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Causes of Cold War
After World War 2 ended in 1945, there were many difference between the democratice, capitalist U.S. and the communist, dictatorship Soviet Union. The U.S. believed in freedom of speech and belief, and the Soviet Union had state control; consisting of secret police, censorship, and different terror technoques. -
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Cold War
The only war where no one was actually killed. -
The Soviet Iron Curtain
The Soviet Union created the Iron Curtain as a buffer zone from all the other countries in Europe and also the entire world. The United States demanded that there be free elections in these Eastern European countries under Soviet control, the Soviets refused. The USSR wanted a buffer if they were attacked, and didn't want anyone knowing what they were doing. The U.S. wanted the exact opposite, to know about the USSR, and to have free elections in Eastern Europe. -
U.S. Containment, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan
U.S. contaiment was helping and supporting weak European countries, to help avoid them becoming controlled by the Soviets. The Truman Doctrine was created to provide support and aid to countries that rejected comunism. Lastly, the Marshall Plan was a plan that would provide food, materials, etc. to European nations that needed it after being turned to ruins in World War 2. The U.S. did all of this to keep the Soviet influence from increasing any more. The USSR was very opposed to this plan. -
Mao Zedong and Commuinist Control
Mao Zedong was leader of commuinist China. He mobilized chinese peasants for guerilla warfare against the Japanese in the northeast. Meanwhile, the Nationalist forces under Jiang Jieshi (jee•ahng jee•shee) dominated southwestern China. In October 1949, Mao Zedong gained control of the country. He proclaimed it the People’s Republic of China -
NATO and the Warsaw Pact
NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed by the United States, Canada, and ten other countries that joined. This was created by the U.S. and its partners to deter any attacks, if one NATO member was attacked, it would be met by all NATO members. Thw Warsaw Pact was the Soviets counter to NATO, made for the same exact reasons. -
Berlin Airlift and Blockade
With Berlin well within the Soviets' East Germany, they blockaded the allies' West Berlin, the city would starve without the food, water, highway and rail traffic. The USSR did this because they wanted to keep their enemies weak, divided and was hoping they would give up West Berlin. Due to the blockade, the United States and Great Britain flew in food, water and other supplies for 11 months, until the Soviets lifted the blockade in May 1949. The U.S. wasn't going to surrender West Berlin. -
The Nuclear Arms Race
After forming of alliances, the cold war was heating up. The United States had already invented the atomic bomb, and wanted to create a hydrogen bomb. The Soviets created their own as well, when the US heard this news the arms race began. -
Korean War
On June 25, 1950, North Koreans swept across the 38th parallel in a surprise attack on South Korea. A total of 15 nations, including the United States and Britain, participated under the command of General Douglas MacArthur in order to take back their land. After the war, Korea remained divided. A demilitarized zone, which still exists, separated the two countries. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The failed Bay of Pigs invasion convinced Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that the United States would not resist Soviet expansion in Latin America. So, in July 1962, Khrushchev secretly began to build 42 missile sites in Cuba. In October, an American spy plane discovered the sites. President John F. Kennedy declared that missiles so close to the U.S. mainland were a threat. -
Fall of The Great Wall
While Poland and Hungary were moving toward reform, East Germany’s 77-year-old party boss, Erich Honecker, dismissed reforms as unnecessary. In response, the East German government closed its borders entirely. In June 1987, President Reagan had stood before the Berlin Wall and demanded: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Two years later, the wall was indeed about to come down. -
Fall of Soviet Union
In December of 1991, as the world watched in amazement, the Soviet Union disintegrated into fifteen separate countries. Its collapse was hailed by the west as a victory for freedom, a triumph of democracy over totalitarianism, and evidence of the superiority of capitalism over socialism. The United States rejoiced as its formidable enemy was brought to its knees, thereby ending the Cold War.
