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Russian Communist Revolution
Is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia, in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. -
Treaty of Versailles
Land and colonies taken away from Germany. Army was reduced to 100,000 men. People were not allowed to use tanks either. Germany had to take full blame for WWI and pay for war reparations. Germany was really weak because of this treaty which made it easy to take over. The USSR and US decided to divide Germany into two parts: east & west. East germany was controlled by US, West by USSR. This treaty was formed to end WWI but caused tension between USSR and US (in cold war), leading into WWII. -
League of Nations
This was a forum for resolving international disputes and to create international peace. The organization created the "idea of security" where superpowers such as the US and USSR are responsible for the security of nations under their influence, once there were tensions arising between the two it made people uneasy and concerned, -
MAD
MAD- mutually assured destruction. meaning, if one country would attack using nuclear weapons the other would respond the same way, resulting in a nuclear war. -
Yalta Conference
Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churhill met to make decisions about what would happen after WWII (peace terms). It was decided that Germany would be divided into four zones controlled each by the allies. -
United Nations
Organization that promotes international co-operation, especially with the US and USSR. The some of the objectives of this organization inlcudes maintaing peace and security, and aid to war torn countries during the cold war. -
Nuremberg Trials
Was a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, Between 1945-49. The trials underlined the meaning of allied powers and set the stage for the cold war. -
General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly is the body in which every member of the organization is represented and allowed to vote. The USSR and US are apart of the security council together, during the cold war and it made it hard for them to agree on things. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Churhill went to WestMinister College in Fulton Missouri to discuss the relationship shared between the US and England. He also talked about communism and the Soviet Union. A lot of people considered this speech the start of the cold war. -
Baruch Plan
this plan is supposed to regulate atomic energy. During the cold war, it was important to have nuclear/atomic energy regulated because if someone fired off one nuclear weapon, it would result in a nuclear war and world domination. -
Truman Doctrine
This provides economic aid to Greece and Turkey and other countries who are about to/have fallen to communism. Attepmt to stop the spread of communism during the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
Economic aid to the USSR and its satellite countries in Europe. It caused more tension in the Cold War because Eastern Europe recovered and since Western did not accept, they did not recover. Western Europe was under Soviet control. -
Berlin Airlift
The Soviet Union blocked the western allies roads, railways, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin. This was the first major crisis of the Cold War. -
NATO
NATO's (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) purpose was to unify/strengthen the western allies military response to a possible invasion and its warsaw pact allies. The Cold War was in full swing, as the Soviet Union was rising to power capturing sattelite countries. Their armed forces greatly increased in numbers which led other countries to greatly fear the Soviet Union. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
It was the colmination of the chinese communist party's drive to power since its founding in 1921 and the second part of the chinese civil war. The effects from the chinese communist revolution may have been critical to the success of the civilrights movement in the US. -
Joseph Mccarthy Speech
Gave his speech warning of communist in America. He gave specific names of people working within the state department and listed their crimes. Those individuals lost their jobs, even though Mccarthy was never able to give any more evidence to prove their guilt. In the suspicious atmosphere of the cold war, insinuations of disloyalty were enough to convince many americans that their government was filled with traitors/spies. -
Korean War
North Korea is controlled by communist government. South Korea is aided by the US. The war started becasue the north invaded the south. With the US involved it did not help the tension between the USSR and the US. -
Warsaw Pact
Treaty between Albania, Bulgaria Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. It is a treaty of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance. Communist alliance during the cold war ended when the war was over. -
Sputnik Launched
Sputnik had a big effect on the Cold War. "It was the dawn of the space age." It was the first artificial sattelite. When Soviets launched Sputnik, it caused America to go mad. They were worried the sattelite contained a weapon that would be fired at America. They also feared they were way behind in technology compared to the Soviets. -
Bay of PIgs
Fidel Castro invaded Cuba. The cubans who were attacked by Castro, fled to American and the american troops trained with the cubans to overthrow Castro. After a few years of training and preparing, the american-trained cubans attempted to push Castro from power, but they were out numbered by Castros troops and surrendered to Castro -
Building of the Berlin Wall
The wall built seperating West and East berlin, causing tension between the US and USSR. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was the barrier between West and East Berlin.There were guard towers placed among the concrete wall, it was officially referred to as the "Anti-Facist Protection Rampart". The Berlin Wall seemed to sum up what the Cold War represented- a clash between good and bad. -
Fidel Castro Proclaims Communist Cuba
Fidel Castro is a communist politician and revolutionary who served as prime minister of Cuba from 1959-1976, and president from 1976-2008. He declared that he is a Marxist Leninist, this annoucment sealed the bitter Cold War between the two nations. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Two superpowers came close to a nuclear war when the US discovered that the USSR placed missles in Cuba facing the US, but to avoid a nuclear war, the government made a deal to remove them. -
U.S. sends troops to Vietnam
In response of the Gulf of Tonik incident, president Johnson decided to escalte the Vietnam conflict by sending the US troops to Vietnam. -
Apollo 11
The Apollo 11 was the space flight that landed the first humans on the moon (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin), which is significant because this won the space race against the Soviets. -
Non-proliferation Agreement
It is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and further the goals of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
During the cold war, the fear was all about who was going to strike first, this is why the Cuban Missle Crisis was such a big deal. If cuba fired those missles on us, it could have ended in nuclear war. -
Kent State Shooting
Involved the shooting unarmed college students by the ohioi National Guard. It was called the "May 4th Massacre" It killed four students and wounded nine others. There was a lot of rallies in strikes going on at the time and some of the students shot and injured were striking/rallying. This event affected public opinion on the rivalry between the US and USSR. -
SALT I & II
SALT I: Strategic Arms Limitations Talks between the US and USSR.
SALT II: June 18, 1979. Signed to follow on the treaty to SALT I to limit strategic launchers, it was signed by President Carter and Brezhnev -
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War, Americans invested greatly to stop communism. America was distruaght in 19949 when china fell to communism, an event that changed the Cold War -
Pope John Paul II
He was pope in a catholic church from October 16 1978 until his death in 2005, he was significant by helping win the cold war. -
Margaret Thatcher
She helped defeat communism. She was the prime minister of the United Kingdom. She was believed to help end the cold war. By the time she left office, the berlin wall had fallen and Eastern Europe was liberated. A year later the USSR went down hill. Her and Ronald Reagan together with determination. -
Soviets Invade Afghanistan
The USSR intervened support of the Afgan communist government in its conflict with anit-communist muslim guerillas during the Afgan war. It was a watershed event of the cold war marking the only time the sovet union invaded a country outside the Eastern bloc-A strategic decision met by nearly world wide condemnation. -
Deng Xiaoping
In office from: September 13, 1981- November 2, 1987 He had Soviet relations from 1956-1963. He was a communist leader who ruled China. He abandoned many communist doctrines and incorporated elements of the free-enterprise system into the economy. Deng engineered reforms in virtually all aspects of China's political, economic and social life, restoring the country to domestic stability and economic growth after the excesses of the Cultural Revolution though cementing an inequality gap as well. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall came down on November 10, 1989. The border was supposed to be opened only for 'private trips abroad". On November 10th the demolition began for the wall. The rise and fall of the wall was during the cold war. -
Lech Walesa
Lech is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer and human-rights activist. He co-founded Solidarity. Walesa played a crucial role in organizing Roundtable talks with the party members. His energetic and enthusiastic campaign for Solidarity ensured that it was eventually given legal recogniion and opportunity to contest elections in the Cold War. -
START I & II
START I: signed by the president Ronald Reagan required the US and the USSR to reduce their deployment strategic arsenals.
START II: June 1992 Second Treaty of START I, President George Bush and Boris Yeltsin signed the treaty -
Nuclear Deterrent
During the cold war, the US and USSR each built a stockpile of nuclear weapons. Soviet policy rested on conviction that a nuclear war could be fought and won. The US adopted nuclear deterrence, the credible threat to forestall enemy attack.
