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The Russian Revolution (1917)
The Russian Revolution began in 1917, the people of Russia over threw and dismantled the Tsar autocracy and began forming the new Soviet Union. The time of extreme communism in the Soviet Union then began. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the boarder along with all of the territory the Soviet Union had taken over after World War 2.The Soviet communists blocked off it's newly obtained European states from the Western democracies.The Soviet Union didn't only want control over the states for power but also to expand it's borders further from Russia's homeland.This is so if they are attacked by western powers their enemy would have to get through the new states first before reaching mainland Russia. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam conference was a meeting between U.S. president Harry S. Truman, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Communist Russia leader Joseph Stalin. They met in Germany to decide how to administer Germany after World War Two. -
Atomic Bomb- Hiroshima, Nagasaki
Towards the end of World War Two, the U.S. used two atomic bombs on Japan. One dropped in Hiroshima, the other in Nagasaki, two large Japanese cities. They killed some 129,000 to 226,000 people, and the majority were civilians. This ended the battle between the U.S. and Japan and has been the only time in world history that nuclear weapons have been used in war. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a U.S. foreign policy introduced by president Harry S. Truman. The doctrine was carried by the idea of president Truman that the expansion of the Soviet Union and spread of communism needed to be stopped. It also gave American aid, financial and military, to countries who were threatened by the Soviet Union. -
Hollywood 10
In 1947 ten men were accused and cited for contempt of congress and were then blacklisted in U.S. politics after refusing to be questioned about their alleged involvement in the communist party. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
This was one of the first events that sparked the Cold War. From 1948 to 1949 the Soviet Union blocked off all road, railway, and canal access to Berlin from the Western Powers. The Airlift was a resulting action from the western powers. The U.S. air force along with the Royal and French air force, flew over and dropped supplies into Western Germany. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was meant to aid Western Europe after World War Two. The U.S. gave nearly $100 billion to Western European allies in hopes to rebuild war torn countries and strengthen their economies and industry. But the Marshall Plan was also meant to help prevent the spread of communism. -
Soviet Bomb Test
On August 29, 1949 the Soviet Union secretly held it's first successful nuclear weapon test. The Soviet Union suspected the allies had some kind of super weapon they were developing during WW2 and had already been researching nuclear bombs. But when the U.S. used the atomic bomb in Japan the Soviet Union sped up and put all focus and efforts into forming their own nuclear arsenal. -
NATO
NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance treaty that involves 29 countries, North American and European. The treaty created a system of collective defense in which the independent member states agree to mutual defenses to respond on an attack by another party or enemy nation. -
Korean War
The Korean War began on June 25, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. There had always been tensions caused mostly by the American, Soviet Cold War. Korea split into two sovereigns. North, taken under communist influences, and South, adopted Western government. -
Khrushchev Takes Over
Khrushchev took power of the Soviet Union in 1953 after Stalin's death. He meant to strengthen the Soviet economy and industry and help the people greater their lives. He de-stalinized the Soviet Union as well as backed off their major dedication to nuclear weapons and space programs. -
Eisenhower's Massive Retaliation Policy
The Massive Retaliation Policy was similar to the NATO treaty. It swore nations to retaliate against an enemy that puts an allied country under attack. -
Army- McCarthy Hearings
In 1954 the United States senate held hearings against accusations between U.S. army and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. It was believed that the Chief Committee Counsel Roy Cohn pressured the army to give preferential aid to one of Cohn's friends. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland in 1955 between the Soviet Union and seven Soviet states in Eastern and Central Europe. The Soviet treaty was a response to the Western allies collective defense NATO treaty. -
The Vietnam War
Vietnam was another war caused by communism vs democracy. North Vietnam was influenced and supported by the Soviet Union while the South was supported by the U.S. and several other anti-communist countries. The war was fought in Vietnam and lasted for roughly 20 years. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution was a nationwide revolt against the Soviet Communist influenced government in Hungary. Protest and revolts were held strongly throughout the country and were supported by the Western powers. The government soon collapsed and militias quickly formed to fight the Soviet and pro communists in Hungary. -
U2 Incident
On May 1, 1960 a U.S. U-2 spy plane was shot down in Soviet territories. The plane was taking aerial photographs of Soviet Union bases, it was shot down and crashed in Soviet territory. The pilot was captured and held in Soviet captivity for two years. The event embarrassed America and caused even higher tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. -
Berlin wall
The Berlin wall was a physical barrier splitting east and west Germany. The wall was put up to make sure the Western capital/ democratic influenced people of Germany could not come into the communist controlled Eastern Germany. And vise versa, The Soviet Union did not want people leaving and giving into the Western ways. -
Bay of pigs Invasion
In 1961 the CIA founded an invasion of Cuba to try and overthrow the growing communist government. The attack failed and Cuba continued to grow more powerful and dangerous. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1962 the Soviet Union armed Cuba with nuclear missiles. The U.S. already had missiles in Turkey and Italy which caused a big concern that led to the conflict. The event was the closest the world has ever been to nuclear war. -
Detente Under Nixon
The detente of Nixon was a time when the U.S. and Soviet Unions tensions were at their lowest during the cold war. New relations and cooperation between the two nations widened and strengthened. -
The Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine was a strategy organized and implemented by the U.S. under the Reagan administration to end the cold war. The doctrine pushed aid and support to nations or groups who are anti-communist. The U.S. used strategies like this to push back and weaken the spread of communism. -
Reagan's Berlin Wall speech
U.S. President Reagan held a persuasive speech in front of the Berlin wall trying to push the Soviet Union to bring down the wall. Reagan wanted the wall taken down to reunite Germany and end the segregation between communism and democratic influenced people. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
In 1989 the Hungarian government began taking down the barbed wire on top of the Berlin Wall. This then led to chains of Eastern Germans escaping and spreading to West Germany. Eventually in November of 1989 the wall was officially under construction and was taken down.
