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End Of WWII
-World War Two ends and relationships between the US and USSR are very tense due to differing views and aims
-The US hopes to re construct Germany while USSR wants to keep Germany down and create a buffer zone between Germany and itself
-The US is a capitalist democracy that allows free speech
-USSR is a totalitarian communist state with state control of everything -
Period: to
The Cold War
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The Iron Curtain
-A symbolic divide across Europe known as the Iron Curtain descends across Europe
-The Iron Curtain divides the countries of the West influenced by the US and capitalism, from the countries of the east who are influenced by the USSR and comunism
-Both sides of the Iron Curtain are completely isolated from the other sides, and have no interaction with the other side
-USSR wanted to isolate itself from the influence of the US and capitalism -
The Truman Doctrine and US Policy of Containment
-President Truman wanted to aid Turkey and Greece in order to help stop spread of communism
-US hoped to contain communism by aiding countires resisting communism
-Some said that the US didn't have the resources to aid nations against communish, while some said aid would go to dictators
-Congress aproved over 400 million dollars in aid to Turkey and Greece -
The Marshall Plan
-Most of Western Europe was in turmoil after WWII
-Soviets seized power in Czechosolovakia
-US congress aproves Marshall Plan to give aid to Western European nations in order to help them resist communism after what had happened in Czechosolovakia -
The Berlin Airlift
-In 1948 France, GB, and the US withdrew troops from Gemrnay hoping to allow Germany to reunite into one country
-The Soviets hoped to keep Germany weak to protect itself from any future German attacks and the Soviets didn't want Germany to be reunited
-The Soviet Union blocaded Western Berlin and cut off all supplies to it hoping to scare the West into giving up its hope of unifying Germany
-Western naitons flew supplies into Western Berlin for 11 months
-Soviets admmited defeat, lifted blocade -
NATO and The Warsaw Pact
-The US and Canada formed a deffensive alliance with ten Western European countries, called NATO
-They did this out of fear of Soviet agression after the Berlin blocade
-Members of NATO swore to protect any member nation who was attacked
-In response to the threat posed by NATO, the Soviet Union created an alliance with Eastern European Countries known as the Warsaw Pact -
Communists Seize Power In China
-In the spring of 1949 the communist party in China began to seize power from the nationalist party, who was backed by the US
-The US hoped to keep communism from spreading in China by backing the nationalists
-The communists party was led by Mao Zedong who hoped to create an equal society
-Communists in China allied with the Soviets for a period of time, but tension caused the two countires to stop being allies
-Under Mao the Chineese lived in farming communes, economy made great leap forward -
The Arms Race
-The US and Soviets built up huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons and planes in order to prepare for any nuclear war the US may face
-In 1950 the US began to develope a Hydrogen bomb, thousands of times more powerful than the atomic bomb, that could be used against the Soviets
-Both countries often went to the edge of war, and both countries required a large stockpile of nuclear weapons in order to handle any war they may enter -In 1952 the US sucesfully detonated a hydrogen bomb -
Korean War Begins
-At end of WWII Korea was divided between along the 38th parallel between the communist North and capitalist South
-Supported by the soviets who were trying to support communism, North Korea invaded the South
-In order to prevent the spread of communism the US appealed the UN to send troops in
-The UN sent troops into Korea in and pushed N. Korean troops back to almost the Chineese border
-Feeling threatened by US troops, China sent hundereds of thousands of troops into Korea to support N. Korea -
End of Korean War
-The UN and N. Korea signed a cease fire ending the war
-The border between the two countries is about the same as before the war
-4 million civillians and soldiers were killed -
Cuban Missle Crisis
-In 1959 Fidel Castro led a revolution in Cuba that put communists in control
-In order to remove communist influence from Cuba, the US trained cubans to invade and rebel in Cuba but these rebels failed in their attempt
-The Soviet Union allied with Cuba and began to build 42 missle launch sites in Cuba to threaten the US
-The US threatned to invade Cuba in order to protect itself, and the US got Cuba to remove the launch sites -
Destruction of Berlin Wall
-The Berlin Wall is destoyed, reuniting the people of Berlin
-The leader of East Germany opened up travel between Eastern and Western Germany in an attempt to restore stability, this didn't work
-President Ronald Regan of the US demanded for the communists to tear down the Berlin Wall and restore unity -
Fall of The Soviet Union
-A coup leads to the dissolution of the Soviet Union
-All the countries under the control of the Soviet Union pull out and declare independance
-The president of the Soviet Union resigns and the Soviet Union ceases to exist
