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Joseph Stalin
This man is significant because he was made the General Secretary of the Bolshevik party central commitee, he soon abolished this position and became Premier of the Soviet Union. Stalin consolidated power and eventually changed the economy. He instituted a plan similar to Hitler's plan called the Great Purge in which many people who did not fit certain requirements were murdered. Joseph Stalin became big in 1922 and he introduced the Great Purge in 1936 the result was many Soviet losses and a tr -
United Nations
The world's largest and most prominent international organization. The stated aims of the United Nations include promoting and facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, political freedoms,democracy, and the achievement of lasting world peace. -
Harry S Truman
Harry S. Truman became Vice President after FDR died in 1945. Began making crucial decisions during the final times of WW2. Novembeer 24, 1944 two bombs were dropped in Japan. During his presidency WW2 ended. -
Joseph McCarthy (McCarthyism)
McCarthy ran for Senate by accusing his opposition of being a Communist McCarthy continued to accuse people including Secretary of State Dean Acheson and George C. Marshall,and the act restricted people's rights.He began a career of damaging reputations- called McCarthyism.McCarthy would attack anyone somewhat affiliated with the Communist party and interrogate them until they seemed guilty, even taking his tactics to television
Senate later passed censure against McCarthy and he faded. -
Containment
Containment was the United State’s policy of containing communism. It was a policy that meant that the U.S. would use any means necessary to contain the spread of communism. It started in 1946 and the result was wars and tensions between Soviet supported countries and U.S. supported countries. It was significant because it was the United State’s effort to contain communism and enveloped many different events after World War 2. -
Marshall Plan
Secretary of state George C. Marshall proposed the European Recovery Program in June 1947. Said that U.S. would give money to help rebuild countries after the war. It helped rebuild a stronger foundation for the countries of western Europe to repel the spread of communism after world war II. -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman set forth a new policy stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent being taken over by the Soviets. Arguably the cause of the Cold War. The policy won the support of Republicans who controlled Congress, sending $400 million in American money, but no military forces, to the region. In 1952, both Greece and Turkey Joined NATO, a military alliance that guaranteed their protection. -
Berlin Airlift
The response to Soviet troops cutting off all ground movement to West Berlin. Truman ordered the Berlin Airlift to begin. The goal was to help West Berlin sustain itself without provoking war with the Soviets. For 11 months, cargo planes brought over 2 million tons of supplies, providing Berliners with food, medicine, and coal. Stalin lifted the blockade on May 12, 1949. -
NATO
An intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. NATO's headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, one of the 28 member states across North America and Europe, the newest of which, Albania and Croatia, joined in April 2009. An additional 22 countries participate in NATO's "Partnership. -
Moa Zedong
Zedong was a Communist leader in China who struggled against the Nationalist government led by Chiang Kai-Shek since the 1920's. They stopped their civil war during World War ll to work together to prevent Japanese occupation but resumed it again after. To prevent a Communist revolution in China the U.S. gave $2,000,000 in aid but they squandered it and Communism rose and in 1949 Zedong formed the People's Republic of China. -
Korean War
Communist wanted to take over and to try to prevent this the US sent troops. Korea separated into South and North Korea. On September 15, 1950 General MacArthhur invaded enemy lines. Korean war 1950-1953 (Forgotten War) the US used their new military strategy which was containment. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower was instated as president after Truman with a campaign promising an anti-communist policy greater than that of Truman. Eisenhower negotiated a peace treaty with Korea, ending the Korean war, and covertly began Soviet interventions within friendly countries. -
Nikita Khrushchev
Leader of Soviet Union 1956-1964. Became the leader after Stalin's death. Openly critical of Stalin's policies including purges. Had easier more peaceful relationship with the west. Cutback on Secret Service's power. Released thousands of political prisoners. Improved the economy and most people's standard of living. Due to failure in the Cuban Missile Crisis removed from power in 1964. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact is a mutual defense treaty between eight communist states in Europe. It was the Soviet military reaction to West Germany integrating into NATO and it showed that they tried to retaliate against the U.S.’s NATO. The pact provided stability for both the U.S NATO forces and the communist allies, and promised that there would not be any nuclear attacks in the future. It was first established in 1955 and ended in 1991. -
Vietnam War
The U.S. supported South Vietnam fought against the communist North Vietnam in an attempt to stop the spread of communism. The US used air superiority and artillery while the north vietnamese used conventional guerilla tactics. The U.S. eventually pulled out of the war.It was a major battle against the spread of communism and a very costly war. North Vietnam ultimately took control of South Vietnam after the peace agreement on April 30th, 1975 -
John F Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States. Elected in 1960 at the age of 43, he became the youngest person ever to be voted into the White House. Kennedy served from 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. In the 1960 presidential campaign, Kennedy positioned himself to the right of the Republican Eisenhower Administration by promising to close the "missile gap," the supposed Soviet superiority in long-range nuclear missiles. -
Berlin Wall
Nikita Krushchev wanted a way to stop Germans from going nto West Berlin from Communist Germany. He built a wall throughout Berlin to keep the soviet sector out and anyone who tried to flee from the East was shot at. It stood as a symbol of the division between the East and the West for almost thirty years after. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
The 36th President of the United States,. He is one of only four people who served in all four elected federal offices of the United States. idency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, completed Kennedy's term and was elected President in his own right, winning by a large margin over Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. Johnson was greatly supported by the Democratic Party and as President, he was responsible for designing the "Great Society". -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Soviets placed Nuclear Missiles in Cuba. It was the closest it ever got to a nuclear war. Because of President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev war was averted. -
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was the 40th president and was president when the cold war ended. By the early 1980s, many people in the US perceived that the USSR military capabilities were gaining on that of the United States. Previously, the U.S. had relied on the qualitative superiority of its weapons to essentially frighten the Soviets, but the gap had been narrowed. Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to allow for more democracy and free speech, this would lead to reform and the end of Co -
Mikhail Gorbachev
In In 1985 he became the leader of the soviet union and agreed to resume arms control talks. He belived it had to reform economic forces..He promised to cut back soviet nuclear forces if Regan would agtedd to giveup SDL. Gobachev felt confident that the soviet military spending could be reduced. He pushed fir econimic and political reforms and it led to the collapse of the soviet union. he became the leader of the soviet union and agreed to resume arms control talks. He belived it had to reform -
Iran Contra Scandal
Reagan illegaly supported rebels in the Middle East. Oliver North sent arms to rebels in Iran. It ruined Reagan's reputation. -
George H.W. Bush
Bush was a determined president who brought the US to be a kinder and gentler nation. He won the Republican nomination in 1988, and became president. He was elected at he closing of the cold war, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of the Soviet Union. He sent troops to Panama to overthrow the corrupt government. During his time, Saddam Hussein became the greatest threat and test. Also, there was a faltering US economy and rising violence in the inner cities. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
As the Soviet power in East Germany and Berlin lessened, the East German government announced on November 9th that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Fall of Berlin wall paved the way for German reunification which was concluded on October 30th, 1990. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Eastern Europe began abandoning Communism
August 1991- Coup Established that overthrew government
Coup collapsed, so Gorbachev came back, and all of the Soviet Republics declared their independence from the Soviet Union
December 1991- Gorbachev announced the end of the Soviet Union, where most joined a federation called the “Commonwealth of the Independent States”
