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Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was the meeting of the head government of the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union, to discuss Germany and Europe's postwar organization. The goal of the conference was to shape a post war peace that represented a plan to give the post-nazi people self-determination. 'Detente' -
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Potsdam Conference
The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet gathered at Cecilienhof where Stalin, Churchill, and Truman gathered to decide how to administer Germany, which had agreed to unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier on May 8th. The goals of the conference also included the establishment of postwar order, peace treaty issues, and countering the effects of the war. 'Detente' -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stage of World War II, the United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. The two bombings killed about 226,000 people, most of whom were believed to be civilians. This remains the only time nuclear weapons were used during an armed conflict. 'Spheres of Influence' -
Soviet Creation of Nuclear Weapons
On December 25, 1946, the Soviets created their first chain reaction. After encountering some difficulties with the production of plutonium and the isotopic separation of uranium over the next two years, Soviet scientists managed to get their first production reactor working satisfactorily in the fall of 1948. 'Brinkmanship' -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy whose stated purpose was to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. It was announced to Congress by President Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947. The Truman Doctrine implied American support for other nations allegedly threatened by Soviet communism. The Truman Doctrine became the foundation of American foreign policy, and then led to the formation of NATO. Containment -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an passing in 1948 to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave over $12 billion in economic assistance to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II. The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-torn regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, improve European prosperity, and prevent the spread of Communism. 'Deterence' -
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan was the system created by the Soviet Union in 1947 in order to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union. It is the Soviet Union's version of the Marshall Plan, which for political reasons the Eastern European countries would not be able to join without leaving the Soviet sphere of influence. -
Brussels Treaty
The Treaty of Brussels, also referred to as the Brussels Pact, was the founding treaty of the Western Union between 1948 and 1954. The treaty provided for the organisation of military, economic, social and cultural cooperation among member states, as well as a mutual defence clause. 'Detente' -
Berlin Blockade
During the multinational occupation of post WWII Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. The Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche Mark from West Berlin. 'Brinkmanship' -
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949. NATO constitutes a system of collective defence where its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. Twelve countries were part of the founding of NATO, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 'Alignment' -
Stalin's Death
Joseph Stalin, the second leader of the Soviet Union, died on 5 March 1953 at the Kuntsevo Dacha aged 74 after suffering a stroke. After four days of national mourning, Stalin was given a state funeral and then buried in Lenin's Mausoleum on March 9, 1953. -
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Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North Korea with the support of China and the Soviet Union and South Korea with the support of the United Nations, with the principal support from the United States. The war began on June 25, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border. 'Deterence' -
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Vietnam War
The Vietnam War, was an undeclared war in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies; South Vietnam was supported by the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand and other anti-communist allies. -
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Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution of 195, or the Hungarian Uprising, was a nationwide revolution against the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. Leaderless when it first began, it was the first major threat to Soviet control since the Red Army drove Nazi Germany from its territory at the End of World War II in Europe. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a defence treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland between the Soviet Union and seven Eastern Bloc satellite states of Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955. The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, the regional economic organization for the socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe. It is considered to have been motivated by Soviet desires to maintain control over military forces in Central and Eastern Europe. 'Non-alignment' -
NORAD
North American Aerospace Defense Command, known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Northern America. 'Alignment' -
Fidel Castro Taking Over
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz August 13, 1926 - November 25, 2016 was a Cuban communist revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba in power 1959-2008. A Marxist - Lenin and Cuban nationalist, Castro also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state, while industry and business were nationalized and state socialist reforms were implemented throughout society. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the Central Intelligence Agency rebel group Brigade 2506 on April 17, 1961. A counter-revolutionary military group made up of mostly Cuban exiles who had traveled to the United States after Castro's takeover, and also US military personnel, trained by the CIA, fronted the armed wing of the Democratic Revolutionary Front and intended to overthrow the increasingly communist government of Fidel Castro. 'Liberation' -
Creation of Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic, starting on August 13, 1961, the Wall cut off West Berlin from virtually all of surrounding East Germany and East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc portrayed the Wall as protecting its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. 'Expansionism' -
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Afghanistan/Soviet War
The Soviet-Afghan War lasted over nine years, from December 1979 to February 1989. Insurgent groups known collectively as the mujahideen, as well as smaller Maoist groups, fought a guerrilla war against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government. The mujahideen groups were backed primarily by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, making it a Cold War proxy war. Between 562,000 and 2,000,000 civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country. -
Solidarity in Poland
Solidarity was a broad anti-bureaucratic social movement, using the methods of civil resistance to advance the causes of workers' rights and social change. The government attempted to destroy the union by imposing martial law in Poland, which lasted from December 1981 to July 1983 and was followed by several years of political repression from 8 October 1982, but in the end it was forced to negotiate with Solidarity. -
Berlin Wall Falling
On November 9, 1989, as the Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin’s Communist Party announced a change in his city’s relations with the West. Starting at midnight that day, he said, citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country’s borders -
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Czechoslovakia Revolution
The Czechoslovakia Revolution was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from November 17 to December 29, 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia included students and older dissidents. The result was the end of 41 years of one-party rule in Czechoslovakia, and the subsequent dismantling of the planned economy and conversion to a parliamentary republic. -
End of the Cold War
During 1989 and 1990, the Berlin Wall came down, borders opened, and free elections ousted Communist regimes everywhere in eastern Europe. In late 1991 the Soviet Union itself dissolved into its component republics. The Iron Curtain was lifted and the Cold War came to an end.