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The Russian Revolution
This was when a Russian party, known as the Bolsheviks, revolted against their Emperor, Czar Nicholas II, on January 22 of 1905 after Russian troops fired upon a defensless crowd of civilians led by a priest. The Bolsheviks were led by Vladimir Lenin, who eventually succeeded in overthrowing the Czar on March 2nd, 1917. The Bolsheviks were opposed by the Mensheviks for 3 years. The Bolsheviks, after 3 years of a civil war, finally solidified their power in 1920. -
The Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was a meeting between the United States President, Harry Truman, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin on July 2nd of 1945. The goal of said conference was to hopefully find peace among nations, and to set ground rules to further keep that peace. -
The Atomic Bombs
The year was 1945, and Japan was on it's last legs. The Japanese Emperor was offered multiple times by America to stand down and accept an unconditional surrender, an amazing offer especially after all that Japan had done. Due to their denial of our proposal, President Harry Truman had one of three choices on how to deal with Japan. In the end, Truman decided to drop their most confidential weapon on Japan. "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" were the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. -
The Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was a term used after Stalin had taken control of most East Germany. Such countries included Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia. He used these countries to create his Soviet Sphere of Influence. -
Molotov Plan
After the soviets had rejected the Marshall Plan, Vyacheslav Molotov. had proposed to their controlled countries the Molotov Plan. The plan was an offer of financial aid specifically to all the countries within their influence. -
The Truman Doctrine
On March 2nd, 1947, American President Harry Truman created and passed the Truman Doctrine. This doctrine was offered by Harry Truman to Congress, asking for permission to financially aid all countries threatened by the Soviet Union's communism, at the time. He successfully helped many countries with his Marshall Plan thereafter. Some of the said countries included the following: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, West Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, ect. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an offer made by the Americans, to send financial aid to the European countries that were effected by the war. The only condition for the Eastern European countries was that they leave the Soviet's sphere of influence. Many Western European countries agreed, but unfortunately not many Eastern European countries that were controlled by the Soviet Union accepted, including Soviet Russia itself. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was when the Soviet Union decided to cut off all railway, canal and road access to East Germany from the western powers from 1948 to 1949. The reasoning for the blockade was due to the Soviet's animosity towards the Western allies for wanting to build Germany back up, as opposed to the Soviet's plan to keep Germany on it's back so there would be no more resistance from the German civilians. Eventually the western powers aided civilians by air, causing the wall to fail in 1949 -
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed in response to the Soviet Union capturing all it's surrounding countries in an attempt at a defense against all and any attacks made towards them. Originally, the United States formed the alliance with all the following countries in 1949: Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Iceland, Luxembourg, Canada, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Portugal. The main goal of NATO was to support each other in defending themselves against, and isolating, the Soviets. -
The Soviet Bombing Tests
From 1940 to 1949, Russian and German scientists worked on the secretive development of their very own atomic weapon. Because the Soviets had learned of the atomic bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Stalin pushed aggressively to finish the production on their first atomic bomb, the "First Lightning". They successfully tested the bomb in Kazakhstan on August 29, 1949. -
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was an aid toward the German people of Berlin in an attempt to get them the food and other necessities after the Soviets cut off all road, canal and railway access from the Western Allies. This airlift lasted until the May of 1949, when the Soviet Union finally lifted the blockade.
