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Yalta Conference
The "Big Three", Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill met to determine Germany's status after World War II. The Soviet Union takes control of most of Eastern Europe. Germnay is then split into four zones, where free elections were taken placed. This was significant because it was the conclusion of World War II, and liberated Germany. Soviet Union has control of Eastern Europe. The Cold War Begins -
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The Cold War
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Potsdam Conference
Harry S. Truman became president of the U.S. after FDR's death. The Big Three met again to announce the official Reconstruction of Europe. The division of Berlin was also decided, and the Nuremberg Trials are started against Nazi war criminals. Truman also informs Stalin of the U.S.'s nuclear weapons. The Potsdam Conference is important because it decided Europe's fate, and also started tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. -
Marshall Plan
Secretary of State, George Marshall came up with a formal plan for the recovery of Europe. Sixteen nations, including Germany, adopted the plan. The Economic Cooperation Administration of the United States gave European nations aroud $13 billion in aid. The supplies varied from food, water, fuel, and machinery. The plan ended in 1951. -
Berlin Blockade/Airlift (June 1948- May 1949)
The Soviet Union only wanted power. Stalin wanted full control over Germany, but since the country had been split into four parts, it was not likely to happen. As the capital of Germany, Berlin was a high tension zone.The Soviet Union decided to they were going to put up a blockade, and not allow anything or anyone to go in or out of West Berlin. The U.S. decided something needed to be done, so they sent out airlifts. President Truman had airplanes drop packages for the West Berliners. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was formed in a respose to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO was an intergovermental military alliance that stated if any of its members were attacked, all the other countries would support them; consisted of the U.S. and several other European countries. The Soviet Union along with other Easter European countries established the Warsaw Pact which basically stated
the same thing, but was formed to retaliate against the U.S. This showed Stalin wanted to superior -
Space Race (1955-1972)
The Space Race spanned over several years, and was a competition between the United States and Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was the first to put satellites in space; Sputnik I. The U.S. wanted to lead the Space Race, and announced their ambitions in putting the first man on the moon. The countries went back and forth, this was significant because of the tension between the two countries. Both parties wanted to come out on top. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union had been secretly building nuclear weapons. The U.S. had also announced their progression in making nuclear weapons. WIth the increasing tension, the Soviet Union moved several nuclear missiles to Cuba, an neighboring country close to Florida. This outraged Kennedy because the Soviet Union was not going to back off. Kennedy then decided to perform a naval bloackade in hopes of stopping Kruschev. A few days went by until Kruschev removed the missiles from Cuba. This was extremely -
Tet Offensive
Tet Offensive was named after Tet (Vietnamese New Year). During this time there was a war between North and South Vietnam. The U.S. was helping South Vietnam from Communist North Vietnam. North Vietnam had planned over 100 attacks over South Vietnam, hoping they would rebel and make the U.S. stop supporting the South. Americans were outraged at the scale of this war, and were not happy at all the U.S. was involved. The Tet Offensive was the turning point of the war, and led the U.S. to withdraw, -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 was one of the U.S.'s greatest accomplishments. The United States was the first country to land a man on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the first steps on the moon, hence the phrase, "One small step for man, one giant leap for Mankind". -
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate Scandal was the most controversial scandal in U.S. politics. The scandal started with the break in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. What escalated the scandal was the fact that the Nixon adminstration covered it up. Political officials were suspicious of the act and wanted to know what had happened. The FBI started investigating, and the Sumpreme Court handled the case. There was enough evidence for Nixon to be impeached, but he resigned before that could happen. -
Iran Hostage Crisis (November 1979- January 1981)
The diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States was a terrifying situaiton. U.S. citizens were taken hostage, creating fear and uproar in the U.S. A group of Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding 52 hostages for 444 days. The hostage situation was due to the U.S.'s aid in the Shah's recovery. The Shah of Iran had committed many crimes to his people, and the people of Iran wanted to excute him. The Shah though, was in the U.S., this led to the hostage crisis. -
Berlin Wall Demolition
The Berlin WAll divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. The wall completey blocked off any access between West and East Berlin. Days before the destruction of the wall there had been mass protests. East Germany's Communist officials finally gave in and allowed the wall to be destroyed. East and West Berliners were ecstatic, and eagerly broke down the walls, leading to a reunited Berlin. This was significant in the fact the Communist rulers allowed the reunion between the divided cities. -
The End of the Cold War
The end of the Cold War started with the Berlin Wall coming down and the "Iron Curtain" being raised. The Soviet Union's economy started to plummet with all the expenditures of the Cold War. In a sense the Soviet Union had dissolved, which led to the creation of Russia. The U.S. came out on top, and had "won" the war. This was also the end to the communist reign of the Soviet Union.
