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Joseph Stalin
he became the new Soviet dictator. In 1927 he began a massive effort to industrialize his country. Stalin was known for his most devastating policy; the collectivization of farms within the Soviet Union during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Some estimate that over 30 million Soviet citizens died from starvation as a direct consequence of Stalin's policies. -
Harry S. Truman
He was the 33rd president of the United States and was the person who decided to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. He became president after Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away due to his health issues. Truman was in office from 1945-1953 and had to endure the hard times of the Cold War. -
Mao Zedong
this man was a communist leader that wished to gain support in China. This group had to struggle for dominance against the nationalist party supported by the U.S., but the Communists eventually won. This man later made numerous policies and advancements for the Chinese while in power. This growth worried the U.S. for fear of communist expansion taking place. -
United Nations
The United Nations formation was a turning point in history as it replaced the League of Nations as the largest international group in the world to work to stop wars between countries and provide a platform for national dialogue. In 1942 the United Nations was formed to fight the axis powers. In 1945 the first UN meeting was held with 50 representatives from many countries and the UN Charter was drawn. -
Truma Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine helped stabilize the European economy after World War II, preventing another Great Depression. President Truman set up the Truman Doctrine to help stabilize Europe economically and politically. The Doctrine went into action March 12, 1947, and saved Turkey and Greece’s governments. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift showed the Axis Powers that the Allies would not abandon its citizens. The Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin to starve the citizens so the Allies flew in supplies for over a year. The blockade lasted from 1948 to 1949, and it ended with the Soviets ending the siege when they realized the Allies wouldn’t stop. -
Marshall Plan
Through the Marshall Plan, the US distributed 13 billion dollars over 4 years to European countries, helping to rebuild post war Europe dramatically. George Marshall drew up the recovery plan to help European countries recover from World War II. The Marshall Plan was signed on April 2, 1948, and saved many industries from bankruptcy as well as increasing gross national product for many European countries up to 25%. -
NATO
agreement reached to create the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a mutual defense alliance. It included 12 countries: US, Canada, Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg and Iceland. NATO members members agreed t come to the aid of any member who was attacked.
This is significant because it defended Western Europe from attacks after having 2 in the past 30 years.
2 pictures. -
Containment
A policy of keeping communism within its present territory through the use of diplomatic, economic and military actions. This policy rose from Kennan’s idea of how to prevail over the Russians during the Cold War by keeping them from expanding. -
Joseph McCarthy
in the 1950's, the red scare and advance of communism caused much chaos. This resulted in the senator known as McCarthy to take control of the pandemonium and abuse others with his power. He predicted that there are numerous Soviet spies in the U.S., so they needed to discover them all and blacklist those that seemed suspicious. This ruined the careers of many, put the nation in a fear of communism and fear of possibly being suspected of supporting communism in any way which resulted in numerou -
Korean War
This event created the division of North and South Korea. The United States troops and Soviet troops occupied Korea in order to rid the Japanese stationed there. Soviets held North Korea and Americans held the south. On June 25, 1950 however, Soviets armed North Korea which believed all of Korea was there and invaded the south. The Koreans in the South received support from Americans and drove them back. There is now a boundary line between the north and south known as the 38th parallel. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
He was a general in World War II, he also planned the invasion of the Western Front. Eisenhower later became the 34th president of the United States. He commanded the invasion of Normandy through Germany. In 1952 he ran for president with a strong anti- communist campaign and won in a landslide vote. Eisenhower was president from 1953-1961 during the Cold War. He also came up with the Domino Theory, the belief that communism could spread through Asia if China started becoming communist. -
Warsaw Pact
In 1955 The US and it's allies decided to allow West Germany to rearm and join NATO. The decision alarmed Soviet leaders, who responded by organizing a military alliance known as the Warsaw Pact. It's significant because the it provided stablity between both conflicting forces and was a form of non-nuclear confrontation between the allied Soviet and the United States. -
Vietnam War
this event knocked Americans down from their high horse. The United States had wished to support southern Vietnam from the communist control. In order to support them, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, but shortly afterwards, North Vietnam attacked the American advisers in Vietnam. This provoked an assault with aircraft by president Johnson. Not long after, the American involvement increased until war came about. -
Nikita Khrushchev
Khrushchev became the leader of the Soviet Union. He gave a speech to the Soviet leaders and attacked Stalin's policies and insisted there were many ways to build a Communist society. -
John F. Kennedy
He was the 35th president of the United States and had to lead America through many threats such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Cuban Missile Crisis, the space race and the Vietnam War. He became president after defeating Nixon in the 1960 elections, he resolved many communist related problems. Kennedy was in office from 1961-1963. He famously said "Ask not what your country can do for you: ask what you can do for your country". He was assasinated on November 21 1963 while riding in his motorcade. -
Berlin Wall
The wall was put up by the Germans overnight on August 12, 1961. It placed massive tension on Berlin’s alliance status and symbolized the line between democracy and communism. The Germans put up wall to divide East and West Berlin into Allied and Axis sides. The wall stood until its destruction in 1980. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
it was the most terrifying crisis of the Kennedy era. American intelligence agencies learned that Soviet technicians and equipment arrived in Cuba. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade to stop the Soviets from delivering more missiles and wanted to put a halt to Cuba. It is significant because the missile crisis brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any time since World War II. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
He was the 36th president of the United States. He sent in more troops to Vietnam and angered may of the US population. He signed the Civil Rights Act, giving African Americans equal rights, he also made the Great Society Program to aid education, medical, and the fight against poverty and crime. Johnson was president from 1963-1969. -
Ronald Regan
Reagan ran in the 1980 election. His campaign appealed to many who were frustrated with the economy because he promised to cut taxes and increase defense spending. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Mikhail was the last leader of the Soviet Union. He believed that he had to fix the Soviet Unions economy or else it would collapse. They could not afford an arms race with the US, so Gorbachev met with Reagan in a series of meetings. Reagan offered peace if Gorbachev tore down the Berlin Wall. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
He was president of the Soviet Union and his cooperation with President Regan helped to put an end to the Cold War and dissolve the Soviet Union. He led the Sovierts from 1990-1991, but had already been in previous postions of command. -
Iran Contra Scandal
In 1986, seven American citizens were being held as hostages in Iran as a threat to the United States. The United States sold weapons to Iran in exchange for these American hostages. In one of Ronald Reagan's speeches, he claimed to have been aware of the weapons exchange, but he dennied that the purpose of the trade was for the American hostages. In 1987, Oliver North was accused of the responsibility of this scandal, and he admitted to being so. -
George H.W. Bush
After serving as a veteran in World War II and a vice president of the United States, George H.W. Bush becomes the president of the US. Many democrats disliked his methods because his campaign portrayed him as too liberal andunpatriotic. Although, his endorsment from Regean reassured the American citizens. He played a very significant role in the Persian Gulf War, and sided drug traffickers and cracked down on opponents. He was a very good defenseman but was proceed by Clinton in 1992. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
Fell on November 9, 1989. The Berlin wall was created to keep East Germans from fleeing to the West. It stayed up for 28 years. People were not happy with the wall. Mass demonstrations against the government and the system in East Germany begun at the end of September and took until November 1989. The new government made a law to remove the wall. At a press conference a government office was asked when the wall was coming down and he said straight away. Thousands of East Germans stood by the wal