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Occupying Germany
When the war in Europe ended in May 1945, much of Germany was in ruins and it had no functioning goverment. The victorious Allies needed to establish a system to gtover Germany and rebuild the nation. -
Crisis in Berlin
The division of Germany and Berlin was originally meant to be temporary. In 1947, however, Western leaders began planning for the creation of an independent democratic German nation, to be formed from the three western zones of occupation. The Soviets opposed this plan. -
The Conflict Worsens
In February 1946 Stalin stated publicly that he believed war between the East and West was bound to happen in the future. The next month, former British leader winston Churchill gave a speech in the United States, using the image of an iron curtain to describe the sharp division -
The West Resists
President Truman used the opportunity to announce what became known as the Truman Doctrin. The Truman Doctrine was a pledge to provide economic and military aid to oppose the spread of communism. -
The Nuclear Arms Race
In 1949 the West was deeply shaken by news of a succesful Soviet test of an atomic bomb. In the fall of 1953 the United States tested the first fusion-powered hydrogen bomb with spectacular results, completely vaporizing the island on which the bomb was tested. -
Other Cold War Conflicts
in 1956 Egypt angered the West by taking over the Suez Canal, which had been controlled primarly by Great Britain and France. After Britain , France, and Israel attacked Egypt, the Soviet Union threatend to fight on Egypt's side. Afraid of a large war, the United Sates quickly demanded that its Western allies halt their attack; and the conflict came to an end. -
Soviet Union Launches Sputnik
In October 1957 the arms race took another leap forward with the Soviet Union's succesful launch of Sputnik. Sputnik was history's first artificial satellite- an object that orbits the earth. -
Another Crisis in Berlin
Byty 1961 as many as 1,000 people a day were making the daily trip between their homes in East Germany and jobs in West Berlin. To stop this exodus, East Germany began erecting a tall barrier between the two halves of the city, known as the Berlin Wall. -
The 1980s
Ronald Reagan was elected U.S president in 1980. He took an aggressive position against the Soviet Union and spoke of developing a missle defense system, an idea that seemed to violate the spirit of the ABM Treaty. -
The Breakup of the Soviet Union
The 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Soviet-backed regimes in Eatern Europe showed the dramatic crumbling of Soviet power. Soon the Soviet Union itself was falling apart.
