-
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin: (18 December 1878 – 5 March 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917, Stalin was appointed General Secretary of the party's Central Committee in 1922. He subsequently managed to consolidate power following the 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin through expanding the functions of his role, all the while eliminating any opposition. He held this nominal post until -
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong is a Chinese man who struggled against the Nationalist government in China to establish his own Communist government. He was the founding father of the People's Republic of China. His supporters praised him for raising China up to a major power. Under his leadership, Chinese population almost doubled. Those who opposed his rule claimed that his reign killed millions of people through starvation and forced labor. -
Harry S. Truman
1. Truman is significant because he was the US president at the end of WWII and throughout the beginning and the tensest portions of the Cold War. 2.Truman became the president due to the death of FDR towards the end of WWII. He was faced with many difficult decisions including the decision to drop the Atomic Bomb and what to do about the Berlin Crisis. 3. He was the president of the US from April 12, 1945 up until January 20, 1953. 4.He was influencial because of when he was the president. -
United Nations
The United Nations is the largest international organization. It replaced the League of Nations. It was created to maintain peace and to promote cooperation in solving international conflicts. -
Joseph McCarthy (McCarthyism)
(1946) McCarthy's campaign against Follette Jr. was based on a severe fear of communism (Red Scare). Accusing his opponent of communist affiliations won his election. Americans were in a state of fear and uncertainty of communism, therefore McCarthy's radical accusations drew the attention of many. In 1952, McCarthy became chairman of the Senate, which gave him greater power to voice his radical ideas. McCarthyism became the search for communists or anyone affiliated with it based on extremely v -
Truman Doctrine
Was a policy set by Harry Truman in his speech saying that Greece and Turkey would have support from the U.S. economically militarily in order to prevent them to fall to Soviet sphere. The Truman Doctrine was on March 12, 1947. Greece and Turkey received aid equally even though Greece's problems were more severe. -
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%. -
N.A.T.O.
N.A.T.O. (North Atlantic Treaty Organization): an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. This ensured that if a war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union broke out that we would be backed by many countries that are our allies. -
Containment
- This topic is significant because it refers to the effort to contain the rapid spread of Communism throughout the 1950’s. 2. The US and its allies used diplomatic, economic, and militaristic actions to contain the spread of Communism from territories in which it was already present. 3. This effort occurred during the 1950’s and was successful as Communist regimes weren’t able to influence very many other countries and Communism stayed fairly contained in the countries that it was already in
-
Korean War
-American and Soviet forces entered Korea to unarm the Japanese troops at the end of World War 2
-Soviet Union provided extensive military aid to the North Koreans but they built up a large, well -equipped army with 75,000 soldiers.
- Conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953
- In 1948 rival governments were established: The Republic of Korea was proclaimed in the South and the People's Democratic Republic of Korea in the North.
- On June 2 -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
He had previously been a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe; he had responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45 from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO. -
Vietnam War
-The war began in 1954
-More than 3 million people (including 58.000 Americans) were killed in Vietnam War
-By 1969, at the peak of U.S: involvement in the war, more than 500.000 U.S. military personnel were involved in the Vietnam conflict.
-was the prolonged struggle between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of Vietnam under a communist government and the U.S attempting to prevent the spread of communism. -
Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact (Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance) : (1955–1991) was a mutual defense treaty between 8 communist states of Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War. The founding treaty was established under the initiative of the Soviet Union and signed on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw. The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CoMEcon), the regional economic organization for the communist states -
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev: (April 15 1894 – September 11, 1971) led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the partial de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. -
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 assassinated on November 21 1963 while riding in his motorcade -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier created by German Democratic Party during August 13, 1961, which was meant to protect the population from fascist elements. The borders symbolized the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and Eastern during the Cold War. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the most dramatic foreign policy episode Kennedy faced during his term in office. This historical event took place in 1962. Once the US found out that the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade on Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis almost led to a nuclear war between the United States and Soviet Union. It eventually led to a treaty that banned the testing of the nuclear weapons. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
- President Johnson became the president by default directly following the assassination of JFK because of his previous position as VP. 2.Johnson’s presidency was during the once again booming and bustling US. As a countryman he didn’t attempt to lead from a high an elegant place. Instead he was known for speaking directly, convincingly, and even at times roughly. 3.Johnson became the president after JFK’s death in 1963 and would continue his presidency until January of 1969.4.Containment
-
Ronald Reagan
Between 1981 and 1989, Ronald Reagan, a republican polititian, served as the 40th president of the United States. During this time, he decreased the inflation rate by 8% and developed a huge defense system. He significantly contributed to the conclusion of the Cold War. He died in 2004. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
1.Gorbachev is significant because of his position as the leader of the Soviet Union and as an important and influential Communist leader dating back to 1985 when he took power. 2.Gorbachev met with and tried to work with Ronald Reagan to improve the relations between the US and Russia and to prevent another arms race with America that he knew they couldn’t afford. He was the first leader of Russia who showed signs that he wanted reform. 3. 1985 Gorbachev reformed (took down B.W.) -
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."Argo" was based off this. -
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 the 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. -
Collapse of Soviet Union
- In 1991 after the resignation of Gorbachev the USSR was officially dissolved and the Commonwealth of Independent States acknowledged the independence of all 15 republics within the former Soviet Union. 2. The Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union formally announced the collapse or the dissolution of the USSR on December 26, 1991, the day directly following the resignation of the Soviet president; Gorbachev. 3.It occurred on December 26, 1991
