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Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was a meeting of British prime minister Churchill, Soviet premier Stalin, and President Roosevelt early in February 1945 as World War II was winding down. Stalin agreed to permit free elections in EE. However, later, Stalin broke his promise of free elections in Eastern Europe and installed governments dominated by the Soviet Union. -
Hiroshima
The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. This bomb killed over 80,000 people and it shocked the whole world with the power it had in such a small package. -
Communism and Capitalism Incompatible
Stalin suggests that communism and capitalism were incompatible. Incompatible means two things that are incapable of existing together. Communism is the economic and social system in which all (or nearly all) property and resources are collectively owned by a classless society and not by individual citizens. Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Churchill began by praising the United States, which he declared stood “at the pinnacle of world power.” It soon became clear that a primary purpose of his talk was to argue for an even closer “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain in organizing and policing the postwar world. In particular, he warned against the expansionist policies of the Soviet Union. -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman announces the Truman Doctrine, informing Congress, "I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."
subjugation- the action of bringing someone or something under domination or control -
National Security Act
President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act, which becomes one of the most important pieces of Cold War legislation. The act established much of the bureaucratic framework for foreign policy making for the next 40-plus years of the Cold War. It created a civilian Secretary of Defense, a National Security Council, and a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
image- President Truman at desk in oval office signing the act. -
Marshall Plan
On April 3, 1948, President Truman signed the Economic Recovery Act of 1948. It became known as the Marshall Plan, named for Secretary of State George Marshall, who in 1947 proposed that the United States provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe. -
Berlin Blockade
West Berlin, democratic side of the town- Stalin cut off all railway and roads to try to “suffocate west Germany.” He wanted to test the West to see if they would go to war with them. In response to this, the western allies organized the Berlin Airlift, which carried supplies to the people of West Berlin.
Berlin Airlift -
NATO pact signed
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was the military alliance formed between 26 nations to enforce the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949. NATO was originally formed to halt the spread of communism, but it has grown since then to provide defense from external threats -
Russia Tested First Atomic Bomb
The Soviet Union exploded its first nuclear bomb at its testing range on the Kazakhstan steppe. Many historians considered the test the beginning of the nuclear arms race. It came as a great shock to the US because they were not expecting the Soviet Union to have knowledge of a nuclear weapon so soon.
