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Yalta Conference
This was a meeting between the government officials of the U.S., U.K. and Soviet Union for the purpose of discussing Europe's post-war reorganization. It was the second of three conferences involvong the "Big Three". -
Postdam Conference
The Postdam conference participants were United States, Societ Union, and U.K. They came together to decide how to administer punishment to the defeated Nazi Germany, which had a surrender nine weeks earlier. The goals of the conference were to establish post-war order and peace treaties issues -
Truman Doctrine
This declared that Americans would resist Soviet expansion in Europe or elsewhere in the world. It was rooted in the idea of containment, limiting communism to the areas already under Soviet control. -
Marshall Plan
The marshall plan consisted of massive aid packages that were sent to help Europeans to help rebuild their countries. The U.S. sent food and also economic assistance. This reduced communist influence in Europe. -
Russian Blockade of Berlin
It was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control. Their aim was to force the western powers to allow the Soviets to supply Berlin with food and fuel, giving Soviets control of the city -
Berlin Airlift
Stalin tried to force the western allies out of Berlin by sealing off all railroads and highways into the western part of the city. -
Nuclear Arms Race
For four decades the superpowers spent enormous amounts of money to develop new, more deadly and conventional weapons. They mostly made bombs, missles, and new submarines that could cause mass destruction. The global balance of power became the global balance of terror. -
Korean War
It was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea where the U.S. and other U.N. countries fought alongside South Korea, while China fought with North Korea. The Korean war ended in a stalemate. -
Rosenberg Spy Case
Julius Rosenberg was a spy for the Soviet Union. Hoover, head of the FBI thought that the arrest of Rosenberg was great publicity for the FBI. Ethal Rosengberg, his wife, was also arrested. They refused to give any information on the spy ring. Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg remained on death row for twenty-six months. They both refused to confess and provide evidence against others and they were eventually executed on 19th June, 1953. -
Vietnam War
This war was fought between North Korea, supported by the commmunist allies, and South Korea, supported by the United States. The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their containment policy. It resulted in a North Vietnam and Viet Cong victory. -
Hungarian Uprising
It was a nationwide revolt against the Peoples Republic of Hungary and its policies. The Soviet Union invaded Hungary. The revolt spread quickly across Hungary and the government soon fell. Over 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were killed in the conflict, and 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees. -
U-2 Crisis
A U.S. U-2 spy plane was shot down over the sirspace of the Soviet Union. The United States government at first denied the plane's purpose and mission, but then was forced to admit it. The event was an embarassment to the United States and it ruined their relations with the Soviet union. -
Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs was an unsuccessful action by the U.S. They hoped to overthrow the Cuban government. The U.S. were defeated by the Cubans. -
Construction of the Berlin Wall
It was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. It consisted of guard towers on concrete walls. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
Fidel Castro believed that the U.S. were planning another attack on Cuba, so he asked for Soviet military aid. The U.S. learned that the soviets put nuclear missles in Cuba. It was settled and the soviets removed the missles and promised not to invade Cuba. -
Prague Spring
Dubcek was elected president of the communist party of Czechoslovakia. It was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. It was an attempt by Dubcek to grant additional rights to citizens. -
Tet Offensive
This was a suprise attack on U.S. military bases and more than 100 cities and towns in south vietnam. The Viet Cong smuggled weapons in vegetable trucks, food trucks, and even coffins into south Vietnamese cities. It was a defeat for the communist who gained no cities and lost 45,000 soldiers. -
Detente
American soviet leaders promoted an era of relaxation called dentente. It brought new agreements to reduce nuclear stockpiles. However, it faced a severe setback when the Soviet union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. -
Fall of South Vietnam
The Vietnam War ended with the South Vietnamese not being able to keep Vietnam from becoming a communist country. The North Vietnamese troops shortly occupied the important points within South Vietnam and even renamed their capital to Ho Chi Minh City. -
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the 1980s. Its literal meaning is "restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system. It was to make socialism work more efficiently to better meet the needs of the Soviet consumers. -
Reagan Doctrine
This Doctrine helped provide aid to anti-communist countries and resistance movements in Soviet backed communist governments, such as in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It also opened the door for capitalism in nations that were largely being governed by Soviet supported socialist governments. -
Collapse of the Berlin Wall
East Germany invade Western Germany and tore down the Wall. This marked the end of communism in German and was a symbol for the end of communism throughout Europe. -
End of USSR
On December 22, 1991 the presidents of the Soviet republics of Russia, UK, and Belarus met secrety and agreed to dissolve the Soviet Union replacing it with a form of union called Commonwealth of Independent States. Gorbachev resigned from his office and the Soviet Union formaly ended.
