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The Yalta Conference, held in Yalta in February 1945, included the leaders of the "Big Three". (Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill). They met to plan their remaining war time actions and discuss the future of Europe. Yalta played a large part in the Cold War, as tensions were created, especially over the issue of what to do with Germany. This communist-capitalist alliance would not last, now that they had no common enemy. -
Conference in Potsdam, Germany, July 1945. Between Truman, Stalin, and Churchill. They met to discuss reparations and how to restructure Germany. There were disagreements among the leaders, Stalin wanted to expand his influence, while Truman and Churchill did not like this. Truman and Stalin came to recognize that they were rivals when it came to the domination over Europe and Asia. This would further progress the Cold War. -
On August 6th, 1945, the USA would detonate an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan. This would be the beginning of the end of the world war, but would also kickstart the Cold War. This event communicated to the world that those with nuclear weapons would be politically superior to those without. -
On August 9th, 1945, the second bomb would be detonated in Nagasaki. Similar to the bombing of Hiroshima, this event showed the world how powerful those with nuclear weapons were. The struggle for domination would continue. -
The main intent of the Truman Doctrine was to fight the expansion of communism. The US would provide aid to those under the threat of communist influences. The US provided $400 million to Greek and Turkey to help them fight communism in their country. -
From 1947-1952, the United States created the Marshall plan, which provided aid to European countries. The intent was to help these countries develop stable governments, and also create alliances/trading partners. All participating countries were required to participate in a unified European economy. The Soviet Union disapproved of free-market policies, and they pressured all of their satellite states to reject the aid. They did not like that the US was trying to expand their influence. -
In 1947, the Soviet Union would create their own aid package, only for countries that were aligned with them (aka satellite states). It included bilateral trade agreements with the participating countries. This solidified the Soviet influence in Europe, and was a direct rejection of the Marshall plan. -
The leaders of Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg would meet in Brussels, Belgium, to sign the Brussels treaty. This treaty created a mutual defense alliance, shared military strength, more cooperation in Europe, and protected political values such as democracy. It was meant to provide security against the communist threat. One of the effects of this treaty was that it would lead to the creation of NATO. -
On June 24, 1948, Stalin blocked all types of transit into West Berlin. This was an attempt to cut off the Allied influence in West Berlin, he hoped they would abandon their sectors of the city. Over 2 million civilians were without any supplies, so the Western powers began airlifting supplies. The Soviets were unhappy that the blockade was failing, and tensions heightened. The blockade further separated the the ideological differences between East and West Berlin. -
The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, on April 4th 1949, by the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other Western European countries. After the Berlin Blockade and the heightening tensions of the Cold War, these countries decided that they needed to protect themselves from the Soviet threat. This was clearly a defense strategy to protect themselves from communism, and further defined the two opposing sides. The Soviet Union would create their own pact as a response. -
On August 29th, 1949, the Soviet Union would explode their own atomic bomb- their first successful test of a nuclear weapon. This would begin the "arms race" between the USA and Soviet Union to create the most powerful nuclear weapon. Neither country wanted to be at a disadvantage where the other would feel they could attack without serious repercussions. -
The Korean War was between North and South Korea. It lasted until July of 1953. North Korea, a communist regime at the time, invaded the non-communist South Korea in an attempt to unify Korea. This war was very significant to the Cold War because it lead to a "proxy war" between superpowers, the U.S. taking the side of South Korea, and the S.U. taking the side of North Korea. -
Stalins death would cause a slight period of detente, and would definitely cause domestic changes within the Soviet Union, but otherwise would not be the end of the Cold War. -
The Warsaw Pact was a defense treaty between the Soviet Union and seven of its satellite states. This Pact was mainly created as a response to NATO. There were now two different treaties that were directly opposed to each other, and defined the two different sides. -
This war was fought between the communist government of North Vietnam (backed by SU) , and the government of South Vietnam (backed by US) . The US entered Vietnam in attempt to stop a communist takeover, however they failed. This war was very long and would change the US foreign policies. Many people were unhappy with the US governments involvement in this war, and anti-war protests would begin to arise. This war would inevitably alter the course of the Cold War. -
The Hungarian Revolution happened in October of 1956. It was a revolution against their government, people were unhappy with the policies that had arisen because of their submission to the Soviet Union. Soviet forces would put an end to this revolution 12 days later, killing thousands. -
On May 12, 1958, Canada and the US would sign this agreement - The North American Aerospace Defence Command. This agreement was created in order to provide air defense for North America. This was during the height of the Cold War, and both countries feared an attack from the Soviet Union. This gave both countries more protection and lessened the likelihood of an attack from the SU. -
Also known as the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro was part of a revolution that eventually overthrew the previous dictatorship. Castro was an ally of the Soviets, and an important one, as Cuba is close to the United States. This greatly escalated the Cold War as Castro was encouraging the Soviet Union to use their missiles, and to "sacrifice Cuba if necessary". -
This was a failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. It was lead by Cuban exiles, and strongly backed by the United States. This was an important event in the Cold War because by supporting the exiles, the United States was trying to stop the spread of communism, in this case without being directly involved. Since it failed, it only increased tensions between the two superpowers, and strengthened Fidel Castros power. -
The Berlin wall was a well-protected concrete wall that would surround West Berlin, which was controlled by Western allies at the time. It was built to stop people from fleeing East Berlin (controlled by the S.U.) and going to West Berlin. It was meant to stop West Berlin from influencing East Berlin. This wall was a physical representation of the separation of ideologies. The U.S. strongly disliked the wall as it limited peoples freedom and harmed many families and individuals. -
After a 35 day standoff between the US and the SU, the Soviets would agree to remove their missiles from Cuba as long as the US promised not to invade. This event was the peak of the Cold War, as it almost brought the world to nuclear war. Things would slightly de-escalate, as a peaceful negotiation between the two superpowers had happened for one of the first times since the Cold War. -
This treaty included, among others, the United States and the Soviet Union. It was an agreement to cooperate in stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. Things would continue to de-escalate as countries were reaching the realization that nuclear weapons would be detrimental to everyone, even themselves. -
The Soviets would invade Afghanistan in December 1979 to support/protect the communist government there. They did not want Afghanistan to shift away from communism. They would take over Afghanistan with their military, and soon a rebellion would begin to arise. The United States would back this rebellion and provide them weapons. This war would reinforce that the US and SU were still very opposed to each other, and would continue to fight the spread of each others ideologies. -
"Solidarity" was a Polish trade union. It was opposed by the Communist government, but it survived nevertheless. Solidarity was an example of how anti-communist ideas were spreading, especially through the Eastern Bloc. This would weaken Communist governments. -
On November 9th, 1989, East Berliners would finally start to tear down the wall. Because of internal pressures and movements similar to Solidarity, the Soviet Bloc was starting to fall apart. This would be the peak of all the protests. Guards did not even fight back, as the movement was out of their control. Germany would reunify as the Iron wall fell. Some say this was the symbolic end of the Cold War. It also started a chain of events that would lead to the downfall of the Soviet Union. -
This was a peaceful revolution against the Communist party of Czechoslovakia. The demonstration was huge, up to 500,000 people gathered in Prague's Wenceslas Square on November 20th. The communist government would resign 8 days later, and an anti-communist government would assume power about a month later. This event further escalated the downfall of the Soviet Union and its control over satellite states. -
The Soviet Union would dissolve, and the rest of the Berlin Wall would be dismantled. In 1991, Gorbachev and George. W. Bush would declare the end of the Cold War.