-
Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh was a Viatnamese communist revolutionary leader who was Prime Minister and President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He was a key figure in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945. He died on September 2nd, 1969. -
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev was born on the 19th of December in 1906. He was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Comunist Party of the Soviet Union, presiding over the country from 1964 until he died in 1982.
His tenure as leader had been criticized for marking the beginning of the economic stagnation, which led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. -
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from April of 1922 until his death in 1953. Stalin was appointed General Secretary of the Central Committee in 1922.
Stalin changed many things of how the Soviet Union was set up, and was also responible for millions of deaths of his own people. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
While at Moscow State University, Mikhail joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1970, he was appointed the First Party Secretary of the Stavropol Kaikom. Then, he was President of the Soviet Union from March 15, 1990 until December 25, 1991.
Mikhail Gorbavech was significant because he came at a time when the USSR and the US were in the midst of a Cold War. Had it not been for his policies, thawing of the countries' relations may not have taken place. -
Iron Curtain
The iron curtain was symbolic of the conflict that was going on that divided Europe into two separate parts from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to the Soviet Union, and on the other side, they formed their own economic and military alliances.The Iron Curtain physically took the form of border defenses between the countries of Europe in the middle of the continent. -
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims include promoting and facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, political freedoms, democracy, and the achievement of lasting world peace. -
Explosion of the First Hydrogen Bomb
The first hydrogen bomb was dropped in Hiroshima on the 6th of August, followed by another bomb three days later in Nagasaki. Combined, these bombings killed over 200,000 people, most of whom were civilians.
Essentially, the bombings ended World War II. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctorine was an international relations policy set forth by President Harry Truman. The Doctrine stated that the US would support Greece and Turkey with economic as well as military aid. Historians often consider the Truman Doctrine to be the start of the Cold War. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (also known as the European Recovery Program) was the American program to aid Europe. The Marshall Plan was created so the United States could give economic support to Europe as well as rebuilding their economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spred of Communism. The goals of the United States included rebuilding a war-devestated region, moving trade barriers, madernizing industry, and lastly making Europe prosperous again. -
European Economic Cooperation
The Organisation for European Economic Co-Operation emerged from the Marshall Plan and the conference of sixteen, which sought to establish a permanent organisation to continue work on a joint recovery program and supervise the distibution of aid.
Ran the U.S.--financed Marshall Plan for reconstruction of a cotinent ravaged by war. -
Berlin Airlift
The Soviet Union attempted to control all of Berlin by cutting surface traffic to West Berlin. They starved the population, and cut off the businesses. The Truman administration reacted with a daily airlift that provided much needed food for the people in West Berlin.
The significance of the Berlin Airlift was that the Allies were still able to get food to the people in West Berlin, even though the Soviet Union tried to block them out. Went on until May 12th. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also known as NATO, was an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on the 4th of April, in 1949. NATO's headquarters were in Belgium, one of the 28 member states. NATO did many things to help out military operations that were going on around them including things with Afghanistan and Iraq. -
People's Republic of China
On October 1st in 1949, the People's Republic of China was formally estabished in Bejing. The people were known as an affiliation of four different social classes: the workers,the peasants,the petite bourgeoisie, and the national-capitalists. The four classes were led by the CCP.
The PRC replaced the Republic of China, and was very powerful. -
Korean War
The Korean was was a war between South Korea, allied with the United Nations, and North Korea, allied with the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. The war was mainly the result of the split of Korea.
The Korean War served as an indirect war between Russia and the US, though Korea. -
Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev was born on April 15th, 1894, in Russia. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 until 1964, and served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964.
Most of Krushchev's ideas and things he had worked to while he had power were dropped not long after someone took over his positions. -
KGB
The KGB, also known as the Committee for State security, was formed on the 13th of March in 1954. This was the main security system for the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. The KGB had also been considered a military service and was governed by army laws and regulations.
The KGB was one of the most powerful organizations in the Soviet Union. -
Geneva Accords
The Geneva Conference took place started on the 26th of April and ended on July 20th. The purpose of this conference was to try to unify Vietnam as well as discussing the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina. The conference produced many different Geneva Accords. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a mutual defense treaty between eight communist states of Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War. The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, the regional economic organization for the communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact was in part a Soviet military reaction to the integration of West Germany in NATO in 1955, per the Paris Pacts of 1954. -
Vietnam
Vietnam, officialy called the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that ocurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1 to the fall of Saigon on the 30th of April in 1975. The results of the war include a withdrawl of American forces from Indochina, communist governments taking power in South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and South Vietnam was annexed by North Vietnam. -
Suez Canal/Nasser
The Suez Crisis was a diplomatic and military confrontation between Egypt on one side, and Britain, France and Israel, with the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Nations playing major roles in forcing Britain, France and Israel to withdraw. Egypt and the Soviet Union had political victory. -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satelite, created by the Soviets. The Soviet launched Sputnik on the 4th of October in 1957. It was visible all around the Earth.
Sputnik provided scientists with valuable information. The propogation of its radio signals gave information about its ionosphere. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a key focus in the Cold War tensions. The city had been split into East & West Berlin, and East Germany built a wall that sealed off West Berlin.
The significance of the wall was to keep West Berlin isolated and away from East Berlin. Also, the wall made sure that the workers had to be forcible kept from fleeing. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis - also known as the October Crisis - was with the U.S. on one side, against the S.U. and Cuba. This crisis is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War was closest to turning into a nuclear conflict.
The Cuban Missile Crisis is the first documented instance of the threat of mutual assured destruction being discussed as a determining factor in a major arms agreement, -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a military campaign during the Vietnam War that was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnam against South Vietnam, the United States and their allies. The operations are referred to as the Tet Offensive because there was a prior agreement to "cease fire" during the Tet Lunar New Year celebrations. US and South Vietnames victory. -
Helsinki Accords
The Helsinki Accords was the final act of the Conference on security and co-operation in Erurope. It was held in Helsinki, Finland. 33 states signed the declaration in attempt to improve relations between the Communist block and the West.
The document was seen as a significant step into reducing Cold war tensions, as well as a major diplomatic boost for the Soviet Union. -
Iranian Hostage Crisis
The Iranian Hostage Crisis was a democratic crisis between the US and Iran. 52 Americans were held hostage in Iran for 444 days. They were released on January 20th, 1981 after being held hostage for all that time. The hostages were flown to Algeria as a symbolic gesture for the help of that government in resloving the crisis. -
Russian Invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviet War in Afghanistan lasted for nine years, from December of 1979 to February of 1989. It was part of the Cold War and was fought between the Soviet-led Afghans who were against the Mujahideen's. The war resulted in millions of Afghans fleeing the country; most of whom went to Pakistan and Iran. The war in Afghanistan is sometimes known as the Bear Trap, or the Soviet's Vietnam War. The result of the war was the Geneva Accords. -
Moscow Olympics
The Olympic Games of 1980 were held in Moscow, in the Soviet Union. This year was the first year for the Olympics to be held in the Eastern part of Europe. First the US, then 65 other nations boycotted the Olympics because of the Soviet War that had been going on in Afghanistan. The closing ceremony occured on August 3rd. -
Chernobyl Disaster
In the Ukrainian SSR, now known as the Ukraine, on April 16th, 1982, an explosion and fire released large amounts of radioactive particles, which spread over most of the USSR as well as Europe.
Considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. The official Soviet count of casualties is 31 deaths along with many other long term conditions such as cancer and deformities also took place. -
Los Angeles Olympics
The summer Olympics in Los Angeles started on the 28th of July in 1984. There were 140 nations that participated in these Olympics. This was the second time that the summer Olympics had been held in Los Angeles, California. The closing ceremonies were on August 12th.
Due to the boycotting in the previous Olympic games, many nations decided not to show up to the LA Olympics. Nations including the Soviet Union, Cuba, and East Germany. -
Perestroika and Glasnost
Perestroika nad Glasnost were political movements for reformation within the Communist Part of the Soviet Union. Perestroika was widely associated the a leader of the Soviet Union named Mikhail Gorbavech and his glasnost policy reform. The meaning of Perestroika is restructuring.
Argued to be the cause of dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Revolution of 1989, and the end of the Cold War. -
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace). Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world. In other places, the square is known for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, which was a pro-democracy movement which ended on the 4th of June in 1989 with the declaration of martial law in Beijing by the government and the death of several hundred or possibly thousands of civilians. -
Berlin Wall Torn Down
People from all over came to the Berlin War, and beat the wall with sledgehammers and other devices to help bring down the wall. It took weeks to get the wall come down completely.
The wall being torn down symbolized an increase of freedom. -
Boris Yeltsin
On May 29th in 1990, Boris Yeltsin was elected chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet. Then, in 1991, he was elected by popular vote to the newly created post of President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Boris Yeltsin governed the transition of Russia from the fall of the USSR, and into the modernized country it is today, -
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa was a Polish polititian, trade-union organizer, as well as a human rights activist. He co-founded solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize, and also served as President of Poland between the year 1990-1995. However, before he was president, in 1980, was when he started to work within the government, and founding the first independent trade union. -
End of the USSR
The USSR was formally dissolved on December 16th, 1991, by declaration of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviets of the Soviet Union. This declaration made a total of 12 different countries independent, that were formerly part of the USSR.
The significance of the fall of the USSR was creating more countries, and powers in Central Asia. -
Putin
Vladimir is a Russian politician that has been president since May 7, 2012. Before that, however, he was President from 2000 to 2008, and before that he was Prime Minister from 1999-2000. In July 1998, he was Director of the Federal Security System.
Putin created the six year term for Presidents of Russia.
