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Germany Divided
Lecture Slide 5- Divided Germany Germany was divided up after WWII. Great Britain controlled NW Germany and the French controlled SW Germany. The Soviets controlled E Germany and the United States controlled SE Germany. Berlin was divided into 4 parts each controlled by an ally. The idea behind this was to try to get rid of former Nazis; however, the Soviets had a different idea of Germany’s future. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Lecture Slide 7- Europe’s “Iron Curtain” Winston Churchill gave a speech where he introduced the “Iron Curtain” metaphor to illustrate that the communist countries were on one side and the democratic nations were on the other. The metaphor gave people a sense of political division. East of the curtain was under the communist influence of the Soviet Union and West of the curtain was democratic. -
Truman Doctrine
History.com- Truman Doctrine In a speech to Congress, President Truman asked the United States to help Greece and Turkey with military aid. This led to the Truman Doctrine, which states that the United States would support countries that were threatened by communism or the Soviet Union. The Truman Doctrine declared the start of the Cold War. -
Berlin Blockade/Airlift
Lecture Slide 6- Berlin Blockade/Airlift (1948-1949) The Soviets blocked the highways so that Western allies could not get supplies into West Berlin. Stalin blocked the Western allies in order to force them to conform to his ideas for Germany’s future. However, the Western allies found a way around it by using military aircrafts to drop supplies. After 11 months, the Soviets lifted their blockade. -
NATO Creation
Wikipedia- NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a military alliance also known as NATO. It was an alliance between the United States and other democratic nations. This alliance agreed to defend one another if one of the allied countries was attacked by the Soviet Union or other communist nations. -
Warsaw Pact Creation
Library of Congress- Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance between eight East European Soviet countries. This military alliance was created after the NATO alliance was created. If one of the eight countries in the alliance were attacked, the other countries in the alliance would come to their rescue and help defend them. -
Space Race
Lecture Slide 10- Space Race The Soviet Union started launching satellites into orbit that were powered by rockets. This made the United States fearful that the rockets would one day carry missiles. This led to the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States. On July 20th of 1969, the United States landed the first human on the moon. -
U-2 Incident
Wikipedia- 1960 U-2 Incident The U-2 incident occurred when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down with a surface-to-air missile by the Soviets. The US was trying to get information on landscape, artillery, and enemy operations. When the plane was caught spying, the US tried to act innocent but eventually told the truth when the Soviets revealed that they had parts of the U-2 and Francis Powers was being held captive. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Lecture Slide 14- Bay of Pigs Invasion (Apr ’61) The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military invasion. Kennedy was afraid that communism was expanding into the Western Hemisphere. The CIA trained Cuban exiles and had them invade Cuba but Castro stopped them before anything was done. Kennedy had to admit and negotiate to get the Cuban exiles released, which resulted in the US loss of economic assets. -
Berlin Wall Construction
Lecture Slide 6- Berlin Blockade/Airlift (1948-1949) The Soviet Union built an 80-mile wall called the Berlin Wall to keep their own citizens from escaping to West Berlin, which was controlled by democratic nations. The wall was guarded so many citizens under the control of the Soviets died trying to escape. Some dug tunnels, some forged papers, and some tried using hot air balloons. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Lecture Slide 17- Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct ’62) Castro agreed to the Soviets offer to construct the nuclear launching facilities in Cuba to discourage US attacks. However, US aircrafts found the construction so President Kennedy confined the island of Cuba with navel forces. Eventually the Soviets said they would remove the missiles if the US promised to not invade Cuba. -
SALT I
Wikipedia- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks part one also known as SALT I were negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union. SALT I resulted in the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Interim Agreement. These two pacts limited the amount of nuclear weapons each nation could posses. -
SALT II
Wikipedia- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks part two also known as SALT II were negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union. This was a continuation of SALT I. SALT II reduced production of missiles containing nuclear weapons. The treaty banned new missile programs. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
History.com- Berlin Wall The spokesman for East Berlin announced that the citizens could cross the border. At midnight, people used hammers, cranes, and bulldozers to tear down the Berlin Wall. They chanted "open the gates" and freely passed through the borders.
