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Russian Revolution
Before 1917 Russia was fighting in World War I. In 1917 the country really started to fall apart. They had to withdraw from World War I because they were in a civil war. The bolsheviks eventually won the civil war and in 1922 Vladimir Lenin became the first leader of the reborn country. He started the communist party in the Soviet Union. In 1924 Joseph Stalin tookover in office and really shaped the country and its development. This influenced more countries to turn to communism. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the peace treaty at the end of World War II. It put full blame of the war on Germany. The unfairness of the treaty lead to the easy rise of hitler, and World War II. After World War Two, U.S.S.R. and America emerged has Super Powers. This lead to en extrem power struggle, and race to prove one was better than the other. -
League of Nations
The League of Nations was a peace keeping council of countries tasked to handle world problems as well as possible. Created after World War I, the idea came from Woodrow Wilsons 14 Points. America, however, didn't join. In 1939 the U.S.S.R. was kicked from the League for its imoerialism of Finland. This appeasment of the League let the U.S.S.R. to gain land, power, and spread communism, This made the amount of nationalism in the U.S.S.R. to skyrocket, and lead to its feeling better than America. -
General Assembly
The General Assembly was one of two parts in the United Nations. (Other part being the Security Council) The US, Soviet Union, France, Britain, and China were permant members, others were elected in for two year terms. The General Assembly had the power to veto the Security Council, by 1950 the Security Council was pointless. The General Assembly often disagreed, mainly the Soviet Union and the US. This put political tension on the two nations and could be attributed to the Cold War. -
Yalta Conferance
The 'Big Three' (FDR, Stalin, and Churchill) met in Yalta, Ukraine. The goal of the meeting was to decide what to do with post world war two germany. FDR and Stalin both disagreed. This tightened the feud between Russia and America. And also lead to the dividing of Berlin. -
United Nations
It was created so problems could be solved through discussion instead of through violence. Mainly used as forum for disscussion. There was two parts to the United Nations. The general assembly and the security council. The security council was made out of 15 countries and 5 were permenant and others rotate the positions. France, Great Britain, United States, Russia, and China were permanent members. The soviets could veto almost anything so it was kind of useless. -
Nuremburg Trials Started
This was the trials for German officers' crime during World War II. The trials were held by the allied forces in Nuremburg, Germany. They held the trails in Nuremburg because they could be held in the undamaged Palace of Justice. Also Nuremburg is credited to be the birth place for the nazi party so it was a good place to see the nazi party die. So after a World War some German officers were given harsh but just crimes. If the situation wasn't handled correctly it could have setup a war. -
Iron Curtain Speech
In 1946 Winston Churchill delivered this speech to a crowd of 40,000 and Westminister College. In this speech he announced how the Soviet Union has set up these satelite nations to protect them. These satelite countries to Churchill were his Iron Curtain. Some say that this speech was the start of the Cold War because it really showed how Europe was seperated and the USA and USSR were working very seperatley. -
Baruch Plan
The Baruch plan was made by Bernard Baruch. It was an agreement proposed at the United Nations which if accepted the U.S. would get rid of theres if other countries would stop producing them and could be adequatley inspected. The Soviet Union veto'd this on the grounds that the United Nations was dominated by the United States and its allies and that any agreement proposed would favor the U.S.A. more than the Soviet Union. -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman created this document as his foreign policy. Bascically the Containment Policy, Truman declared, "It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." The 'outside pressures' referred to the USSR and its pusing communism. This basically told the soviets that America will not put up with their expansion. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an idea to send money to ailing Post-World-War-II European countries. With the Soviet spread of Communism so close to them America needed a plan. They budgeted about thirteen billion dollars for any European country that needed it. The stipulation was that it had to be spent on American goods. Sixteen counries accepted, however The Soviet Puppet Governments were not allowed. This cash flow to non-Communist European countries made them much less likely to fall to Communism. -
Berlin Airlift
The USSR wanred full control of the split up Berlin. To try to steal Berlin the USSR cut all ties to East Berlin. Hoping to starve them out until America, France, and Great Brittian gave up their side. America, Brittian and other allies began the Berlin Airlift to supply the East Berliners. Over the 324 days of the airlift two million tons of supplies were sent in. This caused Russia major embarresment. And soon they lifted the barricade. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organazation Created
The North Atlantic Treaty Organazation or N.A.T.O. for short was an alliance system involving the United States and the Western European countries. This came into effect when the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington D.C, United States. In response to this the U.S.S.R. created the Warsaw Pact. Which was essentially the same but involved the U.S.S.R. and Eastern European Countries. This created a great rivalry between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. This could lead to World War III. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
This event was the communist takeover of mainland China. Previously China was developing into a democratic country. China entered a civil war after World War II. After the civil war the communist side led by Mao Zedong had most control over mainland China. I believe that because of the civil war and China turning into a communist country led us to intervene in Korea and Vietnam. -
Joseph McCarthy Speech
Joseph McCarthy gave a speech about possible communists in the United States. He claimed that there were 57 communists in the state department and later mentioned each name. People took this speech seriously because of McCarthy's sensational nature and that the spread of communism was very feared. People were cautious of this being true because of the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949, the soviets building a nuclear weapon, and the confession of a spy. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a 'Proxy War' between the Soviets and the U.S.A. North Korea, backed by the U.S.S.R., dreamed of uniting Korea under one Communist Government. South Korea, backed by the U.S., was trying to remain Capitalist. After years of a war that literally moved nowhere, Eisenhower bagan hinting at Americas nuclear weapons to move it along. Soon after this, Armistice was declared and the two countries were split at the 38th parallel, which became the Demilitarized Zone. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was the Soviet responce to Nato. Comprised of Russia, and its Satelites. The Warsaw Pact, also known as The Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance. This pact had set up an Alliance System, making the threat of war more dangerous. -
Sputnik Launched
Sputnik was the first satelite launched into space from earth. It was the start of a technological revolution. The significance of this was that we are able to send stuff into space and send signals to it and recieve the signal somewhere else. This made communication a lot easier from other places. Because of this the Soviet Union looked superior because they had the first satelite in space. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
On January 1, 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew American Backed General Fulgencio Batista. Over the next few years, the U.S. State Department and the CIA attempted to push Castro from power. The CIA soon launcheda full-scale invasion of Cuba by 1,400 American-trained Cubans who had fled their homes when Castro took over. The attacking rebels soon were overpowered, this major failure of the US government made us look weak, and powerless to stop the spread of Communism. -
Fidel Castro proclaims communist Cuba
In 1959 The civil war in Cuba had ended and Fidel Castro had taken over the country of Cuba. In 1961 he declared it a socialist state. The U.S.A. was very fearful that communism would spread over the western hemisphere. Cuba had grown very close relations with the U.S.S.R. This made the U.S.A. very afraid having a Soviet ally so close. -
Building of Berlin Wall Begins
After The Yalta Conference, Germany was split between France, Brittian, America, and Russia. Berlin was also divided into four sections. America, Brittian and France combined their parts. Leaving Democratic West Germany and Communist East . Soon the Soviets cut off ties with the rest of germany by building the Berlin Wall seperating The West from anyone trapped in East Berlin. This wall seemed like a real Iron Curtain blinding those covered in Communism, just like Winston Churchill claimed. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Fidel Castro became the leader of Cuba with a communist government. The Soviet Union and Cuba were allies. They made an agreement where the Soviet Union could place nuclear missle sites in Cuba. The U.S. had spy planes that took photographs of nuclear missles. This was how they discovered the missles in the first place. John F. Kennedy decided to setup a blockade to stop the missles. Kennedy and Khrushchev came to an agreement that the U.S.S.R. would take there missles out of Cuba. -
John F. Keneddy Visits Berlin Wall
John F Kennedy stopped in west Berlin to visit Checkpoint Charlie, a point where Soviet and U.S. tanks had fought two years prior. Kennedy delivered a short speech that became one of his best. 120,000 people came to the area to hear him. The speech went so well the area was renamed John F. Kennedy Platz. The speech then concluded with the famous line, "Ich bin ein Berliner!" Unfortunatly no one told him that a Berliner was a Jelly Filled Donut. -
U.S. sends troops to Vietnam
President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a deployment of a U.S. Marine Corps Hawk air defense missile battalion, to provide protection for the key U.S. airbase there. China and the Soviet Union threatened to take extra measures if America continued to send troops. However, America overlooked this warning and continued sending troops, having the largest number in 1968 with a total 553,000. -
Nuclear Deterrent
Nuclear Detterent was our policy of nuclear missles. Very similar to M.A.D. The Soviets fought they could win a nuclear war so the deterrent was that if the U.S.A. was attacked we would attack back just as strong and destroy them. Making the Soviets think if it would be really worth it to attack. -
MAD
On September 18th 1967, Seceratry of Defense Robert McNamara made a speech outlining the dangers of atomic weapons. Mainly, MAD: Mutual Assured Destruction. He warned that in this Atomic Age, a thermonuclear war would destroy the attacker, and defender. Resulting in total destruction of both sides. -
Non Proliferation Agreement
This was a treaty between all countries that was trying to stop the production of nuclear arms and weapons and to find better uses for nuclear energy. This treaty was optional for any country to sign. With this it was to promote using the energy for other uses. More treaties would come into play but it didnt seem like any of these treaties really did much. If any country wanted to they really could have just ignored the treaty and used their weapons. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 left earth on July 16, 1969. Neil Armstrong was the first man to ever step on the surface of the moon on July 21, 1969. Him and Buzz Aldrin collected around 47 pounds of lunar material to bring back home. The U.S. won the space race. It also fulfilled Kennedy's goal. In a speech he said that "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." This also proved our science program to be superior to the Soviets'. -
Kent State Shootings
At Kent State college in Ohio some students were holding a non-violent protest about the war in Vietnam and the Cambodian campaign. The protesters damaged several buildings and the local police couldn't handle it. Then the national guard showed up to try and handle it. When they got there the protesters threw bottles and other objects at the guards. The protesters approached them. Their commander told them to fire over there heads. Some fired over, others fired into the crowd. -
SALT I
The first Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, or SALT I, were a serious of treaty negotiations that led to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Meaning neither America or the U.S.S.R. could fire their ballistic weapons. -
Fall of Saigon
The fall of Saigon was the end of the Vietnam Civil War. It ended by the North Vietnamese army taking over Saigon the capital of South Vietnam. This was after the USA stopped intervening trying to help the South Vietnamese side. The northern side was backed by the Soviet Union and after the war Vietnam would become a unified communist nation. Saigon would be named Ho Chi Minh. After the loss it was proved that the domino effect wasn't true as other countries did not become communist. -
Deng Xiaopeng 1978-1992
Deng Xiaoping was the leader of the People's Republic of China after Mao Zhedong died. Deng Ziaoping put China in the right direction when he switched China's command economy into a market economy. Because of this China had much financial success and is the reason they are doing so well today. Because of Xiaoping's decision for China to be a market economy has shown that the U.S.A.'s system works better and helped them gain more nationwide respect and superiority over the Soviet Union. -
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II was the 264th pope, and was in Papacy until April 2 2005. The Pope John Paul II is said to have persuaded over a billion Catholics to dislike communism. Which could easily make many people in The Soviet Union to possibly rebel. -
Margaret Thatcher
Leader of Great Britain from 1979-1990. Her foreign policies were all mainly sided with the United States. She disagreed with U.S.A. on little but were still trusted allies of the United States because of their opinion on communism. -
SALT II
The second Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty, or SALT II was a serious of negotiations between Soviets, and the United States. The main goal of the US was to hold back third generation MIRVs and ICBMs. Since Russia invaded Afghanistan and the discovery of another missle site in cuba, the US Senate never ratified the treaty. Even though it wasnt ratified both sides held true to the treaty until 1986. -
Soviets invade Afghanistan
The Centrist government was overthrown by a communist government. This government had little support so the Soviets backed them. The soviets had to give them a lot of help because they were afraid they would lose to the Mujahideen in the Afghan War. The mujahideen was a guerilla group who was backed by the United States. In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev was the leader of the Soviet Union. He had far different foreign policy and it showed when he took the last troops out of Afghanistan in 1989. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
When the Berlin Wall opened, the huge flow of traffic was amazing. When Germans actually began defacing and ripping apart the wall Bush and his cabinet realised that Gorbachev seriously wanted to improve Western relationships. -
Lech Walesa
The second president of Poland from December 22 1990 – December 22 1995. Ever since he was young he was an Anti-Communist Activist. Under his lead, Poland evolved into a Post-Communist country. -
START I
The first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START I, is the biggest weapons control treaty in history. Dealing with more than 6,000 nuclear warheads atop a total of 1,600 ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and bombers. The treaty stated that no one could use the weapons in question at any moment as long as the treaty stood. When the treaty expired in 2008 Obama and Russian President Medvedev both signed into effect again. -
START II
The Second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START II. The START II banned the use of Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs) on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
