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The Yalta Conference
Stalin promises that Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania would have representation and elections, but did not uphold the deal. Stalin also agrees to join the US against Japan. -
Marshall Plan
Secretary of State George Marshall met with the Soviet Unions and other European countries to offer them financial aid if they would change their political practices. The plan was incredibly successful and communist parties lost their drive in countries like Italy and France. -
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Anti-Red Witchhunt
Americans continued to fear communists, so Truman launched a loyalty program that would investigate various organizations and employees. 3,000 federal employees lost their jobs, and 11 communists were sent to jail. -
Truman Doctrine
Harry S Truman asked Congress to grant him money to help Greece and Turkey, claiming that America must help the free people who are facing communist rule. -
The Iron Curtain
The Soviets are nervous that Germany will be reunited, so they cut off all access to Berlin, believing it will starve the Allied powers out of the Soviet Union -
The Berlin Airlift
American airplanes transport supplies to the citizens of Berlin. This led to Stalin lifting the Iron Curtain blockade the following year, ending the airlift in May 1949. -
NATO
The Senate passes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This became the basis for foreign policies during the Cold War. NATO was created to keep Russians (communists) away from other countries, keep Germany quiet, and keep America out of trouble. This was later copied by the Soviet Union in their Warsaw Pact. -
China Becomes Communist
Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong overthrew the Chinese government and declared China communist. This terrified the American government, furthering the second Red Scare. -
The Korean War
Began when Truman ordered troops and the navy to support South Korea. China ended up getting involved, trying to protect their country. MacArthur was the officer in charge of American troops and fought close to the 38th parallel. Truman ended up removing MacArthur when he started to publicly criticize Truman's ideologies, -
The 38th Parallel Incident
The two Korea's were bitter towards one another, and when military forces crossed the 38th parallel into their enemy territory, they were pushed even farther south. This made Truman really angry because he thought it was a push from Stalin to turn South Korea communist. Truman ended up building up his army in preparation to support South Korea against communism. -
Eisenhower Elected
Republican candidate Eisenhower and Democratic nominee Richard Nixon went head and head against each other in the 1952 presidential election. Eisenhower won due to his promise to personally visit Korea and end the Korean war. -
Joe Stalin Dies
Joseph Stalin dies and leaves the Soviet Union in the hands of Nikita and Georgi, who continued the communist political system. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
An important French guy was trapped in a fortress in Vietnam and a bunch of important people had to help him get out of the fortress, but Eisenhower stayed out of it. This battle was a victory for the nationalists, woot woot. -
Suez Crisis
America and England offered to help the president of Egypt build a dam, but quickly withdrew their offer when he started talking to communist parties (sounds like a sassy ex girlfriend to me). France and Britain then decided to attack Egypt, creating the actual crisis. Countries in the Middle East formed the OPEC. -
Sputnik
The Soviet Union launches two aircrafts into space. This makes Americans feel bad and weak in comparison. It also makes them nervous that the Soviet Union is going to attack them because if they could launch something into space, surely they could launch something into their country. -
the Paris Summit Conference (fail)
A conference between Eisenhower and the Russian leader was supposed to occur in Paris, but it ended up being a huge flop. The Soviets shot down an American spy plane in Russia. This made the Soviets really angry and honestly that whole conference just became a mess. -
JFK becomes the hottest president in US history
JFK and Richard Nixon go against each other for the 1960 presidential election. This election had the first television cast debates and because JFK was so cute and charming, he ended up being elected. -
JFK establishes the Peace Corps
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." The Peace Corps was a group of young volunteers that would help underdeveloped countries. This was part of Kennedy's New Frontier plan. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The CIA decides to invade Cuba at their Bay of Pigs. JFK led the invasion because he wanted to get Fidel Castro out of power. However, this ended up being the final push for Castro to become communist and the whole scheme was deemed a failure. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
America learned that the Soviet Union was sending missiles to Cuba. In October, there were reports of a launching site for the missiles, terrifying Americans. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade around the island to prevent the Soviet Union from sending any more weapons.The two leaders ended up reaching a compromise where Kennedy promised to never invade Cuba and Nikita promised to take the missiles back out of Cuba. -
Richard Nixon is Elected
Richard Nixon had a more diplomatic approach to the Cold War. He wanted to establish relationships between countries again, so he recognized the communist government in China and relaxed the tensions between the Soviet Union and the US. He also signed an agreement with Russia so they both stopped making nuclear weapons. -
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords brought an end to the fighting in Vietnam. The United States agreed to withdraw their troops and army bases and Vietnam agreed to release all US prisoners of war. This also established the 17th parallel division between North and South Vietnam. -
Soviet Union invades Afghanistan
The Afghanistan government was overthrown by two communist organizations, who quickly established a relationship with the Soviet Union. However, some uprisings against the new communist government caused the Soviet Union to step in and invade the country. Personally, it is important to note that Muslims around the world stepped in to help America. The Soviets eventually agreed to withdraw their troops in February, 1989. -
Reagan is President
Reagan wanted to heat up the Cold War lol. He established the Reagan Doctrine and provided financial and military aid to non-communist countries.Reagan mainly focused on stopping the spread of communism to Latin America. -
just for fun: first woman supreme justice!
Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed to the supreme court, making her the first woman justice! She served from 1981-2006. She was nominated by Ronald Reagan. -
The Soviet Union Dissolves
States began declaring independence from Russia. The Russian president resigned and Boris Yelton took his place. -
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall stood to separate the democratic and socialist states of East and West Germany. The wall metaphorically fell when the head of the communist party in East Germany declared that his people would be free to enter West Berlin. The wall was eventually destroyed by people with hammers and heavy machinery.
