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Truman takes office
Harry Truman was FDR's Vice President, so he took office when FDR died -
Yalta Conference
Discussion of post-war Europe with the US, Britain, and the Soviet Union; focus on Poland's governing systems and boundaries as well as the division of Germany -
Potsdam Conference
Conference with the US, Britain, and the Soviet Union; Main points of discussion were German reparations and post-war Germany, free elections in Romania and Bulgaria, getting Russia involved as soon as possible, and the settlement of Poland's western front -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The bombing of Hiroshima is believed to have "caused" the Cold War because of the way it changed Stalin and Truman's attitudes--> provoked nuclear arms race between US and Soviet Union -
Greece at a critical juncture
Communists were attempting to seize the country; domino theory applied to Greece and Turkey which held the idea that if one nation fell to the communists, then its neighbors would follow (Greece-->Turkey-->Middle East) -
George Kennan's "Long Telegram"
7,000-word telegram warning the US of the Soviet Union's post-war intentions which provided the justification for a policy of containment; included that the Russians were determined to destroy the American way of life and will do everything they could to oppose America and that this is the greatest threat that the US has ever faced. -
Iron Curtain Speech
The speech was given by Churchill and he stated that an iron curtain had fallen on Europe and those behind the curtain were subject to Soviet influence--> created tension because Stalin saw it as a call to war with the Soviet Union -
Molotov Plan
Soviet Union's form of the Marshall Plan which was created in order to provide aid for the rebuilding of the countries in Eastern Europe that were economically and politically aligned with the Soviet Union -
National Security Act
Changed the military structure by giving statutory status to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, established a National Security Council, created the CIA to gather information and to correlate and evaluate the intelligence activities around the world; first leader was Allen Dulles -
Truman Doctrine
Stated that whenever and wherever an anti-communist government was threatened by indigenous insurgents, foreign invasion, or even diplomatic pressure, the US would supply political, economic, and most of all, military aid. Was beneficial in Turkey and Greece -
Marshall Plan
Aimed to revive the economy of Western Europe; the revival of Germany was a crucial aspect of this plan because of their coal mines and steel mills; Russia was problematic with this aid program because they would not cooperate with the revival of Germany -
Brussels Treaty
Pledged mutual defense between Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg; led to the formation of NATO -
Berlin Blockade
The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' access to Berlin by railroad, road, and canal. The US supplied West Germany via air (supplying up to 13k tons of goods per day) -
Creation of NATO
North America Treaty Organization; collective security against the Soviet Union; founded by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Britain, and the US -
Soviets test their A-bomb
This changed the playing field concerning rearmament--> US proposed an updated version of lend-lease but the Europeans were suspicious of America's power to decide when and where to use the troops--> if the Europeans would not rearm, the US would have to do it themselves -
Beginning of the Korean War
Began when the Communist's crossed the line between North and South Korea and invaded non-Communist South Korea; South Korea was suffering and the US came to their assistance -
NSC-68
This was the "first comprehensive statement of national strategy" and it is also regarded as one of the key historical documents of the Cold War. It was the National Security Council policy paper -
Eisenhower takes office
34th president of the US; Republican -
Geneva Accords
Included terms of a cease-fire line to be drawn at the 17th parallel, dividing Vietnam; Communist Viet Minh occupied the north, State of Vietnam remained in the south -
Dein Bien Phu
Climatic battle between French and Vietnamese Communist forces (Vietminh) after WWII--> Defeat of French troops on May 7, 1954 led to the splitting of Vietnam -
Creation of SEATO
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization which included the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, Thailand, Pakistan, and the Philippines. The parties agreed to consult if any signatory felt threatened -
Warsaw Pact
Communist military counter to NATO; signed by the Soviet Union and the Eastern European nations -
Austrian State Treaty
Signed the day after the Warsaw Pact; gave Austrian independence, forbade its union with Germany and made it a permanent neutral -
U-2 incident
Russian surface-to-air missile had knocked down an American U-2 spy plane inside Russia; Summit meeting in Paris broke up at the beginning because Eisenhower refused to apologize for the U-2 flight
