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There Can Be Only Two
After the shock to the global system that was World War 2, the world transitioned from a model of "great powers" to one of two superpowers. Germany, having lost the war, was obviously down for the count, and France and Britain had been economically ruined by fighting. Only the capitalist United States and communist Soviet Union were left standing as power players on the global stage. Stay tuned... -
In Soviet Russia, Army Fight You
The Soviet Union, meanwhile, wasn't so well off, but it was definitely in the game.
It was devastated by fighting and forced to rebuild its economy and military, but in a situation like that, authoritarianism can be helpful. Stalin wasn't stalin' on anything. He took advantage of the crisis to tighten his control over every facet of society, focusing especially on discipline and conformity. When that worked at home, he started instalin' puppet governments just like his in satellite states. -
Hi MTV, I'm America. Welcome To My Crib.
So what was the big deal about either of these countries that they came out the winners?
The United States benefited greatly by being physically removed from the war's hellish European theatre. It was now the only major Western country with preserved and sophisticated infrastructure, large cities, etc. The war efforts helped revive its economy from the Great Depression, and their efforts IN the war won both the European and Pacific theatres. America was feeling pretty hot. -
Establishment of the United Nations
On this day in 1945, the United Nations was created with 51 members, as a more powerful and effective successor to the League of Nations. -
Dollars and Dominoes
Post-WW2, America felt it was the greatest power in the world, and that it had a responsibility to fix what Europe had messed up. This translated into lots of IMPERIALISM, especially the economically-enforced "dollar imperalism".
The Soviet Union, meanwhile, was spreading influence of its own, to the formerly fascist and war-ravaged countries of Eastern Europe. Stalin set about setting up satellite governments pressing further west, giving berth to the term "domino theory". -
Truman Doctrine
Alarmed by this spread of communism in Europe, and eager to divide the world into communist and non-communist, US President Harry Truman declared the Truman Doctrine: an official declaration that "totalitarian regimes imposed upon free peoples undermine the security of the United States". Free peoples meaning non-communist. Welp. -
Marshall Plan
After the declaration of the Truman Doctrine, it became obvious that simple loans could not rebuild the destroyed nations of Western Europe, and a new plan was devised. Under the Marshall Plan, sufficient aid was given to European countries to allow them to rebuild completely in a few short years AND balance their budgets at the same time.
The largest motive for the US was to stop the spread of communism, which thrives in conditions of deprivation, to Western Europe. The USSR wasn't happy. -
The CIA Is Born
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Israel Is Just Kinda Here Now
After the Holocaust, European Jews were antsy to get to the "homeland" Britain had promised them in 1917. That homeland, however, Palestine, was already occupied by Arabs, who hated Jews, and vice versa. This will go just swimmingly! It did just that after the state of Israel was proclaimed in 1948, leading to war. And it still is, to this day. This region has been the focus of countless wars and conflicts, and it's questionable whether that will ever change. -
Berlin Blockade
The USSR is getting pissy and outgoing. Since West Berlin was surrounded by East Germany, under Soviet influence, the Soviets responded to the West's introduction of the new Deutsche mark by cutting off all road, railway and canal access into West Berlin. This effort to strongarm the West ultimately failed when the Western powers simply airlifted food, supplies, etc. into Berlin. After about 15 months, the Soviets realized it wasn't working and officially split Berlin into two separate gov'ts. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed in April 1947 for the purposes of collective defence against mainly non-Western aggressors (e.g. the USSR). It originally consisted of Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France. Canada, the USA, Portugal, Italy, Iceland, Denmark and Norway later signed on as well. -
Two Germanies
In 1948, the French-occupied zone of Germany joined the existing Bizonia (American and British zones) to form Trizonia, which would eventually become the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany. The Soviet sector would remain one unit, as the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. -
Chairman Meow!
On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was established after a long and bloody 22-year civil war between the Communist and Nationalist factions. The Communists under Mao Zedong won. The transition was like butter, thanks to the Mandate of Heaven doctrine that decreed that rulers had the right to rule because they did (essentially). The new regime soon implemented Leninist control and Five Year Plans. Many domestic snafus followed in the coming decades (100 Flowers, Great Leap, etc.) -
Alger Hissy Fit
Just when tensions with the Soviet Union were growing in the United States, and public opinion was turning decisively against the communists, Richard Nixon found that high-ranking government official Alger Hiss was actually a Soviet spy. Hiss was convicted and found guilty of perjury. This kicked off a larger Red Scare among ordinary Americans. -
Korean War
Korea was liberated from Japanese rule and divided into North and South in 1945. The USSR swiftly supported the communist regime of Kim Il-sung in North Korea, while the USA supported Syngman Rhee as president of the Republic of Korea (South). Military testing soon boiled over, and the North Korean People's Army invaded South Korea in June 1950.
This is a significant war because it marked the first major USSR-US confrontation. -
Stalin Stops Stallin' And Meets His Heavenly Father
In the spring of 1953, Stalin died of a massive stroke - officially. Some think he was poisoned. It's possible. Some think Elvis is still alive. It's possible. But anyway, the Soviets need a new leader. Meet Malenkov, and then, more significantly, Khrushchev! (sorry, Malenkov) -
The KGB Is Born
After the establishment of the CIA, the Soviet Union obviously needed their own counterpart! So they brought in the Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti. KGB for short. Its job was to find intelligence and transmit it back to Moscow, doing this through a myriad of terrifying ways. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet equivalent to NATO? The Warsaw Pact! WarPac for short. Cute nickname!
Signed in Warsaw, of all places, in May 1955, it was a mutual defense pact between the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Albania. -
Suez Cry-sis
The Suez Canal is important. It's the only way ships can get from Europe to Asia without sailing ALL THE WAY AROUND AFRICA. So if one country nationalizes it, that's a problem. That's exactly what Egyptian president Nasser did in 1956. This scared Israel, and Israel attacked Egypt in the fall of 1956. Britain and France, angry about the whole thing, demanded control of the situation. Refused this by Egypt, they invaded anyway. They only backed off when the US threatened to cut off their oil. Fun -
$ino-$oviet $plit
Thanks to a power struggle reminiscent of high schoolers, the PRC and USSR soon fell out of friendly relations. China wanted to be the USSR's equal in communist influence in Asia, and the USSR wasn't down with that. China was also unhappy with the lack of Soviet aid in the Korean War, and was offended by Krushchev and his talk of "two superpowers", excluding them. This culminated in China developing an A-bomb and N-bomb without Soviet help or knowledge. -
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS!! The Baddest One, Part One
A doozy.
So Cuba was pretty much allied with the US thanks to the sugar crop until 1959, when a revolution overthrew their preferred leader Fulgencio Batista in favor of the communist Fidel Castro. The US broke relations over this, and the USSR swooped in. After a failed invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, the USSR began to install missiles in Cuba, using fear of a US invasion as its excuse. Stay tuned... -
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS!! The Baddest One, Part 2
When Kennedy came to a decision in the fall of 1962, he introduced a "naval quarantine" around Cuba. He told the world, and made it clear the missiles had to be removed. After all, almost all the lower 48 states could have been hit by nukes from Cuba. Krushchev responded by declaring that "this could have devastating implications for world peace". With Soviet ships dared not to sail towards Cuba but doing so anyway, nuclear war looked imminent. Until the Soviets turned back. Phew! -
RIPJFK
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. This would receive much more analysis and summary if this were a US History class, but it essentially led to Lyndon Johnson assuming the presidency and the nation mourning, losing much of its postwar innocence.