-
Period: to
wfgsr
-
Germany and Berlin divided into zones of occupation.
Berlin is divided into four occupation areas by these countries: U.S.A., U.S.S.R., U.K. and France. There was now an East and West Germany. -
End of World War II
The Cold War began after the end of World War II because of dissagreements over postwar Europe. Each superpower (United States, Britain, France and Russia) had their own idea of how postwar Europe should be rebuilt. The Cold War rose not from one isolated event, but from the different ideologies and interests between the Soviet Union and the West. -
United Nations formed
-
Stalin hostile speech - communism & capitalism were incompatible
-
Winston Churchill - "an "iron curtain" has descended on Europe"
-
Truman Doctrine is born
He introduced an idea that if America let one country fall to Communism, all the countries round about would follow (this was later called the ‘domino theory’). Truman said that the Cold War was a choice between freedom and oppression. Therefore, Americans would have to abandon their decision not to get involved in European affairs; America was OBLIGED to get involved: ‘I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation" -
Marshall Plan enacted
$10 billion used to rebuild western Europe. Soviets saw this as a way U.S. was beginning to form allies that would oppose communist influence. -
UFO crash at Roswell
An alleged crash of an extraterrestrial vehicle crashed near Corona, New Mexico. At first army states it has a flying saucer in their possession, then retracts the next day and declares it was a weather balloon. -
CIA formed
The CIA was opposed by the U.S.S.R. organization the KGB. -
Berlin Airlift begins
-
NATO is established. Stands for "North Atlantic Treaty Organization"
-
Airlift is lifted
-
Russia tested its first atomic bomb
U.S. no longer has monopoly on atomic weapons. -
Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China and establishes the People's Republic of China
Now there are two giant communist countries, giving more evidence for the argument that the policy of containment was vital to follow.