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Potsdam Conference
The US, Great Britian, and USSR met and talked about the future of Europe. The leaders had different ideas for the future of Europe, with US and Britian choosing democracy and the USSR choosing communisim. -
Truman Doctrine
Truman argued that the US should use "containment' to stop communisim from spreading. He also said that if Greece falls to communisim, many countries will soon after. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan is when the US gave money to help Europe get back on their feet after WWII. The US gave fuel, raw materials, goods, loans and food, machinery and advisers. All of this helped contain communisim. -
CIA formed
Created to protect the government against communisim and terrorism. -
Berlin Airlift
The USSR cut off all supplies in west Berlin, in an attempt to starve the city out. The democratic countries responded by flying supplies to west Berlin to help them out. -
Period: to
COLD WAR
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NATO created
Initially an alliance used to prevent the USSR aggression. "An attack against one is an attack against all. -
Joseph McCarthy's Witch Hunts
McCarthy accused several innocent people of being associated with communisim. Eisenhower got sick of it when McCarthy went through the military. -
US involvement in Korean War
USSR invaded and took over the North, so the US invaded and took over the South. Then, they drew a temperary line on the 38th parallel line. -
Rosenberg Spy Case
The Rosenbergs were arrested, tried, and convicted of spying on the A-bomb project and reporting back to the USSR. They were both executed for what the goverment claimed as espionage. -
Warsaw Pact
It was a response to NATO. The countries that signed, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union, are supposed to come to the aid of any other country attacked. -
US involvement in Vietnam War
Vietnam split in two, with communist in the north and democratic in the south. The USSR defended the north and the US defended the south. After a back and forth war, the US pulled out troops and the north defeated the south. -
Khrushchev denounces Stalin
Khrushchev told congress that Stalin ran the country with "suspicion, fear, and terror" that Lenin did not want. Khrushchev told congress to forget about Stalin and to get rid of his beleifs. This shook up the USSR because they viewed Stalin as a hero. -
Eisenhower Doctrine
Eisenhower requested money from congress to help minimize the spread of communisim in the Middle East and protect the US. -
Tonkin Gulf Incident
An American ship was helping the South Vietnam troops when the North fired upon it. The shots missed and the American ship destroyed the North's ships. The US used this as an excuse to get into the Vietnam War. -
Sputnik Launched
The USSR launched the world's first satellite. The US viewed this as a threat from the USSR from spying and launching nuclear weapons. This was also the beginning of the space race. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
An unsuccessful mission to train Cuban exiles to return to Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro, a communist. An embarrassment for the US. Cuba and the US became enemies and broke off connections. -
Berlin Wall goes up
After WWII, the democracy countries and the communist countries divided Germany and Berlin. In Berlin, many people in East Germany were fleeing to West Germany to become a democracy controlled people. The USSR didn't like this and built a wall to prevent people from crossing the line. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The US found out USSR was constructing missiles on Cuban soil, with America within strikeing distance. US blockaded Cuba when a USSR ship came towards Cuba. It stopped at the blockade and turned back. It was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. -
Nuclear Test Ban
The treaty prohibited countries from using or testing nuclear weapons anywhere, including underwater and in outer space. Underground tests are okay as long as no radioactive debris goes out of the country. They also tried to work towards the disappearance of these weapons. -
US Moon Landing
An Amreican man walked on moon for the first time on the world. This marked an American victory in the space race. -
Nikita Khrushchev dies
Khrushchev had been retired for some time, but now that he was gone, the country had a different, more agressive feeling. -
Chilean coup d'etat
The US gave Chilie the idea to overthrow the communist president. Chilie did overthrow the communist president. This showed that the US maybe overstepped its boundaries when containing communisim. -
Mao Zedong dies
With Mao dead, China sinks off the map of being an agressive communist country. -
SALT II signed
The US and USSR again agreed to limit their weapons to try to create world peace. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
Communist controlled Iran rebelled against the American Embassy by taking 60+ prisioners hostage because the US was treating the Shah for cancer. -
Miracle on Ice
The US olympic hockey team defeated the USSR's team to get the gold metal. This game was very intense because noone liked each other at all. In terms of the Cold War, this was technically the only head to head fighting. -
USSR shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007
South Korean flight was shot down by the USSR. In response, all USSR flights to the US were suspended. It may have been a misunderstanding because the flight was close to the US spy plane. -
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes USSR leader
Gorbachev represented a younger, more peaceful generation of people in the USSR. He focused on peace with the west. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
As the USSR was collapsing, the East Germans suddenly allowed people to pass through the wall. This meant that the USSR was loosing control and the end of the USSR and the cold war was near. -
USSR collapse
The USSR lost control of its Satallite Nations and split up, ending the Cold War for good.
