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Cold War
Major events -
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Containment Policy
The containment policy was a policy created by George Keenan to help contain soviet expansion.The policy included such tactics as the formation of NATO, nuclear deterrence (all of which are still in action today) and the Marshall plan to help fund other redeveloping countries. The containment policy even started wars like Vietnam and Korea but eventually ended when the soviet union collapsed in 1991 after Reagan vigorously pursued the policy beyond its limits between 1981 to 1989 -
NATO
The formation of NATO was a direct result of the cold war formed by the U.S. A specific contributor was the soviet sponsored coup of the democratic government in Czechoslovakia. 12 foreign ministers from North america and western Europe gathered in Washington to sign the North Atlantic treaty. The treaty states assurance for mutual assistance if one country was attacked. This was a product of the containment policy by Truman and was directed at the USSR. -
Korean War
The Korean war started due to the fact that the north after WW2 became communist and the south was occupied by the U.S. The North Koreans invaded under the advice of Stalin when Kim visited Moscow in 1950 after the soviets placed a communist government. The war was seen as on of the most bloody with the civilian casualty rate higher than WW2 with a total of 5 million people dead. The war ended on 27th July 1953 after a stalemate with know agreement being made between south and north. -
Dien Bein Phu
Dien Bien Phu was a battle that took place in a airbase occupied by the french forces in a valley 450km out of Hanoi. The French had roughly 16,000 troops divided in 8 camps across the airbase and was confident of defeating a gorilla army. Within the first hours of the battle camps were being overrun and the french lost access to ammunition and other aid. Eventually the Viet Minh overrun the entire french position and it was the fist time a gorilla army defeated a mighty western nation. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a direct reaction to the formation of NATO as the Soviets didn't officially have an equivalent and a desire to maintain military force in eastern European countries. There was never a huge confrontation from the pact but rather fights on a more ideological base, the biggest confrontation was the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Countries involved in the pact were Hungary, Romania, East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and the soviet union. Pact dissolved on 1st July 1991 -
American Spy Plane Incident
The U.S already had intelligence that the soviets had nuclear weapons but they need intelligence on how powerful they were, a covert base was built in Pakistan and the U-2 spy planes were tasked with gathering images of the soviets program. On the 1st of may 1960 Gary Francis powers was shot down and sentenced for 10 years on espionage but only served a year and 9 months due to successful negotiations by trading powers with Joseph Abel. A summit was held to ease tensions after the incident -
Detente
Detente was a policy created by Richard Nixon to help ease tension between the soviets and the U.S. The policy helped sign treaties like SALT, Helsinki Accords and the START II. The policy also made the U.S president Nixon meet Brezhnev for the first time which assured people that tensions had seriously eased. The policy abandoned however after the soviets wrongfully treated Jews and when the soviets decided to invade Afghanistan in 1979. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was a barrier that divided West and East Berlin that was constructed by the German Democratic Republic. The barrier included guard towers along the wall and the middle between the two walls known as the death strip laced with mines and anti-vehicle trenches. The walls purpose was stopping the mass migration from east Germany to west. Just before the wall was put up in 1961 2.6 million people immigrated from east to west due to the success of the Marshall plan
