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Nazi Germany Surrenders (The Cold War Starts)
Germany surrenders and the alliance between USA and Britain with Russia falls apart. This worries the United States and Britain because they don't want Russia to expand there dominance, hence creating tension and essentially setting up the stage for the cold war. -
Hiroshima (First Use of Nuclear Weapons)
The US wanted to end the conflict between them and Japan so when they created there first nuclear weapon, they detonated it in Hiroshima as way for the United States to show off its power to both Soviets and Japan. After the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan still wouldn't surrender so it led to a second bombing. -
Nagasaki
The second atom bomb was detonated on Nagasaki and in a second attempt to make Japan surrender. Finally Japan surrendered after suffering thousands of casualties. -
The surrender of Japan
When the emperor surrendered WW2 officially ended, however the significance of the developement of nuclear weapons shows the power and influence it can have. The conflict between Japan and the USA was the perfect solution in ending the war, showing power to the soviets, and showing the world that the US is superior in military. This led to others wanting to have some of this power, including the Soviets. -
Russia's Iron Curtain
When WW2 ended the Soviets didn't keep up on there deal and made some of the countries communist and this didn't settle well with the allies. Churchill, Prime minister of Britain at the time said that the puppet states like Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia are an iron curtain set up to block western influence. -
The Truman Docterine
It was a speech given by Truman who said that The United States will no longer be affilated with communist coutries. It was significant because it showed the tension and un-easyness of the United States towards the Soviets. This was basicly the containment of communism and the soviets were on direct attack. Some even say this is were the cold war truly started. -
The Marshall Plan
This was a move the United States made to support European countries because if the Western countries were to develope faster than the Eastern countries then Stalin would be defeated. Essentially It was a plan to give financial aid of 15 billion dollars to Western countries. -
Route Blockade to West Berlin
It was a blockade created to stop the transportation of supplies to West Berlin because at the time Berlin was divided into two, East Berlin and West Berlin. With West Berlin being with the USA and Britain and East Berlin with Soviets. The soviets didn't want American influence on Germany so it made drastic actions to block supplies because if they did this would make the soviets look bad because at the time East Berlin was suffering from poverty after the war, while West Berlin was thriving. -
Berlin Airlift
Two days after the Soviets made the blockade, America found a solution and it was to use the Berlin Airlifts to transport supplies, over 2.3 million tons of supplies were delivered to aid West Berlin. This was significant because it showed the determination and support of the West on democratic countries. -
The Cuban Missle Crisis
Cuba becomes communist and asks the soviets if they want to bring nuclear weapons to Cuba, but the United States makes a blockade to prevent this and both countries prepare for nuclear war until they both come to an agreement to prevent nuclear weapons from getting into each others proximity. It's significant because it introduces the Treaty that banned the use of nuclear weapons. (Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1963)