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Oirgins of the Cold War and Churchill's speech
The war originated due to the tensions caused by Winston Churchill's (prime minister of Britain) speech, saying that the Soviet Union had built an Iron Curtain, symbolizing the boundary that divided Europe both politically and militarily. After the speech, conflicts started to spread between the two powers (for example, the Greek Civil War), and these conflicts led to the start of the Cold War. -
Beginning of the war (Part 1)
The Greek Civil War resulted in the defeat of Greek communists, losing the support of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. After WWII, the Allies occupied Germany and divided it into four zones (American, Soviet, British and French). The Allies decided to create a West Germany, so the USA, Britain, and France unified into what was known as the FRG (West Germany), and the USSR put a blockade to prohibit the western allies from passing into what was known as the GDR (East Germany). -
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Characteristics of the Cold War
·The two blocks maintained the tension based on mutual distrust and threads.
·Rivalry between both superpowers to have the greatest weapons.
·Areas of constant influence.
·Propaganda that convinced countries of the dangers of the other block.
·The threat of war was always present.
·Regional conflicts that constantly shut down by the superpowers.
·Espionage and secret services made by the CIA and KGB to obtain scientific, technological, and military secret information from the enemy. -
Beginning of the war (Part 2)
The end of the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949) between the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party. Mao Zedong (leader of the communists) proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949, and in 1950, the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship was signed. When Korea was divided into North (communist) and South (capitalist) Korea, the War affected the countries' relationships, but in 1953, an armistice was signed and still lasts until today. -
Conflicts during the Cold War (Part 1)
Because of Stalin's death in 1953, a new first secretary was chosen. Nikita Khrushchev started the process of destalinization. Because of this, Hungary started to criticize the regime openly and wanted to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact. In response, the USSR sent tanks to crush the Hungarian Revolution. Following that revolution, the Egyptian president nationalized the Suez Canal, so Israel, Britain, and France paned a military operation to end Nasser's regime. It put the USSR on the alert. -
Conflicts during the Cold War (Part 2)
There also were big differences between West and East Berlin after the partition of Germany. The Western side was said to have more freedom and to be more prosperous, so many East Berliners migrated. To prevent this mass migration, the USSR built the Berlin War, which divided them until 1989.
In 1958, Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship. Fidel's government was communist and a threat in the eyes of the USA, so they tried to invade Cuba, but failed, and Castro grew stronger. -
Conflicts during the Cold War (Part 3)
Then, the USA deployed many nuclear missiles in Turkey. Khrushchev placed nuclear missiles in Cuba as a response. The US detected the missiles and John F. Kenedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and threatened them if they didn't remove the missiles. Tension reached its highest peak, but the Soviets retreated, ordering the withdrawal of their missiles if the US ended the blockade (which hasn't been ended) and promised not to invade Cuba. The US then removed its missiles from Turkey. -
Middle to late stages of the Cold War (Part 1)
After the missile crisis, Britain and the USSR signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, prohibiting nuclear bomb testing, but conflicts were still happening. In Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubcek became leader of the CPC (communist party), introduced less censorship and more freedom, but the USSR opposed them. In 1968, Warsaw Pact troops occupied the country, and the USSR forced them to abandon the reforms and establish a regime. These brief months of reforms became known as the Prague Spring. -
Vietnam War (Part 1)
Vietnam was divided into two countries (North and South). The North was a communist regime led by Ho Chi Minh and the South was dictatorial, friends with the US. They assisted South Vietnam to counter the Vietcong (guerrilla movement), and later sent combat troops in 1965. By 1968, it was obvious that the US couldn't win, and the anti-war movement grew strong. Richard Nixon was elected president of the US. There was a ceasefire established in 1973, and American troops withdrew from Vietnam. -
Military dictatorships in Latin America
Since the US felt threatened by the idea of communism spreading to Latin America, they openly supported right-wing military dictatorships, such as Chile's coup d'état in 1973 to overthrow Salvador Allende's government. Immediately after the coup, a military junta headed by General Augusto Pinochet took over the country and imposed a dictatorship until 1990. -
Middle East conflict
After the origination of Israel in 1948, Arab countries wanted their oil-rich deposits, so they initiated the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The Arabs invaded Israel, but they recovered their territory. The US supported Israel and the USSR supported the Arab countries. A ceasefire was reached, but the consequences of the war caused the oil-producing countries to impose an embargo and reduce oil production to threaten the Western Bloc. This decision caused the 1973 oil crisis. -
Vietnam War (Part 2)
Even though the US withdrew from the conflict, North and South Vietnam continued with the fight. In 1975, North Vietnam made the capital of South Vietnam (Saigon) fall. In 1976, Vietnam was finally united as a single country: the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The USA's meddling with Vietnam's fight caused unrest at home and anti-USA sentiment across the globe. -
Ending of the Cold War (Part 1)
The first Conference on Security and Co-Operation in Europe was celebrated in 1973, concluding with the Helsinki Accords in 1975, signed by 35 countries. But despite this reconciliation, the events of 1979 divided the world's judgement. The USSR invaded Afghanistan to expand its influence, the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua established a left-wing regime, the Islamic Revolution in Iran overthrew the shah of Iran (an ally of the US). Between 1977 and 1985, the arms race intensified even more. -
Ending of the Cold War (Part 2)
Arms race:
The USSR increased its nuclear arsenal. In 1981, R. Reagan was elected president of the US. Reagan ordered the placement of hundreds of medium-range nuclear missiles in western Europe, in hopes they would fire them at the USSR. He approved the Strategic Defense Initiative program (popularly called Star Wars), whose goal was to develop an anti-missile system in space to destroy Soviet missiles.
From 1985, political and economic changes in the USSR eventually led to its break-up. -
Ending of the Cold War (Part 3.1)
Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985, who carried a series of reforms to democratize the CP. He met with Reagan at the Geneva Summit of 1985 to discuss nuclear disarmament. They signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. In 1991, they signed another treaty, both to reduce nuclear armament from the USSR and the US. Other events that contributed to the end of the Cold War were the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the fall of + -
Ending of the Cold War (Part 3.2)
- the fall of communist regimes of eastern European countries, the break-up of the USSR in 1991, and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991. On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned. His resignation caused the USSR to finally split up and the end of the Cold War.