-
1945- Germany and Japan were clearly going to
lose. Most countries were powerless but two
countries emerged as “superpowers” and they
had direct ideological differences. The big three (Britain, US and USSR) met in
Yalta Ukraine to re-draw the lines of Europe. Initially the view was hopeful. People thought a
shared sense of victory after WW2 would helpful. -
Surrender of Germany signed on may 8th 1945 Political, economic, and social systems were chaos. Summer of 1945- they (the big three) met in Postdam
germany. Since the Yalta conference some big changes had
happened: Roosevelt had died- Truman was now president and they
finished the Atomic bomb. In july- Churchill was out- Clement Atlee was in.
Churchill remained involved though. -
In early July 1947- European governments were
invited to Paris to discuss the plan, the Soviets
urged all eastern European countries to not
attend. The USSR, Poland, Romania, Hungary,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany all
participated in the Soviet Alternative- the
Molotov plan. Same thing- but for communist countries. -
1947- US secretary George Marshall announced a 13
billion dollar plan to help the European countries
devastated by war, recover. Wayyyyy bigger than the Truman Doctrine The Marshall plan was offered to all countries in
Europe. They figured- if Europe became prosperous again, the
expansion of communism would be less likely because
the middle and upper class generally don’t support
communism. The soviets called this “dollar imperialism”. -
Signed March 17th, 1948 5 western European countries- Britain,
France, Luxembourg, and the
Netherlands signed All member countries would assist one
another if attacked by the Soviet Union. The US would join and it would become
NATO in 1949. NATO established collective security
for mutual protection of its members. -
Fear over nuclear weapons proliferation prompted the United States and the Soviet Union to negotiate arms reductions. This, combined with political and economic factors, resulted in a détente that characterized the 1970s. -
1948- the south had elections= the
Republic of Korea (capitalist) The North became the Korean People’s
Republic (communist) The USSR left the north in 1948, and
America left the south in 1949. North Korean leader Kim Il- Sung
wanted to reunifiy Korea and attack the
south- Soviets and Stalin approved the move. -
Stalin died 1953- Krushchev was
in, claimed the US and USSR
could work together Mid 1960-1979- Détente (reducing
tensions using diplomatic means)
was introduced. -
Countering these threats, Castro aligned with the Soviet Union and allowed the Soviets to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis – a defining incident of the Cold War – in 1962. -
In response to NATO and the Marshall
Plan- countries connected with the
Soviet communism created the
WARSAW PACT They also created the Council for mutual
economic assistance (COMECON) It was seen as a specific response to
west Germany joining NATO. -
1954- a communist named Ho Chi Min
fought against French colonizers and won. South was democratic- North was
Communist.
US gets involved
1956- The US starts sending weapons.
By 1966- more than half a million troops.
The war took a toll of over 60000 troops
died and over a million civilians.
The North with the help of USSR and China won.The US left in
1973- HUGE
OPPOSITION
1976- the whole
country is called
the socialist
republic of
Vietnam. -
1956- started as a student led demonstration-
led to a giant protest against the Soviets
A resistance began- a new government was
put in- and it declared its intentions to
withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact
The politburo went back on its word- invaded
20000 casualties- 2500 dead
700 soviets dead- 200000 Hungarians fled
Soviets won- new communist party was in. -
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was a pact made in 1957, at the height of the Cold War. It placed under joint command the air forces of Canada and the United States. Its name was later changed to the North American Aerospace Defense Command; but it kept the NORAD acronym. -
The CIA began training Cuban
exiles from Florida to go and
overthrow Castro.
Kennedy called this the Bay of
Pigs invasion in 1961. 1500 Cuban Exiles from Cuba
invaded at the Bay of Pigs-
they were all killed or taken prisoner. -
Berlin was at the heart of the Cold War. In 1962, the Soviets and East Germans added a second barrier, about 100 yards behind the original wall, creating a tightly policed no man's land between the walls. After the wall went up, more than 260 people died attempting to flee to the West. -
Fidel Castro led a revolution in 1959 and overthrew the
US supported Gov’t. Castro was a Socialist. The US refused to lend Cuba money- or buy their sugar
so the USSR stepped into help. The proximity for Cuba to the US was scary so they had
others join the embargo vs. Cuba. -
1979- USSR invades Afghanistan to help the
Marxist Afghan government against the
Mujahedeen- a religious resistance. US equipped the Mujahedeen Resulted in a boycott of the 1980 Moscow
summer Olympics by the US and its allies.
Soviets retreated in 1989 Soviet’s disbanded in 1991 Left a well armed Afghan
military involving some
commanders who organized 9/11. -
Built by the East Germans
(Soviets) to keep East Germans
from escaping.
Escapees were shot
1989- Pro democracy movement
spread across E. Europe
October 1989- East Germans
communist leaders were out Borders were brought down.
Symbolized the end of the war. -
Reagan- 1979-1989 Mikhal Gorbachev- 1985- 1991 These two became friends. The cold war officially ended in
1991- but the East/ West
differences softened in the mid
80s. -
In 1969- the US and USSR met in Holsinki
Finland. These agreements went back and forth for 3 years
and ended in 1972 when Nixon signed the
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.
This limited anti-ballistic missiles and froze
intercontinental missiles to 1054.
1972- Anti-Ballistic missile treaty between US
and USSR. 1979- Ronald Reagan- super hater of communism elected .