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League of Militant Godless (Orndorff approved)
Stalin and the League of Militant Godless sponsored a group of atheists. This communist group aimed to replace regular teachings with communist teachings. The league attacked religious beliefs with propaganda and persecution. This was a Religious theme because religion was used to spread Stalin's beliefs and teachings. -
Yalta Conference
Conference meeting with the Big Three: FDR, Stalin, and Churchill. The Soviet Union got control of Eastern Europe and the cold war began. This represents the Social theme because this conference is were they discussed and decided the governing of Germany. This conference determined that they had control or eastern Europe which led into the cold war. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman declared that it was a foreign policy of the United States to assist any country whose stability was threatened by communism. His requested $400 million to assist both Greece and Turkey. Congress approved and he promised to contain Soviet threats to Greece and Turkey. This was an Economic theme because money was involved in a deal to help other countries stay out of communism. This was only one of many economic agreements during the cold war. -
NATO ratified
The US along with 11 other nations formed the National Atlantic Treaty Organization. The US led military alliance throughout the cold war. This is a Political theme because the goal of this was to contain Soviet aggression towards Western Europe and it was a somewhat political organization. Aggression and conflict were strong roles throughout the cold war. -
Truman fires MacArthur
President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of command of the U.S. forces in Korea. This created conflict and uproar among the American public. Truman stayed committed to keeping low conflict of war in Korea. This is a Political theme because this act created political conflict in the public. -
Britain builds an A-bomb
Britain created its first atomic device called the "Hurricane." It had an explosive yield of about 25 kilotons. This was an Intellectual theme because they created a new invention. This was one of many bombs that were built during the cold war. Japan and France also built their own A-bombs during the war. -
Nuclear Arms race (Nevada Site)
This was an Upshot-Knothole atomic test series of 11 explosions above ground. A woman named Klien Rollo said that she was absolutely flabbergasted at the amount of destruction these caused. Thousands of sheep were killed by the radioactive iodine. This was a Psychological theme because it affected many peoples environment and made people extremely fearful of what was next. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union and seven European allies sign a treaty: the Warsaw Pact. This was a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany. This was a Social theme because it included many different nations and allies that came up with a treaty of how they could work together to create a pact. Many pacts were made throughout the war but were not always respected and kept. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The US and the Soviet union came close to nuclear conflict. Nikita Khrushchev had a secret agreement with Cuban premier Fidel Castro to put Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to scare off any future invasion attempt. Khrushchev ordered a naval “quarantine” of Cuba. Khrushchev issued a public statement to dismantle soviet missiles and remove them from Cuba. This was a Psychological theme because this had a great impact on the societies and fear played a very large role over the time of the crisis. -
The use of Art during the War
Political art was in introduced through comics, art pieces, music and poems. Satire and parody was used very often throughout theses methods of propaganda in the arts. Manny art pieces portrayed the cruelty of man and the disasters of war. Art helped to lighten the topic of war while keeping people in the loop with current events. This was an Artistic theme because the methods of art were used to influence opinions of war. -
President Nixon extends Vietnam War to Cambodia
President Richard Nixon gave authorization to use U.S. combat troops with South Vietnamese units in Cambodia. This was aimed towards communist sanctuaries in Cambodia and Nixon was said to be "widening the war" by doing this. This is a Geographic theme because The US was transporting their troops into Cambodia's geographic terrain. Communism was highly targeted, especially during the war years. -
President Reagan & Gorbachev remove nuclear missiles from Europe
President Reagan of the US and Mikhail Gorbachev of USSR signed a treaty that stated they would remove all of their ballistic and cruise missiles. This is a Geographical theme because they had plans to invade and bomb sections of Europe. -
Berlin Wall is Demolished
The Berlin Wall was originally built to prevent east Berliners fleeing to the West. However, communism in the Soviet Republic started to fall and the demand for Eastern German authorities to open the wall was high. The wall was breached in 1989 by Berliners. This is a Cultural theme because this unified a city that had been separated for 30 years. This was built to keep people from getting out but once it was broken down, people united. -
Deer affected by the Cold War times
The largest protected wildlife zone in central Europe during the cold war was on the border of Czech Republic and Germany. The fences that separated the sides have been gone for a quarter century and the land is open for migration. Researchers found that the newer generation of deer still respect the boundaries of the iron curtain and only stay in certain areas. Mothers pass on a sense of where it is safe to go to their young. Deer and wildlife are still affected by the events of the cold war. -
Interview with Dad
I interviewed my 53 year old father Scott Gates. His understanding of the cold war was that we reacted to a level of paranoia against an island that cared little for anything but culture. A memory of when he was young was that, living in Florida, only 90 miles from the island of, it was ridiculous he couldn’t visit there. He thinks today about how ridiculous it is that Alaska airlines now has direct flights into Cuba, a place we used to consider a serious threat.
