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Russian Communist Revolution
Lenin was the first communist leader in Russia and leader of the Bolshevik revolutionaries. He was a radical thinker and believed that a communist revolution would help bring equality to Russia. Until this point, communism had never been tried before. After the communist party took over, Russia and countries they controlled became known as The Soviet Union. Over time, there was a division between the communist and non-communist countries like the U.S. This division was known as the Cold War. -
Treaty of versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. The conditions in the treaty were so punitive upon Germany that many believe the Versailles Treaty laid the groundwork for the eventual rise of Nazis in Germany and the eruption of World War II. -
League of Nations
January 10, 1920, the League of Nations formally comes into being when the Covenant of the League of Nations, ratified by 42 nations in 1919, takes effect. In 1946, the League of Nations was officially dissolved with the establishment of the United Nations. The League of Nations effectively resolved some international conflicts but failed to prevent the outbreak of the Second World War, which eventually resulted in the Cold War. -
MAD
MAD stood for Mutual Assured Destruction. It refers to nuclear weapons and the basic principle that if, the United States were to attack the Soviet Union using nuclear weapons then the Soviet Union would respond in the same way.The primary application of this doctrine started during the Cold War (1940s to 1991), in which MAD was seen as helping to prevent any direct full-scale conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union while they engaged in smaller proxy wars around the world. -
General Assembly
The General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative of the United Nations. The large size of the General Assembly and the diversity of the issues it discussed contributed to the creation of regionally based voting blocs in the 1960s. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the countries of eastern Europe formed one of the most cohesive blocs. Since the end of the Cold War, blocs have formed around “North-South” economic issues -
Yalta Conference
helped lead to the Cold War by giving the Soviet Union control over Eastern Europe. At the conference, the Soviet Union was given the right to control Eastern Europe.This led to the Cold War because it made the West feel that the USSR was bent on expanding communism.The Yalta Conference was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union for the purpose of discussing Germany and Europe's postwar reorganization. -
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization formed in 1945 to increase political and economic cooperation among its member countries.The United Nations became a battleground between communist and non-communist countries. Since both the United States and Soviet Union held vetoes, the Security Council could not act without their joint permission. As a result, since both the United States and Soviet Union held vetoes, , the Soviet Union failed to exercise its veto. -
Nuremberg Trials
After the war, some of those responsible for crimes committed during the Holocaust were brought to trial. Nuremberg, Germany, was chosen as a site for trials that took place in 1945 and 1946. Judges from the Allied powers—Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States—presided over the hearings of twenty-two major Nazi criminals. -
Baruch Plan
The United States presents the Baruch Plan for the international control of atomic weapons to the United Nations. The failure of the plan to gain acceptance resulted in a dangerous nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In August 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, becoming the first and only nation to use nuclear weapons during wartime. -
Iron Curtain speech
The Iron Curtain was the name for the boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West and its allied state. The Iron Curtain was a phrase said by Winston Churchill in his famous speech at Westminster and became one of the most famous terms used during the War and put an end to the Cold War. -
Chinese communist revolution
This started after the end of the Sino Japanese War, and was the second part of the Chinese civil war. It was caused by the culmination of the chinese communist party's drive to power. It resulted in changing the nations social development during the second half of the 20th century. Because of China's political stance, they got involved with other countries such as Russia and America. Stalin's hidden agenda “ most powerful country + most powerful country = strong communist empire” -
Truman Doctrine
American foreign policy whose stated purpose was to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. It was announced to Congress by President Harry S. Truman , when he pledged to contain threats to Greece and Turkey. The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy whose stated purpose was to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. More generally, the Truman Doctrine implied American support for other nations allegedly threatened by Soviet communism. -
Marshall plan
A Program of economic aid offered by the US to any European country.The plan was rejected outright by Stalin and any Eastern Block country considering accepting aid was reprimanded severely. The aid was only given to Western European Countries.The Plan reduced the influence and power of Communist parties in Western Europe.The US gave Europe a huge help in their economy which helped reconstruct after the war.This angered the Soviet Union and was seen as an anti-communist move by the US -
Berlin Airlift
The reason it happened is that the Russians had cut off access from the Allied zones of occupation in West Germany to West Berlin, which was in the Russian zone (what became East Germany). So the Allies had to either surrender West Berlin or they had to supply it by air.By 1949, it was clear that the Soviet blockade of West Berlin had failed. It had not persuaded West Berliners to reject their allies in the West, nor had it prevented the creation of a unified West German state. -
NATO created
In 1949, the idea of further Communist expansion caused the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the (NATO). The Soviet Union and its Communist nations founded a rival alliance, the Warsaw Pact. The alignment of nearly every European nation into one of the two opposing camps made the political division of the European continent that had taken place since World War II. This alignment provided the framework for the military standoff that continued throughout the Cold War. -
Joseph McCarthy speech
During his speech, he claims that he has a list of over 200 members of the department of state that are known as a communist. The months leading up to his February speech had been trying ones for America’s Cold war policies. “McCarthyism,” as the hunt for communists in the United States came to be known during the 1950s, did damage to many people’s lives and careers, had a domino effect on the domestic debate on Cold War issues, and managed to scare millions of Americans. -
Nuclear Deterrent
During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union each built a stockpile of nuclear weapons. Soviet policy said that a nuclear war could be fought and won. The United States adopted nuclear deterrence, the credible threat of retaliation to forestall the enemy attack. Deterrence theory says that nuclear weapons are intended to deter other states from attacking with their nuclear weapons, through the promise of retaliation and possibly mutually assured destruction (MAD). -
Korean War
Also called the Korean conflict, fought between the United Nations and the communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). The war began in 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. The Korean War was fought between South Korea and communist North Korea. It was the first major conflict of the Cold War as the Soviet Union supported North Korea and the United States supported South Korea. The countries are still divided today and North Korea is still ruled by a communist regime. -
Warsaw Pact
Formerly known as the treaty of "treaty of mutual friendship, co-operation and mutual assistance", further Communist expansion caused the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland among the Soviet Union and seven Soviet satellite states of Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, during the Cold War. -
Sputnik launched
The Soviet Union launched the earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik. As a result, the launch of Sputnik served to intensify the arms race and raise Cold War tensions. During the 1950s, both the United States and the Soviet Union were working to develop new technology. -
Fidel Castro Proclaims Communist Cuba
belief in a communist ideology and his criticisms of other international figures elevated the prominence of his rule.Launched a wide range of economic and social changes,and also promoted a cult of personality around himself.He became a key element within the Cold War struggle between the U.S and its allies versus the Soviet Union and its allies.He Decided to fight for the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's military junta by founding."The Movement" first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed military invasion conducted by the United States Central intelligence. Trained Cuban exiles were sent to Cuba to try and overthrow Fidel Castro's government. They failed miserably. The invasion is considered part of the Cold War because the United States was trying to prevent communism from taking hold in the Americas. -
Building of Berlin Wall begins
During the early years of the Cold War, West Berlin was a geographical loophole through which thousands of East Germans fled to the democratic West. In response, the Communist East German authorities built a wall that totally closed off West Berlin. It was thrown up overnight, on 13 August 1961. This meant that those living in Western Berlin had no access to food supplies and faced starvation. Food was brought to Western Berliners by US and UK airplanes, an exercise known as the Berlin Airlift. -
Berlin Wall
The wall separated East Berlin and West Berlin and was built to prevent people from fleeing East Berlin. It was the perfect symbol of the "Iron Curtain" that separated the democratic and the communist countries throughout the Cold War. The Berlin Wall stood until November 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party allowed citizens of the GDR to cross the border. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful symbols of the Cold War. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. -
U.S Sends troops to vietnam
US first deployed troops to Vietnam in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.The U.S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam.This was part of the domino theory,with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism.Communist China and the Soviet Union threatened to intervene if the US continued to apply its military might on behalf of the South Vietnames.The U.S. Marine Corps Hawk air defense missile was deployed to Da Nang. -
Non-proliferation Treaty
The Non-Proliferation Treaty of Nuclear Weapons, also called Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, agreement of July 1, 1968, signed by the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 59 other states, under which the three major signatories, which possessed nuclear weapons, agreed not to assist other states in obtaining or producing them. This treaty took place during the Cold war. -
Apollo 11
After the USSR launched Sputnik, America rushed to develop the technology that the Soviets already had, prompting the creation of the Apollo program. Apollo 11 was a mission to complete the first manned lunar landing. The mission was a win for the U.S in the Space Race. it was the event that proved to the USSR that the United States could hold their own in the fight for outer space; Apollo 11 also brought a renewed sense of pride and accomplishment to a nation and unified the U.S -
Kent State shooting
The Kent State shootings were the shootings on May 4, 1970, of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, during a mass protest against the bombing of Cambodia by United States military forces. Protests across the country in the latter half of the 1960s were part of organized opposition against U.S. military activities in Southeast Asia, as well as the military draft. -
SALT I/II
SALT stands for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. and was initiated to reduce the amount of nuclear weapons held by the east and west during the cold war. The SALT agreements addressed two major issues. First, they limited the number of antiballistic missile (ABM) sites each country could have to two. (ABMs were missiles designed to destroy incoming missiles.) Second, the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles was frozen at existing levels. -
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. In the process, she made her own country infinitely more secure. After all, it was during her premiership that the shadow of nuclear annihilation, which had haunted two generations, was finally lifted. -
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a period to the reunification of Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It was a very important event because it was the beginning of reunification of Vietnam under Communist Rule. This had an effect on the Cold War because it angered the states that the Soviets were helping their enemy. -
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping, was a Chinese politician. He was the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 until his retirement in 1989. After Chairman Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng led China through far-reaching market-economy reforms -
Pope John Paul II
served as Pope and sovereign of the Vatican City State in 1978. He was elected by the second Papal conclave of 1978, which was called after Pope John Paul I, who had been elected in August to succeed Pope Paul VI, died after thirty-three days.The efforts of anti-communist leaders, such as Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan did not make the fall of the Soviet Union inevitable, these leaders did hasten the end of the Cold War and the fall of Soviet communism, in Eastern Europe. -
Soviets invade Afghanistan
In December 1979, in the middle of the Cold War, the Soviet Army invaded Afghanistan in order to help out the communist government of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). The Soviet Union feared the loss of its communist party in Afghanistan. The Soviet Union intervened in support of the Afghan communist government in its conflict with anti-communist Muslim guerrillas during the Afghan War (1978–92) and remained in Afghanistan until mid-February 1989. -
Lech Walesa
Lech Walesa was responsible for leading the movement that changed Poland from a Communist nation into a democratic nation. The end of Communism led to the end of the Cold War.
He co-founded and headed Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995 -
START I/II
The Strategic Arms Reductions Treaties, known as START I and START II, were agreements to reduce the number of long-range nuclear weapons in the United States and the former Soviet Union. START I was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1991, and it was followed by the conclusion of the START II treaty between the United States and Russia in 1993. These treaties relate to the Cold War because the U.S. and the Soviet Union were the Cold War superpowers. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Fall of the Wall. On November 9, 1989, as the Cold War began to end across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West. Starting at midnight that day, he said, citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country's borders.
