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The Cold War
The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension mainly between two super power countries the Soviet Union and the United States after World War II. -
Difficulty in Potsdam
Deciding what to do after the war a conference was held in Potsdam Germany, from July 17 to August 2 1945. On the last day of the Potsdam conference President Harry Truman was worried. He thought Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had been stubborn and difficult to deal with and was concerned about Soviet Plans for post war eastern Europe. Truman felt insulted by Stalin's manner and stubbornness. This difficult exchange was just a taste of what was to come in the increasing tense relationship. -
End of World War II
For years Allied leaders had been planning for the day the war would finally end. In July 1941, even before the U.S joined the war, President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed that they sought no territorial gain, and they looked forward to a peaceful world in which all nations chose their own governments and worked together for mutual prosperity. Now With the war over, the Allies had to decide what to do with the shattered nations of Europe. -
The Edge of War
As communism spread throughout Eastern Europe, tension between the Soviet Union and the western democracies continued to grow. This tension was worsened by the Soviet's failure to remove troops from northern Iran, which the Soviet Union had occupied during the war. In January 1946, President Truman warned his secretary of state, "Another war is in the making." In February 1946 Stalin stated publicly that he believed war between the East and West was bound to happen in the future. -
The Cold War Begins
The relationship between the Soviet Union and Western nations continued seeing that they couldn't agree upon anything after the war. Soon the United States and the Soviet Union entered an era of tension and hostility, which became known as the Cold War. The Cold war was more than a rivalry. It was a struggle for power and control between two nations with very different forms of government, economic systems, and and ways of life. A conflict between communism and capitalist democracy. -
Truman Doctrine
The democratic nations of the West soon faced a test of their resolve to contain the Communist East. In early 1947 Soviet-backed Communists were threatening the governments of Greece and Turkey. President Truman used the opportunity to announce what became known as the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine was a pledge to provide economic and military aid to oppose the spread of communism. The U.S. was committed, Congress agreed to send hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Greece and Turkey. -
Marshall Plan
Similar war-related `economic problems existed throughout much of Europe. Truman believed that if conditions grew worse, more Europeans might turn to communism. So in mid-1947, the U.S. government launched a massive program of economic aid. The Marshall Plan, named after U.S. secretary of state George Marshall, provided $13 billion for rebuilding Europe. The plan helped Western Europe make a rapid recovery from the war, and it also helped preserve political stability. -
Berlin Crisus
In June 1948, the Soviets blocked off all land, rail, and water routes into West Berlin. As a result, Berlin’s 2 million residents were no longer able to import food, coal, and other vital supplies. The Soviets hoped these measures would force the West to leave Berlin. They organized a Berlin airlift, a massive effort to supply West Berlin by air. The Berlin airlift was a success, and the Soviets called off the blockade of Berlin in May 1949. -
Arms Race
In 1949 the west was deeply shaken by news of a successful Soviet Test of an atomic bomb. Suddenly, the great military advantage the United States had enjoyed over the Soviet union was gone. The two superpowers we are locked in in arms race, a struggle between nations to gain in advantage in weddings. The United States soon had far more nuclear weapons than the Soviet union, and it was clear that a nuclear attack by either side will lead to terrible distraction. -
Arms Control
It seems that the cold war is beginning to give influence to other countries around the world spreading communism and nuclear arms. In 1955 president Eisenhower proposed a open skies treaty with the Soviet Union. The agreement will allow each side to fly over the others territory and gather information about it’s weapons. With accurate information, Eisenhower argued, neither side would have to imagine the worst about their enemy. Soviet leaders wanted no nukes but instead but the U.S. rejected. -
The Cold War Ends
In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected president. He took an aggressive position against the Soviet Union and spoke of developing a missile defense system, and ideas that seem to violate the spirit of the ABM Treaty. But President Reagan also began arms reduction talks with the Soviet leader Mikhali Gorbachev. In 1988 the two countries ratified the INF Treaty, which called for the elimination of certain types of missles. The Soviet Union and the U.S. relationship was finally beginning to improve.
