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Russian Communist Revolution
The purpose of this revolution was to overthrow the Tsarist autocracy government, also known as the Russian Empire, in Russia. The goal was to not only overthrow the empire, but to replace it with communism. It is successful and Russia is the very first country to have a communist government. This revolution is the start of the Soviet Union and the spreading of communism in eastern Europe throughout the Cold War. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the peace treaty that ended World War I. It could be thought of as an indirect cause of the Cold War. The harshness of the treaty towards Germany drove communism and dictators like Hitler and Stalin to power. -
Leauge of Nations
An international association established to keep peace after WWI ended. The Leaugue of Nations was a failure. It did not keep peace. Though it did set up the rivalry of the two main superpowers in the Cold War- the U.S. and the Soviet Union. -
Yalta Conference
A conference held to discuss peace terms near the end of WWII. This showed the early stages of the Cold War. Stalin had started showing communist actions towards Berlin shortly after the conference. -
General Assembly
The General Assembly was one of two major bodies of the United Nations. It held a great amount of power. It was used to work out a lot of disputes between the Soviet Union and the U.S. that involved communism. -
United Nations
The United Nations was created to replace the ineffective League of Nations after World War II to prevent another war. It helped maintain world peace and to provide aid in cases of armed conflict. The decisions of the UN were difficult at times because any topic involving the spread of communism was either vetoed or disagreed upon by the United States and Soviet Union. -
Nuremberg Trials
These trials lasted from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946. The Nuremberg trials were after World War II and at the start of the Cold War. The Allies held the trials to punish the German leaders for acts of violence and war crimes. In the 13 cases, most of the 200 defentdents were guilty, imprisoned, or got the death sentence. -
Iron Curtain Speech
The Iron Curtain Speech was given by Winston Churchill and is one of the most famous speeches of the Cold War. 'An iron curtain has descended across the continent.' is said to be announcing the beginning of the Cold War. The countries under this iron curtain are all the countries under the Soviet rule. The Soviet Union wants indefinite power and to expand communism throughout the world. -
Baruch Plan
This plan was created to share scientific information instead of using the technology to launch nuclear weapons and create destruction. It would have international control of atomic energy under the control of the United Nations. However, this plan was rejected by the Soviets because of mistrust in the eastern nations. -
Truman Doctrine
It was made to confront and contain communism wherever it threatened to spread. This was Truman's way of fighting against communism/the Soviets. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan provided $13 billion in assistance to 16 European nations.They had to use that money to purchase U.S. goods. It was a huge success because the U.S. was getting all the money back from the goods those countries bought and the appeal to communism decreased. -
Berlin Airlift
During the Berlin blockade, the western allies airlifted food, clothing, and supplies into East Berlin. This action did cause the Soviet government to end the blockade. Although,it sturred up a lot of tension between the east and west, especially the Soviets and the U.S. -
NATO Created
NATO is an alliance made up of nine European Nations, the U.S., Canada, and Iceland. If one nation was attacked, then they would all defend that nation. When NATO was created, the Soviet Union had also created an alliance called the Warsaw Pact. These alliances could become a very dangerous cold war event, if one nation went to war, so did all of its allies and a war would start. -
Nuclear Deterrent
Nuclear deterrence is when a country hesitates when firing nuclear weapons on another country that also has nuclear weapons. This occured during the Cold War when the Soviet Union and the United States did not fire either with their weapons. They both knew that the other country had very powerful nuclear weapons, enough to destroy the world many times over. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese communist leader at the time, Mao Zedong, created the People's Republic of China. The PRC and the Chinese nationalist party had many disagreements, these eventually lead to CHina becoming communism. Another communist country meant another ally for the Soviet Union in the Cold War, if the United States and Soviets ended up in war. -
Joseph McCarthy Speech
In McCarthy's Speech he tried to convince the citizens that there were communist spies in the government. Given the atmosphere of the Cold War people had no trouble believing the government had traitors. After his speech Americans saw Joseph McCarthy as a symbol of the Red Scare, fear of the rise of communism. -
Korean War
The Soviet Union installed a communist government in North Korea. The U.S. controlled South Korea as a democracy. The Soviets refused to unify the north and south so North Korea with the help of the U.S. invaded South Korea. This is similar to the Soviets controlling East Berlin under communist rule and the U.S. controlling the west. It's another example of the Soviet Union's attempt to spread communism and the U.S. attempting to stop it. -
Warsaw Pact
It was a military alliance established by the Soviet Union. This pact led to the dividing of Europe into Eastern and Western regions. More specifically communist and non communist regions. -
Sputnik Launched
Sputnik is the world's first satellite to orbit Earth, launched by the Soviet Union. This is what started the space race between the Soviets and the United States. In the competition to develope better technology and rocket launchers, this also meant that the missile launching technology would improve along with the space advancements. -
MAD
"Mutual Assured Destruction" was a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy for the use of weapons of mass destruction being used by opposing sides and can cause complete annihilation to both sides. This relates to the arms race between the Soviet Union and the U.S. Each of them had nuclear weapons that could destroy each other but neither side wanted to make the first move. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
A failed invasion by the U.S. to try to invade Cuba in order to capture Castro. This was an attempt by the U.S. to stop a dictator and therefore stop communism in Cuba. If the failure wasn't worse enough for the U.S., Cuba became allies with the Soviet Union, furthering the bad relations between the U.S. and the Soviets. -
Fidel Castro Proclaims Communist Cuba
Cuba had officially proclaimed a communist country, and therefore the Soviet Union had yet another ally. With Cuba only 90 miles away from the United States, the Soviets could fire missiles if the U.S. angered them. During the Cold War the United States was now in even more danger. -
Building of Berlin Wall begins
It was meant to stop the population drain from communist East Germany to non communist West Germany. It was Khrushchev's attempt to shut the western powers out of Berlin so communism could continue to spread without interruption from the U.S. -
Berlin Wall(construction-fall)
The wall was up for almost 30 years. It didn't go down until 1989. It was a symbolic boundary between democracy and communism. It was like an overview of the Cold War and everything it stands for. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This event is considered the most intense event of the Cold War. When the American government discovered the missiles in Cuba, built by Soviets and pointed at the U.S., they blockaded the location so no more could be built. When the two countries came to an agreement, the Soviet Union had to remove their missiles in Cuba and the United States later removed their missiles from Turkey Pointed at the Soviet Union. During this 13-day political and military standoff a nuclaer war had almost began. -
U.S. sends troops to Vietnam
A war had broken out between North Vietnam(communist) and South Vietnam(anti-communist). The U.S. sent troops to help South Vietnam fight.It was what the Containment Policy was meant to do. The U.S. doing whatever they could to help a place that's in jeopardy of falling under communist rule. -
Non-Proliferation Agreement
The purpose of this agreement was to stop the growth of nuclear weapons and prevent nuclear warfare. If advances are made in technology it could be shared and used in positive ways. This agreement could also lessen the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union before a nuclear war begins. -
Apollo 11
This space mission of the Cold War lasted from July 16-24, 1969. Its purpose was to overtake the pioneering Russian Space Program and to be the first country to put a man on the moon. With success Apollo 11 brought three American men to the moon and back, it was a victory for the United States. This event furthered the space race and intensified the Cold War in a race for technology. -
SALT(I/ll)
"Strategic Arms Limitation Talks" was meant to restrain the arms race. It froze the number of Soviet and U.S. ICBM and SLMB launchers. This was an agreement the Soviets and U.S. had together despite their rivalry. But then Salt ll never even became legally binding because the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in yet another attempt of spreading communism. -
Kent State Shootings
When Vietnam called for an invasion on the Viet Cong the United States agreed to send troops to stop the communism. Students from Kent State had been protesting the Cambodian Campaign in the Vietnam War, and the military responded, four students were killed and nine were injured. The order of sending troops to Vietnam by the government had created disapproval in the U.S. citizens, including the Kent State students. -
Fall of Saigon
Northern Vietnam takes over southern Vietnam in a fight for communism. It is a defeat for democracy in southern Vietnam and a victory for communism in northern Vietnam. The United States supported the south and lost 58,000 Americans in the attack. The Fall of Saigon was considered an indirect victory for the Soviet Union because the communist side won, the Soviets were not actually in battle. -
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was in office between the years 1978-1992. He was one of the first Chinese communist party leaders, he lead the People's Republic of China. Even though he supported communism he presented some capitalist elements into China's government. He altered the governnment to lessen tensions between China and the U.S. -
Pope John Paul ll
He is recognized as helping end communist rule in Poland and eventually all of Europe. He did this by spreading christianity and humanism. Like the U.S., he wanted to stop the Soviets from spreading communism and was going to do anything he could to help. -
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 4, 1979 until 1990. She was also the leader of the Conservative party from 1975-1990. She participated in meetings with the U.S. and Soviets to straighten out problems. Margaret had a big part in ending the Cold War by helping the Soviet Union realize what little rights the Russian citizens had. -
Soviets Invade Afghanistan
When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, they were looking to convert their democratic PDPA party into communism. This was the only event during the Cold War that the Soviets invaded a country outside the Eastern Bloc. The Soviets failed at this invasion, they lost 15 thousand troops and billions of dollars. Even when backed up by the United States, Afghanistan was left in ruins. -
Lech Walesa
He helped create the Soviet Union's first and only trade union. Also know as solidarity, the idea undermined Soviet power because it was not controlled by a communist party. It helped with the fall of communism, so the U.S. was completely supportive of it. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Gunter Schabowski, a spokesman was supposed to announce the new regulations on the wall. Though he wasn't informed of all of the details so he announced the borders were to open immediately. In the Cold War, this was a victory for the U.S. because East Berlin was now free from communism. -
START(l/ll)
"Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty" was a treaty between the U.S. and the USSR on the reduction and limitation of offensive arms. It was the most complex arm control treaty in history. Like SALT, it was an agreemenrt that the Soviet Union and the U.S. had made right when the Cold War was ending.
