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Yalta Conference
At the end of WW2, the big three, Stalin (Soviet Union), FDR (U.S), and Churchill (Britain) met to discuss the future of Europe. Germany at the time was on the verge of being defeated by the allies. The big three started to plan for the post war world. The Soviets pressed for reparations on Germany. The conference addressed major issues:
1. unconditional surrender of Germany
2. Partitioning of Germany
3. Recognition of Poland
4. Russia helping Japan
5. Membership in the U.S -
Period: to
Cold war
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Yalta State of War
While Germany was on the Verge of beaing deafeated, the Soviet Union had invaded Germany. The U.S was in control of the land, sea and air in the Pacific. The Japanese were in their final state of desperation. -
ICBM
The United States and the Soviet Union developed inter-continental ballistic missiles, known by ICBM, that were capable of reaching any target in each other's territory. ICBMs could deliver nuclear weapons in a manner that was virtually immune to defensive measures.This was apart of the arms race that the Soviet Union and the U.S were fighting to be the first well developed and feard nation. -
Germany surrenders
Germany surrenders unconditinally -
Division of Germany after WW2
As a result of Germany losing WW2, the allies decided that Germany should be divded. They were divided into four zones of occupation between the U.S, the USSR, the UK and France. Gerany was now run as one country.
Stalin demanded a large portion from Germany. It was agreed that Germany would pay $20 billion and 50% would go to USSR. -
Atomic bomb (Hiroshima)
The U.S dropped the first developed atomic bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima in Japan. 70,000 Japanese were vaporized. The allies wanted a complete and utter surrender from Japan but they refused. They would rather die in honor than give up to the U.S -
Potsdam Conference
The big three met in Postdam to negotiate the terms for the end of WW2. After the Yalta conference thebig three determined it was the right thing for Germany to surrender. Potsdam was a continuatoin of the Yalta Conference. Germany had finally surrendered unconditionally. Stalin, JFK and Churchil disccussed the reconstruction of Germany. The main issue of the conference was to decide what to do with Germany. -
Arms Race
The U.S and the Soviet Union wanted to be the first country to develop new technology. The U.S first developed an hydrogen bomb, but the Soviet Union created a stronger Hydrogen bomb. The Soviet Union was the first to create ICBM which came to a shock to the U.S which came in second. The U.S created a satellite but the Soviet Union created SPUTNIK. The U.S sent U-2 spy planes over Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had missiles in Cuba but the U.S had missiles in Turkey. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Britain Prime Minster Churchill urged Americans to stay away from the Soviet Russians and their communism. Russians advanced too far beyond their territory. They occupoed much of Europe. Churchill warrened the U.S of the Soviet Union's intentions to impose communism in Europe. He says that the Soviet Union will be a threat to their nation. Many people refused to hear of another future threat because they just came off of WW2. -
Greece
Greece: Communism insurgents start civil war -
Iran Crisis
UK and the Soviet Union had troops on the ground and the Soviet Union did not want to leave -
Truman Doctine
Truman came up with the policy of containment. This was the main idea of the Cold War. Truman decided that we were going to help everywhere that communist governemt cannot expand. The Containment policy was an idea that Truman wanted to control the spread of communisms, this was his way of containing the situation. -
Marshall Plan
Marshall belived that Europe needed help from the U.S. The Marshall Plan was put in place to help redesign Europe. The plan was to help Europe by having modern industrial equipment, creation of national budgets, expansion of trade and increase exports, increased economic cooperation amoung European countries, restrictions in foreign trade, increase in agricultural and energy production and improving the transportation system -
The Berlin Blockade
Was an attempt by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of France, U.S and Britain to travel accros of Berlin. Soviet Union imposed a blockade on railways, roads and canals leading to west Berlin. No suppplies e including food, fuel and consumer goods were allowed to enter West Berlin. Stalin wanted to starve the city into submission, Mainly because because he desired to control all of Berlin. The consequences of the blockade was the formation of NATO and the division of Germany. -
The Berlin Airlift
The allies would supply aid to people in West Berlin from the air. Allied cargo planes would use open air corridors over the Soviet occupation zone to deliver food, fuel and other goods to the people who lived in the western part of the city. This was called operation Vittles by the U.S military. The Aitlift lasted for more than a year because the Soviet Union refused to lift the blockade. The allies carried 2.3 million tons of cargo by the end of the mission. -
Communist China
Before China fell to communism, the U.S was helping in their aid. The U.S had given its support to China. -
NATO
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was an pact with 12 countries:Belgium, France, Canada, Norway, Portugal, UK, U.S, Normay, Netherlands, Lexembourg, Iceland, Denamrk and joined by Greece, Spain, Turkey and West Germany. The pact stated that any attack against any of these countries is an attack against all of them. This reflected an important chnage in the U.S foriegn policy because it was the first time the U.S would formally tie its security of their nation to other countries. -
NSC-68
This was one of the top secret policies in the Cold War. It warrned of how all communist activity would end up being tracked back to Moscow. In other worlds communism led back to Moscow. The article concluded that the U.S was in hostile danger of the Soviet Union. Their biggest threat would be a build up of more weapons and nuclear arms. It stated that the U.S would beed to build up their army and weapons for protection of whats to come. -
Korean War
90,000 North Korean soldiers launch an invasion in South Korea. During this time Truman had no time to think whether total commitment was the right thing to do. The attack was an example of Soviet expansion. North Korea was to be believed acting for the Soviet Union. Truman feared that if this attack was not taken seriously, it would undermine the credibility of the U.S in detrmining their stance of communism. -
The Domino Effect
The Korean war implemted the domino effect. Truman believed that if one country was affcted by communisn, then they would also spread communism to its neighboring countries. This would be called the domino effect, one thing leading to another similar to dominos. Truman could not allow this to happen. -
Civil Defense
Civil defense was organized by President Truman. As far back to WW1, civil defense taught people to protect themselves, victory gardens and secrets. For example Duck and cover (Bert the Turtle) was a civil defense way, which at the time everyone thought that this was a way for people to protect themselves from any nuclear weapons. When a bright flash and a loud sound went off, people knew right away to duck, take cover and cover your heads. -
Crisis in Indochina
The crisis in Indochina was a series of wars fought in southeast Asia between communist indochina and France. Frech Indochina belived that the U.S would not allow France to occupy its former colony. -
Hydrogen Bomb
The U.S was the first to test the Hydrogen Bomb. This would be an advanage for the U.S, regarding the development of new weapons and technology. -
Brinksmanship
Brinksmanship was a tactic to describe a country on the brink of war in order to get them to dack down and surrender. This was used throughout the Cold War. Neither the U.S or the Soviet Union's conflict would lead to an ultimate nuclear war. Both sides threatening a nuclear war but never acted on it, but only to cause fear. -
Cuban Revolution
The Revlution was a revolt against the U.S. Castro's intent was to overthrow the oppresive dictator, Fulgencio Batista -
Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
MAD was a doctrine that was used in the military. If one or more countries use full scale nuclear weapons, then both sides would cause a full annihilation. MAD allowed both sides to announce their vulnerablity. -
McCarthyism
McCarthyism was the practice of investigating and accusing people in power of influence, dishonesty, treason and subversion. Joseph McCarthy accused several U.S citizens of being associated with communism. The evidence that McCarthy gathered was information that other peaople had stated, nothing concrete. -
17th Parallel
Geneva signed the 17th parallel, dividing vietnam at the 17th parallel for 2 years. North Vietnam was supported by communist and the South Viethnam was supported by the U.S -
SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization)
The purpose of the organization was to prevent communism from gathering in the region. The organization was designed to defend the nations against communism attack. It was disbaned in 1975 after members startedto quit. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw pact called on a menber of warsaw to come to the defense of anyother warsaw member attacked by any outside force. People say this oact was in response to NATO. The oact focused on creating a defense among its members in order to bring down the enemy. This was a treat of freindship formed by the Soviet Union. -
Nagasaki Bombing on Japan
A few days after the U.S dropped a bomb on Hiroshima, Japan still did not surrender. They began to train young kids in the act of fighting. They belived in honor before death. Since Japan did not surrender the U,S gave them one more chance. They dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. This time over 80,000 Japanese died that day. On August 14, Japan finally surrendered. -
Suez Crisis
In ordert to construct a new dam in the Nile River to provide electricity for farming president Gaml Abdel Nasser requested economic assistence from Britain and U.S. When things collasped, Nasser turned to the Soveit Union, then took control of Britain's Suez canal. Britain and France asked the U.S for military help to retrieve the canal but Eisenhower declined help, saying they should join forces with Israel to get the canal. -
U-2 Spy plane inncident
Soviet Union spy Rudolf Abel was caught in the U.S spying on the U.S governemnt. insurance lawyer James Donovan was hired by the CIA to be taken to court for a "fair trial" but did not want him to defend Abel. However, Donovan wanted to defend his case. The U.S sent spy planes over Soviet Union to gather intelligence, but their plane was shot down and pilot Francis Powers was taken by the Soviet Union. Donovan was in charge of francis's return home by having an exchange for Francis and Abel. -
Non-Alignment
India and Indonesia wanting out of the Cold War. -
Failure in Bay of Pigs
The invasion failed because news broke out in the New York times that the U.S wuld invade Cuba. The U.S really did not know how well they could trust the Cubans who were exiled. This mission was a complete fail to Kennedy's administration causing him to take full responsibility. When Castro heared of the invasion he moved his planes and when the U.S showed up to invade them, they were no where to be found. -
Bay of Pigs
the U.S for many years wanted to drive Cuban leader, Fidel Castro out of power, but they had little to no success. Castro reduced the U.S influence on Cuba whch was a problem for the U.S. Cuba had officially announced Cuba will be a commmunist nation under the Soviet Union. The bay of pigs was an invasion of the U.S into Cuba. The U.S used Cuban citizens who were exiled. -
Reconstruction of Berlin Wall
East Berlin prepares for the reconstruction of the Berlin Wall. USSR reasuures nuclear building. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennedy and Khrushchev hold a eeting in Vienna to discuss the missile crisis. Cuba had missiles targeting the U.S. An U-2 flight plan confirmed cuban missiles. Kennedy had teo choices to make, 1. oder an airstrike on the missile sites or 2. employ a naval blockade. Kennedy went with the naval blockade. The U.S made it clear to Cuba that they were ready for neutralize the threat. The U.S was forced to take their missiles out of Turkey and Cuba will take their missiles out. -
Vietnam War
During the Vietnam War peasants were forced to move to another community to prevent the spread of cummunism. The U.S always wanting to be the hero, wants to protect the peasants. They gave them weapons to learn how to fight. -
Prague Spring
Its a term used for when the government of Czechoslovakia led by Alexander Dubček wanted to democratise the nation and lessen the stranglehold Moscow had on the nation’s affairs. -
Brezhnev Doctrine
The doctine called for the use of Warsaw Pact forces to intervene in any Eastern nation which was seen to compromise communist rule and Soviet domination, either by trying to leave the Soviet Union of influence or even moderate its policies. -
Detente
Nixon finally made a policy regarding the U.S and the USSR.
Its main goal was to have peaceful negotiations and limit nuclear weapons. Detente was used to limit the tensions between the Soviet Union and the U.S. Detente resulted in both SALT 1 and 2, Helsinki Accord and Ostpolitik -
Sino-Soviet Split
The pact created a defense and sentenced boundary issues. It also agreed to provide limited aid to China. It was signed by the China and the Soviet Union. The split between China and the Soviet Union starved when Khrushchev wanted a peaceful coexistence between themselves and the U.S. -
Nixon Doctrine
The Doctrine was a forign policy which had had two important points. 1. the United States will keep all of its treaty commitments. 2. the U.S will provide a shield if a nuclear power threatens the freedom of a nation allied with us or of a nation whose survival we consider vital to our security. -
SALT 1 (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)
was the first of the Strategic Arms Limitation talks between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. Communist leader Leonid Brezhnev and U.S president Nixon, The importance of SALT 1 was to limit the use of nuclear weapons. -
Ostpolitik
The first steps toward Detente was taken by Willy Brandt, the leader of West Germany. He wanted to improve relations with East Germany and Eastern Europe. Discussions between Brandt and the East German leader Willi Stoph began quickly, but no formal agreement was reached as Brandt would not recognise East Germany as a sovereign state. -
Willy Brandt
Brandt created 'Ostpolitik'.He tried to create a closer tie between West and East Germany and improve relations with Poland and the Soviet Union. The key to the East-West rapprochement lay in the treaties with East Germany. -
ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty)
This was a treaty between the U.S and the Soviet Union on the limitations on ABM's nuclear weapons. ABM deployment area limited to 100 launch systems. -
Rapprochement
The incidents that happened in Vietnam forced the U.S to find common ground with China. Rapprochement is the re-establishment of relations make China a huge trade partner and possibly an ally. -
Nuclear Parity
A condition at a given point in time when opposing forces possess nuclear offensive and defensive systems equal in overall combat effectiveness. -
Helsinki Accords
The Helsinki Accords was an agreement between 35 nations that concluded the cooperation and security. The Helsinki Accords were primarily an effort to reduce tension between the Soviet and Western. -
SALT 2
Brezhnev and President Jimmy Carter signed the SALT II treaty. Since the two countries had developed different strategies, with the USSR focusing on larger warheads and the U.S. concentrating on missiles with a greater accuracy, specifications of the previous treaties had to be changed. SALT II set more specific regulations on the different missiles. Limits were set on the number of strategic launchers, and the various types of missiles. Each side was limited to no more then 24,000 weapons -
Iran Crisis
It was one of the first tests of power between the United States and the Soviet Union in the postwar world. The Crisis began during WW2. Five hundred Muslim students seized the United States Embassy in Iran. Of these ninety people in the embassy, sixty-six hostages were taken. Out of the original sixty-six hostages, fourteen were released early, and fifty-two were kept. President Carter immediately took action. He imposed a trade embargo against Iranian oil and put a freeze on Iran assets. -
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
The leaders of the Soviet Union became concerned that President Amin was having discussions with the United States.
The soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. They had president Amin sentenced to death. Over the years, the Soviets fought with the Mujahideen. The Mujahdieen soldiers were fighting for their religion and country. The soviets were losing and were pressured to win. Everyone condemed the fight, the UN was against it and the U.S boycotted the 1080 Olympic in Moscow. The U.S used SALT. -
Ronald Reagan Speech Evil Empire
In the Reagan Speech, he wanted to have the support of the public. A father stated that he would rather see his children die believeing in God than seeing them grow up in communism with a lack of faith. Reagan told the public that he did not want us to see he Soviet Union as something small. He used religion to support his beliefs. He started off strong by leading us in by using God. -
Star Wars
The SDI was intended to defend the United States from attack from Soviet ICBMs by intercepting the missiles at various phases of their flight. For the interception, the SDI would require extremely advanced technological systems, yet to be researched and developed. The U.S had lasers in the sky. they were the first to develop lasers. -
Invasion of Grenada
Prime minister Maurice Bishop established military rule in the country. Biship had taken his time to make the country fully socialists. He wanted nothing else for that country than socialism. But new prime minister Bernard Coardtook power and brought communism to the horizon. Reagan was concerned with the power change. On Oct 25, U.S. marines invaded Grenada. Within two days the U.S subdued air and ground forces. This was a win for Reagan and the U.S. -
Iran Contra Affair
Arms sold to Iran to get hostages out of Iran. This was an operation tof ree American hostages from Lebonan by Iranians. -
Glastnost
Glastnost is a term meaning openness. Its goal is to include more people in the political process through freedom of expression. This led to a decreased censoring of the media, which allowed writers and journalists to expose news of government corruption and the depressed condition of the Soviet people. -
Perestroika
Perestroika refers to the reconstruction of the political and economic system. goal was to create a semi-free market system, reflecting successful capitalist practices in the economies of Germany, Japan, and the United States. -
Berlin Wall comes down
The Berlin Walll csme down due to political changes in Europe. Then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev lost control of the union which allowed it to fall apart. His policies of perestroika - restructuring - and glasnost, or openness, paved the way for the distruction of power in East Europe. -
Soviet Coup and Dissolution
Some people who still believed in the Soviet Union attempted to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev. In an attempt to savage the remains of the Soviet Union. 8 government officials named themselves the State Committee on the State of Emergency. They detained Gorbachev where he refused to resign. Armmored tanks went into Moscow. The coup signald an end to Gorbachev supremacy and to the Soviet Union.