-
Big 3 at Yalta
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met to make decisions about the war. They decided when the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan and also what would happen after the war ended. This meeting was in response to World War Two and they were planning what the next plan of action would be. It was a big deal because it showed the true intentions of the Soviet Union after World War Two. -
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
Speech given by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill about an "iron curtain"; a barrier between the West and the communist Soviet Union. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was created by Secretary of State George C. Marshall. This plan was put in place for the United States to give economic assistance to struggling European countries to keep them from falling to communism. This was in response to the effects of World War Two on European nations as they struggled to recover from the effects of the war. This was a big deal because it took $13 billion dollars from the U.S. and it assisted the U.S. in their new policy of containment -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was when Britain and America flew over Berlin with food and supplies and dropped it all to the starving people below. -
NATO Founded
NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was peacetime war alliance created in 1949 by the U.S. and Western Hemisphere. -
China Falls to Communism
China's fall to communism in 1949 proved that Truman's containment policy wasn't as effective as he said it to be and was also a disappointment to the U.S. because with China now being a communist nation, the U.S. could no longer trade with them. This was in response to Soviet Union influences on the leader of China -
Truman Fires MacArthur
President Truman fired MacArthur who was leading the war in Korea because MacArthur disagreed with Truman's choice to not use nuclear weapons. -
Eisenhower Elected President
Eisenhower won the presidential election in 1952 with 442 electoral votes and his opponent had 89 electoral votes. He was first an Army general with thirty-seven years of service but retired to run for the Republican party in the presidential campaign. This event was a big deal because the Republicans were worried the Democratic representative, Robert Taft, would win and take the U.S. out of NATO. Therefore, they asked Eisenhower to run and he accepted for he felt it was his duty to America. -
Stalin Dies
When Joseph Stalin and Khrushchev took power, U.S. and Soviet relations would change and improve. Stalin's evil would disappear. -
Khrushchev Becomes Soviet Premier
Nikita Khrushchev became the Soviet's premier following the death of their leader, Joseph Stalin in 1953. Khrushchev proved to be unlike Stalin and even had a "De-Stalinization" process created but he and Eisenhower still didn't agree on everything. This was in response to Stalin's and it was a big deal because it would completely change Soviet and U.S. relations as allies and as enemies. -
Geneva Conference
Representatives from the United States, the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, France, and Great Britain came together in April of 1955 to discuss problems in Asia. At this conference, it was decided that Vietnam would be split at the 17th Parallel. -
Warsaw Pact Formed
The Warsaw Pact was a treaty signed between Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. This was a treaty of friendship and a promise to aid one another in times of need. It's is a similar treaty to NATO which was signed by Western Allies. This was a big deal because it would unite Eastern countries under communism against the threat of foreign countries. -
Explorer 1 Launched
Explorer 1 was a satellite launched by the U.S. a few months after the Soviets launched their first satellite. This launched began the "space race" between the U.S. and Soviet Union. -
NASA Created
NASA(National Aeronautics and Space Administration) created in 1958 was a way for the U.S. to prove that they were determined to win the space race against the Soviets. The Soviets launched the first satellite into Earth's orbit and the U.S. decided to one up the Soviets and win the "space race". NASA was created in response to the Soviets launching a satellite into space. This was a big deal because it showed the determination of the U.S. to be the dominating country. -
Khrushchev Visits U.S.
Soviet Premier visited the U.S. in 1959. This visit was meant to for Eisenhower and Khrushchev to meet face-to-face and begin a peaceful friendship between the two nations. -
U-2 Incident
The U-2 Incident was when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying in Soviet air space. The Soviets shot down the plane and captured the pilot which forced President Eisenhower to admit that the U.S. had been flying spy planes over the Soviet Union for many years. The U-2 incident was a big deal because relations between the U.S. and Soviets had finally improved then this incident occurred causing all trust to disappear. -
Bay of Pigs
The U.S. trained Cuban refugees in warfare then sent them to attack Cuba and over throw their leader, Fidel Castro, but this invasion went wrong when the soldiers were hugely outnumbered by Castro's men. -
Berlin Wall
The Communist government in Germany began building the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961. The Berlin Wall divided East and West Germany and was meant to split the capitalist West side and communist East side. This was a big deal because during the war and now many years after the war, the Berlin Wall has symbolized the Cold War -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day standoff between the U.S. and Soviet Union. The Soviets had nuclear weapons placed on Cuba just 90 miles from the U.S. coast and in those 13 days, the Soviets and U.S. went back and forth with threats until the two countries made a deal; the U.S. wouldn't invade Cuba and the Soviets would remove their nuclear weapons from Cuba. This was a big deal because the world thought there was going to be a nuclear and we know now that war would've destroyed the planet -
U.S. and U.S.S.R. Establish Hotline
To reduce tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union after almost going into a nuclear war, they decided to make a hotline for communications.
