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U.S and USSR have different policies, governments, and interests
-Their foreign policies are different
- U.S wants Germany united once more to be a trading partner
- USSR wants Germany divided
- USSR supports those who are Communist
- U.S supports countries who are Capitalists -
Iron Curtain
Soviet Union builds a buffer zone
-Soviet Union builds a buffer zone of countries as puppet states along its Eastern European border
-A result after WWII Russia fears centuries of invasion
-This division of Europe in the words of WInston Churchill of England as a division of Capitalist West and Communist East. -
U.S. Containment, Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan
U.S. Containment
-An attempt by President Truman to halt expansion of Communism
-This included supporting weak countries that resisted Soviet expansion Truman Doctrine
-President Truman asks Congress to give foreign aid to Greece and Turkey
-Named after Truman’s support for countries that rejected Communism
-This caused great controversy worldwide Marshall Plan
-Proposed by U.S secretary George Marshall to give financial aid to countries devastated by WWII
-Involved many countries, most -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
Blockade
-The Blockade happened as a result of the U.S, Britain, and France withdrew their forces from Western Germany to form a single nation in Western Germany
-The Soviet Union responded to this union of Western Germany by holding West Berlin hostage
-This blockade prevents water, traffic, and goods to come in to West Berlin Airlift
-To break the blockade the Western powers Britain, France, and U.S sent supplies by air corridors well into East Germany towards West Berlin
-Every plane wou -
NATO
-The Berlin blockade heightened Europe’s fears of Soviet aggression -Ten nations joined the U.S and Canada as NATO -Abbreviated for North Atlantic Treaty Organization -
Mao Zedong and Communist control of China
-Chinese Nationalists and Chinese Communists square off in a civil war after WWII -The Nationalist side was supported by U.S and the Communists side was supported by Soviet Union -Chinese peasants largely supported Mao for efforts of promoting literacy and more food production -Mao Zedong and the communists won the civil war by 1949
-Nationalists fled to Taiwan -
The arms race
-Cold War threatened to heat up enough to destroy the world -U.S already had atomic bombs
-The Soviet Union developed its own bombs as well -U.S President Truman was trying to develop a newer deadlier bomb than those dropped on Japan in WWII -
Korean War
-After the division of Korea along 38th parallel in 1945, Korea was divided amongst the Soviets in the north and the U.S in the south -The Soviet Union gambled that the West will not defend South Korea and then supplied North Korea with military equipment -South Korea asks the U.S and the U.N for assistance -When the U.N forces advance as far as the border of China, China felt threatened by this action and sent 300,000 troops into North Korea -By 1953 a ceasefire agreement between U.N and No -
Warsaw Pact
-Soviet Union perceived NATO as a threat and formed its own alliance- Included the Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania
- Included the Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania
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Cuban missile crisis
-The failed Bay of Pigs invasion convinced Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that the U.S will not resist Soviet expansion in Latin America -In July 1962 the Soviet Union built 42 missile sites in Cuba in secret -When the missiles were discovered by an American spy plane John F. Kennedy declared missiles that close to the mainland was a threat to the U.S and demanded their removal -Instead of nuclear war and end of civilization the Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles in return that the U -
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
-The GDR (German Democratic Republic(East Germany)) leader Erich Honecker allowed East Germans to go to Austria in the west
-After thousands fled by this new escape route the GDR leader closed the border entirely -Massive demonstrations of East Germans demanded freedom to move around and free elections -Eventually, due to economic turmoil, internal and outside pressure, the GDR collapsed and Germany reunified -
Fall of the Soviet Union
-Many people were no longer satisfied with Soviet rule and wanted more freedom in society -Soviet leader Gorbachev realized the Soviet Union economy is failing and needs reform
-This created a gradual democratization of the Soviet Union -His goal was to not rid of communism, but reform the government to a more efficient system -Problem though was, this would lead to the Soviet Union’s downfall