in accelerating the breakup of the Soviet Union. Estonia and Latvia quickly declared their independence. Other republics soon followed. Although Gorbachev pleaded for -
Stronghold
Under their leader, Mao Zedong , the Communists had a stronghold in northwestern China. From there, they mobilized peasants for guerrilla war against the Japanese in the northeast. Thanks to their efforts to promote literacy and improve food production, the Communists won the peasants’ loyalty. By 1945, they controlled much of northern China. -
United States and its allies clashed with the Soviet Union over Germany.
While Europe began rebuilding, the United States and its allies clashed with the Soviet Union over Germany. The Soviets wanted to keep their for- mer enemy weak and divided. But in 1948, France, Britain, and the United States decided to withdraw their forces from Germany and allow their occupation zones to form one nation. The Soviet Union responded by holding West Berlin hostage. Although Berlin lay well within the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, it too had been divided into four zones. -
Withdrawn troops
By 1949, both the United States and the Soviet Union had withdrawn most of their troops from Korea. The Soviets gambled that the United States would not defend South Korea. So they supplied North Korea with tanks, airplanes, and money in an attempt to take over the peninsula. On June 25, 1950, North Koreans swept across the 38th parallel in a surprise attack on South Korea. Within days, North Korean troops had penetrated deep into the south. President Truman was convinced that the North Korean a -
The Berlin blockade heightened Western Europe’s fears of Soviet aggression.
The Berlin blockade heightened Western Europe’s fears of Soviet aggression. As a result, in 1949, ten western European nations joined with the United States and Canada to form a defensive military alliance. It was called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). An attack on any NATO member would be met with armed force by all member nations.
The Soviet Union saw NATO as a threat and formed it’s own alliance in 1955. It was called the Warsaw Pact and included the Soviet Union, East Germany, -
Berlin blockade heightened Western Europe’s fears of Soviet aggression
The Berlin blockade heightened Western Europe’s fears of Soviet aggression. As a result, in 1949, ten western European nations joined with the United States and Canada to form a defensive military alliance. It was called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As these alliances were forming, the Cold War threatened to heat up enough to destroy the world. The United States already had atomic bombs. In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its own atomic weapon. President Truman was determined to de -
Cold War threatened to heat up enough to destroy the world.
As these alliances were forming, the Cold War threatened to heat up enough to destroy the world. The United States already had atomic bombs. In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its own atomic weapon. President Truman was determined to develop a more deadly weapon before the Soviets did. He authorized work on a thermonuclear weapon in 1950. The United States strengthened its air force and began producing stockpiles of nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union responded with its own military buildup, begin -
Failed invasion
The failed Bay of Pigs invasion convinced Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that the United States would not resist Soviet expansion in Latin America. So, in July 1962, Khrushchev secretly began to build 42 missile sites in Cuba. In October, an American spy plane discovered the sites. President John F. Kennedy declared that missiles so close to the U.S. main land were a threat. He demanded their removal and also announced a naval blockade of Cuba to prevent the Soviets from installing more missile -
Europe now lay divided between East and West.
Europe now lay divided between East and West. Germany had been split into two sections. The Soviets controlled the eastern part, including half of the capital, Berlin. Under a Communist government, East Germany was named the German Democratic Republic. The western zones became the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. Churchill’s phrase “iron curtain” came to represent Europe’s division into mostly democratic Western Europe and Communist Eastern Europe. -
President Truman adopted a foreign policy called containment.
President Truman adopted a foreign policy called containment. It was a policy directed at blocking Soviet influence and stopping the expansion of communism. Containment policies included forming alliances and helping weak countries resist Soviet advances. Truman’s support for countries that rejected communism was called the Truman Doctrine. It caused great controversy. Some opponents objected to American inter- ference in other nations’ affairs. Others argued that the United States could not aff