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WW2 Ends
World War II ends, which also ends American-Soviet cooperation -
Berlin Blockade
Berlin blockade and consequent airlift increases tensions
Berlin Blockade: The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control -
Marshall Plan
Truman establishes the Marshall Plan to contain communist expansion (policy of containment)
Marshall Plan: the United States provides economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe.
Containment: Containment was a United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. -
Creation of NATO
Creation of NATO to deter any aggression from the Soviet bloc
NATO:The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.
Bloc:A bloc is a group of countries which have similar political aims and interests and that act together over some issues. -
Korean War and Proxy War
Korean War begins after the USSR fails to show up for a veto in the UN, starting the first proxy war
Korean war:conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in which at least 2.5 million persons lost their lives.
Proxy War: is defined to be "a war fought between groups of smaller countries that each represent the interests of other larger powers, and may have help and support from these" -
Creation of the Warsaw Pact
Creation of the Warsaw Pact as a response to NATO through collective security
Warsaw Pact:The Warsaw Pact was created in reaction to the integration of West Germany into NATO in 1955 per the London and Paris Conferences of 1954. The Warsaw Pact was established as a balance of power to NATO.
Collective Security:system by which states have attempted to prevent or stop wars. -
Warsaw Pact ended
The Warsaw Pact is dissolved, with some members seeking to join NATO -
Khrushchev calls for peace
Khrushchev calls for peaceful co-existence
Peaceful Co-existence:a living together in peace rather than in constant hostility -
Hungarian Uprising
The Hungarian Uprising demonstrates that the Warsaw Pact is not ideologically unified, but this liberation movement is crushed by Warsaw Pact forces
Hungarian Uprising: A spontaneous national uprising that killed and wounded thousands and nearly a quarter-million Hungarians fled the country. Vicious street fighting broke out, but Soviets were victorious
Liberation Movement: is an organization leading a rebellion, or a non-violent social movement, against a national government. -
Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall is built to prevent further Western expansion in the region
Berlin Wall: The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 to stop an exodus from the eastern, communist party of divided Germany to the more prosperous west
Expansion: the action of becoming larger or more extensive -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis almost leads to a nuclear war between the superpowers due to brinkmanship
Cuban Missile Crisis: The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict.
Brinkmanship:the art or practice of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stopping, especially in politics. -
Prague Spring ends
The Prague Spring ends when the Soviet Union invades, followed by the Brezhnev Doctrine
Prague Spring:The Prague Spring of 1968 is the term used for the brief period of time when the government of Czechoslovakia led by Alexander Dubček seemingly wanted to democratize the nation and lessen the stranglehold Moscow had on the nation's affairs
Brezhnev: Soviet statesman and Communist Party official who was, in effect, the leader of the Soviet Union for 18 years. -
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty is signed
The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty is signed
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty:The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. -
Helsinki Accords
Helsinki Accords provide a degree of détente during the Cold War
Helsinki Accords: The Helsinki Accords were primarily an effort to reduce tension between the Soviet and Western blocs by securing their common acceptance of the post-World War II status quo in Europe. Détente: the easing of hostility or strained relations, especially between countries. -
End of Vietnam War
demonstrating the failure of containment and the Domino Theory
Vietnam War: was a long and costly conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the US and the USSR.
Domino Theory: was policy that a communist government in one nation would quickly lead to communist takeovers in neighboring states, each falling like a perfectly aligned row of dominos. -
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan leads to an increase of hostilities
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on December 24 1979 under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty. The treaty was signed in 1978 and the two countries agreed to provide economic and military assistance. -
Solidarity Trade Union
Solidarity trade union organizes the pro-democracy movement in Poland
Pro-democracy movement:The pro-democracy activists emerged from the youth movements in the 1970s and began to take part in electoral politics as the colonial government introduced representative democracy in the mid 1980s
Solidarity: unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group. -
Berlin Wall was torn down
Berlin Wall is torn down, a year later Germany is reunified -
START
START is signed to reduce the number of nuclear weapons being created as a form of deterrence
START: The Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation of Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms,
Deterrence: deterrence strategy was aimed mainly at preventing aggression by the hostile Communist power centers—the USSR and its allies, Communist China, and North Korea. In particular, the strategy was devised to prevent a nuclear attack by the USSR or China. -
End of Cold War
The Soviet Union ceases to exist, effectively ending the Cold War