-
Russian Communist Revolution
In the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Bolshevicks leader was Vladimir Lenin. Lenin condemned imperialist war policies and opposed the bourgeoisie government. When the Bolsheviks did not win a majority in the elections, they dispersed the Constituent Assembly by force, and Lenin's Bolsheviks ruled socialist Russia and the Soviet Union as a one party dictatorship. This created a fear of communism throughout the U.S. and started the rivalry seen between the U.S. & the Soviets in the Cold War. -
Treaty of Versailles
This was the peace treaty that ended WWI and punished Germany harshly for their actions in the war. They were forced to accept full blame for the war, lose territories, and they had to provide for all war reparations. This caused Germany to go into an economic depression due to the extreme amount of debt they were in. This caused The U.S. and the Soviet Union to arise as the two main superpowers. They continued to stay in their position as the two superpowers throughout the Cold War. -
League of Nations
The League of Nations had a number of failures and never really worked properly. One of the most prominant failures in relation to the Cold War was when Poland invaded Russian lands in 1920. The Russian soldiers were overwhelmed by this and were forced to sign the Treaty of Riga which nearly doubled the size of Poland, and the league of nations did nothing about this violation of another country. This invasion of Russia only served to make communist Russia more antagonistic of the west -
Yalta Conference
This was a conference between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin from February 4 -11. It resulted in the decision that Germany would be divided into four occupation zones controlled by each of the allies, including france and the people would have the right to vote. Churchill and Roosevelt feared that Stalin would not stick to his word, and he would try and turn his zone to communism. This only added tensions between the countries during the Cold War. -
Nuclear Deterrent
In general, a nuclear deterrent is a country's nuclear weapons. In terms of the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviets both had their own nuclear weapons, and enough of them to destroy the world multiple times. This made it crucial for the rivalry to stay non-combat, because if they were forced to fight by physical means, the world would be in great danger. -
MAD
MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) means if one country were to use their nuclear weapons, it will lead to nuclear destruction due to ritaliation. If the Cold War were to turn into an actual war, and either the U.S. or the Soviets fired their nuclear weapons, the other country would be forced to ritaliate and everything would be destroyed. -
United Nations
Representatives from the U.S., China, The Soviet Union & Britain met to plan out the UN. The Charter created 2 major bodies: the General Assembly & the Security Council. The security council did not work as a peace keeping body by itself because the members had the right to veto, so when the U.S. proposed something, the Soviets would veto and vice versa. Because of these problems the UN simply became a meeting for forum & discussion, and didn't aid in the attempt to resolve U.S & Soviet tensions -
Nuremberg Trials
The purpose of these trials was to punish German leaders for nearly 11 million deaths of jews, non-jewish poles, russians, gypsies, french, anti-nazi political & religious leaders + communists as well as for other war crimes. Most of the 200 defendants were found guilty and were either imprisoned or sentenced to death between 1945-49. This helped the two super powers rise to become stronger by making Germany weaker in the Cold War. -
General Assembly
The general assembly began to play a larger role in the UN because the permanent memebers of the security council had the right to veto, so if the leaders dissagreed, nothing would get accomplished. This group was proved to be ineffective in world affairs during the cold war because it was helpless when the Soviet Union invaded Chechoslovakia in 1968, and failed to play a major roll in the control of nuclear weapons as well as the arms race. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Communism is referred to as the Iron Curtain. Winston Churchill first mentioned the term in a speech to Eastern Europe in 1946 warning the people not to trust the Soviets, because they wanted to bring communsim to Eastern Europe and enforce puppet governments. This added more fear and tensions between the Allies and the Soivets. -
Baruch Plan
The U.S. had a monopoly over nuclear weapons after we dropped the atomic bombs in Japan in 1945. If the monopoly continued, they concluded it would only add Soviet suspicion and lead to an arms racein the Cold War. Bernard Baruch was chosen to present the U.S.propoasl to an international control over the spread and development of nuclear weapons and technology to the UN. However, the Russians rejected this and said the U.S. could not be trusted. -
Truman Doctrine
The Soviet Union demanded Turkey to give up the control of the dardenelles, while at the same time they tried to overthrow a conservative government in Greece backed up by Britain. President Truman recognized the problem and proposed the Truman Doctrine. It is a foreign policy of the U.S. saying that we were going to support free people in the world who were resisting attempted subjugation by outside pressures. This applies to any country the Soviets tried to enforce Comunism in during the CW. -
Marshall Plan
This was a program of economic aid originally offered to all European nations including communist countries. However, Stalin refused to let them participate, for he saw it as an act to destroy them. This plan ended up being a huge success in helping the countries in Western Europe rebuild their economies and preserve their democratic institutuions. This was a large andvantage for the U.S. in terms of the Cold War. -
Berlin Airlift
Soviets blocked all roads. railways, and cut off electrical supply to West Berlin.Their goal was to force the allies to leave Berlin or stop them from unifying W. Germany. The U.S. provided a massive airlift of supplies for 324 days with cargo planes dropping food, clothing, medicine and fuel. This caused the blockade to end and W. Germany to unify, and it ended in extreme emabarrassment for the Soviets because it was such a failure for them in the Cold War. -
NATO Created
North Atlantic Treaty Organiztion was the U.S. and our allies (9 European nations plus Canada and Iceland). NATO was formed in fear of Stalin taking over Western Europe in an attempt to stop him as much as they possibly could. A NATO military force was set up and these nations formed an alliance so they would defend one another if one was attacked. In case the Cold War turned into a combat war. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The announcement ended the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang. The “fall” of mainland China to communism in 1949 led the United States to suspend diplomatic ties with the PRC for decades. This was a good thing for the Soviets since they were promoting the spread of communism during the Cold War. -
Josheph McCarthy Speech
Joseph McCarthy was a senator from Wisconsin that led an anti-communist movement. He told the people there were Soviet spys scattered all throughout the U.S. This talk of such spys caused fear and reckless witch hunts among the people of the U.S. during the Cold War. It made people panic because they belived communism was right in their backyards and it was too close for comfort. These spys were never found however because they did not exist. There were no spys. -
Korean War
After WWII, Korea was divided in 2 parts- North & South. North Korea wanted to unite and bring their communist government into the south, but the U.S. helped stop the unification. At the end of the war, Korea remained divided at the 38th parallel, 54,000 lives were lost & $64 billion dollars were lost. There was no clear winner, but the U.S. considered it a victory because they stopped communism from spreading which was a plus for them in terms of the Cold War against the Soviets. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw pact included the Soviet Union & all the communist countries of Eastern Europe under Soviet control. This was an alliance to fight for eachother if one was attacked by NATO. These two groups divided Europe into 2 parts- Eastern and Western Europe during the Cold War. -
Sputnik Launched
Sputnik was the name of the first satellite ever to be successfully launched into space and it carried a radio transmitter on it. This started a space race between the U.S. and Russia on who could produce better space technology the fastest and most efficiently. This added yet another category for competition between the two countries in the Cold War. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
During the Cold War Cubas leader Castro had close association with the Soviets. The U.S. was scared they would turn to communism so the U.S. government trained Cuban refugees to invade Cuba in order to tropple Castro from power. But the refugees did not achieve support amoung local cubians and failed miserably. -
Fidel Castro Proclaims Communist Cuba
After the establishment of diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union after the Cuban revolution of 1959, Cuba became increasingly dependent on Soviet markets and military aid becoming an ally of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Castro then proclaimed Cuba as communist. In 1972 Cuba joined the COMECON, an economic organization of states designed to create cooperation among the socialist planned economies dominated by the large economy of the Soviet Union. -
Building of Berlin Wall
After Western Germany accpeted the Marshall plan life in the west was a lot better than in the east. During the Cold War the East developed a communist system. 2.6 million East Germans escaped to West Germany, when Eastern Germany only had about 17 million citizens. Eastern Germany felt like there was no other way to prevent people from escaping. So they built the Berlin wall Wall to keep East Germans from going to the West. -
First Person to Die Trying To Cross Berlin Wall
There is no exact number but somewhere around 100 to 230 people died trying to cross the Berlin Wall. Eastern Germany had turned to communism during the Cold War and many people wanted to escape to Western Germany to their communist free teritory. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis escalated after Castro allowed the Soviet Union to deploy nuclear missiles on the island because he feared a U.S. invasion. The U.S. released photos of Soviet nuclear missile silos in Cuba which triggered a crisis that took both superpowers to the brink of nuclear war. This was a major event in the arms race between the Soviets and the United States. -
U.S. Sends Troops to Vietnam
President Johnson reported to the nation that American ships had been attacked by the North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving the President the power to use whatever force necessary to protect our interests in the area. Communist Viet Cong attacked American military during the Cold War. Using the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, President Johnson sent in 3,500 Marines, the first official troops to Vietnam. -
Non- Proliferation Agreement
The Non-Proliferation agreement was signed in 1968 by several of the major nuclear and non-nuclear powers. They pledged their cooperation in stemming the spread of nuclear technology. Ultimately it was created to prevent nuclear proliferation, during the Cold War arms race. But the treaty was a major success for advocates of arms control because it set a authority for international cooperation between nuclear and non-nuclear states to prevent proliferation. -
Apollo 11
American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first humans ever to land on the moon. Apollo 11 occurred eight years after President John Kennedy announced a national goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. This event lead to the U.S. winning the space race against the soviets during the Cold War. -
SALT 1
The U.S. and the Soviet Union negotiated the first agreements to place limits and restrictions on some of their central armaments. In a Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems, they moved to end an emerging competition in defensive systems that threatened to spur offensive competition to greater heights. This was used to slow down the arms raqce during the Cold War. -
Kent State Shooting
Members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University protesters protesting the Vietnam War. This event killed four and wounded nine students. The event triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close. This event destroyed the Nixon administration.The direct effects of the shooting, symbolize the deep political and social divisions that so sharply divided the country during the Cold War / Vietnam era. -
Period: to
Margaret Thatcher
When Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979, many in the West had come to believe that the Cold War should not be won, that anti-Communism was morally wrong, and that the future lay in between the superpowers and the progression of democracy into the deepening state socialism. By the time she left office, the Berlin Wall had fallen and Eastern Europe was liberated. A year later, the Soviet Union crumbled into the dustbin of history. Democracy and freedom were on the advance. -
Fall of Saigon
The surrender of Saigon was announced by the South Vietnamese president, General Duong Van Minh. The North Vietnamese Army took over Saigon with little resistance. After being taken over, Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of their revolutionary leader. This shows the spread of communism during the Cold War. The United Staes was fighting in Vietnam to help stop the spread of communism. -
Period: to
Deng Xiaoping
Deng helped China's economy open to foreign trade. He helped strengthen business contacts between China and the West. After visiting the U.S. Deng made it clear that the new priorities of China were economic and technological development. Deng Negotiated the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which formally outlined the U K's return of Hong Kong to China. Portugal, under pressure from the Chinese authorities, agreed to arrange the return of its colony of Macau. -
Period: to
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II is recognised as helping to end Communist rule by supporting Solidarity, the Polish independent trade union movement. Solidarity was instrumental in bringing down communism in Eastern Europe. John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. He upheld the Church's teachings on such matters as artificial contraception and the ordination of women. -
SALT II
SALT II was signed by President Carter and General Brezhnev. June 18th 1979 it was transmitted to Senate. President Carter requested the Senate majority leader to delay consideration of the Treaty because the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. President Reagan stated he would do nothing to undercut the SALT agreements as long as the Soviet Union showed equal restraint. The Soviet Union again agreed to abide by the unratified Treaty. Just like SALT I this was used to help slow the Cold War arms race -
Period: to
Soviets Invade Afghanistan
The United States supported the Afghanistan rebels in order to try and overthrow the coleaders of the Soviets. Soviets became concerned that President Amin was having discussions with the United States. The soviet union invade Afghanistan. They had President Amin put to death and installed their own leader, President Babrak Karmal. As the war continued with little success, it became a source of embarrassment for the Soviet Union. Their army no longer seemed invincible to the rest of the world. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
On November 9 1989, people were permitted to dismantle the Berlin Wall. Pople used tools to bring the wall down piece by piece. The Berlin Wall was taken down after a shift over to the democratic way of life. In March 1990, free elections were held in East Germany. This would pave the way for reunification talks. In October 1990, Germany became one country again. -
Period: to
Lech Walesa
The Solidarity Movement was in Poland was led by Lech Walesa. It was a union that was formed to agitate for Polish independence and a non-communist government. Lech contributed to ending the Cold War by inspiring movements for peaceful change within the Soviet blockade. He was later elected Polands President. -
START I
A treaty between the U.S. and the USSR on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. The treaty blocked the nations from deploying more than 6,000 nuclear warheads atop a total of 1,600 ICBMs, ballistic missiles, and bombers. This was one of the largest and most complex arms control treaty in history, and its final implementation in late 2001 resulted in the removal of about 80 percent of all strategic nuclear weapons then in existence. This was used to help end the Cold War. -
START II
A treaty between the U.S. and Russia on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. It was signed by U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. This banned the use of MIRVs on intercontinental ballistic missiles. It never entered into effect. It was ratified by the U.S. Senate on 26 January 1996 with a vote of 87-4. On 14 June 2002 Russia withdrew from the treaty in response to U.S. withdrawal from the ABM Treaty.
