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Joseph Stalin
Stalin was the first leader of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin believed that he lost numerous lives of his people and because of that he wanted the ownership of European ountries. He allied with the United States and Bitain during World War II;however, right after the war he delared a second war (Cold War) against Truman as a result of a debate about the fate of Europe. -
President Harry Truman
Truman became the 33rd president after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He also served in World War 1. He wanted to end communism which is why he initiated the Cold war; furthermore, he established the Marshall Plan which gave economic recoverment to European countries. -
Cause of the War
It was the ending of World War 2 and there was still tension in the air between countries. Fear of communism, the United States started a war against the Soviet Union. Joseph Staalin and harry Truman were on a debate about the ownership of Poland after the Holocaust. The debated tensed and Truman revealed his secret of the atomic bomb which worsened the situation. -
Who was involved?
The United States was at war with the Soviet Union. The U.S feared that the Soviet Union would over power all of Eastern Europe and spread communisn over the country. THe U.S wanted to end the controling powers of the Soviet Union before it spred to the countries of Asia and Africa. -
The Red Scare
Due to the tension of the Cold War, there was a perceived threat posed by communists in the U.S. This led to deadly and dangerous actions that effected the U.S government and its society. The federal employees were evaluated to determine whether they were loyal to the government. This investigation led to the film industry of Hollywood and created fear and repression. This furthermore led to the ending of jobs of over 500 people. This led to mistrust of the government and its own people. -
Berlin Blockade
The United States and the European allies created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to ban the Soviet's presence in the European grounds. That same year the Soviet Union exploded the first atomic warhead. and unsuccessfully blockaded the Western-held sectors of West Berlin -
Asian Inclusion in War
Chinese communists gained their power over in mainland China. The Soviet allied with the communist government of North Korea, and they invaded the U.S who supportes South Korea. This brought on a larger dispute of the Korean War that lasted for years, until 1953. -
The Cold War influences the Korean War
During this time was when the military action took place. The Soviet Union invaded North Korea and backed them into their enemy, the south. Due to this, Truman decided to send the American military to Korea. This later on ended along with its war three years later (1953). -
Atomic Bombs
One of the reasons the Cold war broke out was because of the atomic bomb. Therefore, the Societ union and the United States began their extreme measures of creating the hydrogen bomb. THe first Hydrogen bomb testing was done in the Marshall Islands which created a 25-square mile fireball that vaporized the island/ It also made an enormous hole in the ocean floor and had the ability to destroy nearly half of Manhattan. These two countires later tested spewed poisonous radioactive waste. -
Atomic Bombs in the Real World
During the 1950s and 1960s there were various amouunts of bomb testing which frightened the citizens. People were forced to build bomb shelters in their backyards for the saftey of their children. Children had to go through practiced attack drills in their school and other public places. To make matters worse, there were films that were made popular that showed depictions of nuclear devastation and mutant creatures which brought fear to the people. -
Death of Joseph Stalin
During this year, Stalin's life reached its demise. Even though he was not longer living the war continued. That same year a unified military organization formed along the Soviet-bloc countries which was later called the Warsaw Pact. Going on from these events, West Germany was also admitted into NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization, who oppose the Soviet Union) -
Space Exploration
Another historical event occured dutinf the cold war times which was the launch of Sputnik. A Soviet R-7 launched it which was the first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be launched into the orbit of Earth. This brought tension to the U.S because they saw the great ower the Soviet Union had and their advancement on technology which brought fear. Therefore, the following year the U.S launched its own satellite as well, the Explorer 1. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The United States and the Soviet Union began making drastic measrue when they started to develop intercontinental ballistic missles. What the United Stated did not know was the the Soviet Union began discretly installing missiles in Cuba that were meant to use to launch nuclear bombs on the U.S cities. -
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was constructed as aseparation between the East and West side of Germany. The Soviet Union occupied the East side of the wall while the three allies, the United States, France, and Great Britain occupied the west. The allied forced successfully rebuilt the East part of Germany whereas the West dealt with a communist government. About four million germans moved to the West side of Germany because they did not want a communist government, in 1989 it was finally destroyed. -
Ending of Cold War
The Soviet Union was slowly dying. It started to develop severe economic problems and political ferment. Premier Mikhail Gorbachev took office in 1985. He established a compromise between itself and the rest of the world. Every communist state replaced it government to a non communist one. By the year 1991 the Soviet Union fell apart and the Cold War was over.
