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Yalta Conference
+The Yalta Conference was a meeting between the U,S President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin which they made important decisions regarding the future progress of the war and postwar world. -
Berlin Declaration
+ Supreme commanders of the Western powers met with coulleages from the Soviet Union. In Berlin-Wendenschloss they signed the Berlin Declaration, which announced the unconditional surrender of Germany and the assumption of supreme authority by the four victorious powers. -
Potsdam Conference
+ The Big Three (Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill) met in Potsdam, Germany, from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to negotiate terms for the end of World War II. After the Yalta Conference of February 1945, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt had agreed to meet following the surrender of Germany to determine the postwar borders in Europe. -
North Vietnam
+ In Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh declared the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North). In 1954, Vietnam was divided between Communist North and Anit-Communist South. Even with the help of the U.S, South Vietnam fell under Communist rule. -
Iron Curtain Speech
+ The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave the Iron Curtain Speech which governed the start of the Cold War. He also wanted to form a strong bond between Britain and the U.S. The U.S. was aware that the help of Britain during the Cold War would help, but they didnt want to play the part of a pawn. Stalin also called out the speech as "war mongering." -
Containment Policy
+ The Containment Policy was created by the U.S. to prevent the spread of communism. Western Germany was also merged from France, Britain, and the U.S. and an alliance called NATO was formed to promise help to any of its members in case of an attack (mostly from communist countries such as the Soviet Union). This divided Europe even more -
Berlin Blockade
+ Berlin was occupied by France, Britain, the US, and Soviet Union but was located in the Soviet's side. The Soviets wanted to cut them off from the west. They built a blockade to drive out France, Britain, and the US -
Marshall Plan
+ The Marshall Plan was help from the U.S. to fix damages from the war. The Soviet Union rejected the plan because they believed the U.S. created the Marshall Plan to interfere with communism. -
Berlin Airlift
+ The blockade prevented supplies to be transfered to Berlin from the west. The west began transporting supplies by plane into Berlin. This ruined the Soviets plan and was known as the Berlin Airlift -
NATO
+NATO was a treaty between western democracies and other nations which ruled when one was attacked, the others will fight along side them. It made it clear which countries were anti-communist and which countries were for communism. It also formed a military force that would fight against communism. -
Soviet Union Tests Atomic Bomb
+ The Soveit Union successfully detonates its first atomic bomb, code name “First Lightning.” In order to measure the effects of the blast, the Soviet scientists constructed buildings, bridges, and other civilian structures in the vicinity of the bomb. They also put animals. The body completely destroyed everything and incinerated the animals. -
Korean War - U,S, Involvement
+ The US saw the Korean war as a sign of the spread of communism, so they joined the fight. They pushed China back but China started to threaten the US to back away. A negotiation was made between North and South Korea to prevent another war. -
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
+ They were a married couple accused of being spies who leaked nuclear information to the Soviet Union. They claimed they were innocent, but they were put to deth on April 5,1951. Most of the population didnt see any problem with their execution since they believed it was necessary. -
Eisenhower Presidency
+ Eisenhower was the US president for two terms. He signed the Korean War Armistice, delt with nuclear tensions with the Soviet Union, and created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). The US entered the Vietnam War to fight against North Vietnam because of SEATO. -
Nikita Khrushchev
+ Krushchev took power after Stalin in 1953 and tried to better the lives of the Soviet Union's civilians and tried for peace with the west. He freed prisoners, eased censorship, and even lowered the power of the secret police. However he was the one who agreed the building of the Berlin Wall and dealt with the removal of missiles in Cuba. -
Warsaw Pact
+ The Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact as a response to the NATO. The Soviet Union saw NATO as a threat and the Warsaw Pact was used as defense against it even though they were similar. If any of the members was attacked, everyone would defend them. Though the Cold War was between the US and Soviet Union, the alliances showed who their enemies were, -
Hungarian Revolution
+ A spontaneous national uprising that began 12 days before in Hungary is viciously crushed by Soviet tanks and troops on this day in 1956. Thousands were killed and wounded and nearly a quarter-million Hungarians fled the country. -
Suez Crisis
+ Israeli armed forces pushed into Egypt toward the Suez Canal after Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal in July of that same year. The Israelis soon were joined by French and British forces, which nearly brought the Soviet Union into the conflict, and damaged their relationships with the United States. In the end, the British, French and Israeli governments withdrew their troops. -
Sputnik
+ Sputnik was the first man-made satellite. It was launched by the Soviet Union and its purpose was to map the Earth's surface. The satellite also scared the US because it showed that the Soviets can launch missiles all the way to the US. The US decided to start on their own project which resulted in the Explorer. -
Cuban Revolution
+ Fidel Castro led a revolution against the corrupt Cuban government. Many of the Cubans who saw the corruptness in the government supported Castro. After the successful revolution, Castro took power and later became a communist. Since Castro was a communist, it led to the Bay of Pigs. -
U-2 Incident
+ An American spy plane, the U-2, was shot down while flying over the Soviet Union. The pilot was ordered to kill himself and the plane had a self destruct mechanism so the US told Soviet Russia that it was a weather balloon that went off course. In reality the plan was still intact and the pilot was alive so Eisenhower had to admit it was an American spy plane -
Kennedy Presidency
+ JFK wanted to stop communism and create peace around the world. He was able to make the Soviet Union take back missles that they had in Cuba. He had the US, Soviet Union, and Britain agree on the ban of nuclear weapons and he launched the Peace Corps -
First Man in Space
+Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space on the spacecraft Vostok 1. Vostok 1 orbited Earth at a maximum altitude of 187 miles and was guided entirely by an automatic control system. He was awarded the Order of Lenin and given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union -
Bay of Pigs
+ The Bay of Pigs was a plan to get rid of communism in Cuba. It was know to fail but launched anyways. The full plan wasnt carried out because it failed quickly. Cuba was supplied with missle by the Soviet Union after asking for help. -
Berlin Wall
+ The Berlin Wall was built to seperate West and East Berlin. They didnt want people in the East to flee to the West and they wanted to block out the democracy in the West. Over the years the wall grew in size and strength but it divided Europe along with Germany. -
JFK Assassination
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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
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Vietnam War - U.S. Involvement
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Nixon Presidency
+ Nixon promising peace won him the role of president. He reduce the tension between the Soviet Union and the US, ordered troops to withdraw from Vietnam, and reduced nuclear arms production. He retired during his second term because he was caught in the Watergate Scandel. -
Apollo 11
+ During the space race the US built and launched Apollo 11. The mission was to land on the moon and return back. The craft landed on July 20 and Neil Armstong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins became the first men on the moon. -
S.A.L.T I
+ SALT or Stratigic Arms Limitation Talks were meeting which the topic was the limitation of nuclear weapons the US and Soviet Russia can have. When WWII ended, the US and Soviet Russia began a nuclear arms race. It led to the nuclear war scare so they wanted to limit the amount of nuclear weapons a nation can hold -
Detente
+ The detente was a time of lessened tensions between the Soviet Union and US during the Cold War. At first, the two had been developing nuclear weapons in a race but both sides saw nuclear threats from them. The two agreed on treaties on the rules of nuclear technology. -
Khmer Rouge
+Khmer Rouge movement led Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During that time, about 1.5 million Cambodians out of a total population of 7 to 8 million died of starvation, execution, disease or overwork. Some estimates place the death toll even higher. One detention center, S-21, was so notorious that only seven of the roughly 20,000 people imprisoned there are known to have survived. -
SALT II
+ During a summit meeting in Vienna, President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT-II agreement dealing with limitations and guidelines for nuclear weapons. The treaty, which never formally went into effect, proved to be one of the most controversial U.S.-Soviet agreements of the Cold War. -
Reagan Presidency
+Dubbed the Great Communicator, the affable Reagan became a popular two-term president. He cut taxes, increased defense spending, negotiated a nuclear arms reduction agreement with the Soviets and is credited with helping to bring a quicker end to the Cold War. -
"Tear Down This Wall" Speech
+ Reagan gave a speech in Berlin about how Berlin is no longer divided. In the speech he says "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Two years later the wall is destroyed. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
+ A million protesters in China wanted to end the corrupt government. They gathered in Tiananmen Square where military forces arrested and killed the protesters. About 10000 people were arrested and several hundreds were killed. The US placed economic sanctions in China after hearing of the news. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
+ The Cold War was coming to an end and it was announced that people are allowed to cross the Berlin Wall freely. People started to climb the wall and tear it down. It was known as the end of the war for the citizens. -
Gulf War
+Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of neighboring Kuwait in early August 1990. Alarmed by these actions, fellow Arab powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on the United States and other Western nations to intervene. Hussein defied United Nations Security Council demands to withdraw from Kuwait by mid-January 1991, and the Persian Gulf War began with a massive U.S.-led air offensive known as Operation Desert Storm. -
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
+ Mikhail Gorbachev wanted to build a better natioin by weakening the communist party power and giving the citizens more power. He pulled troops out of Afghanistan. Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union after it was destroyed and turned into Russia