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Tehran Conference
The leaders of the UK, the USA, and the Soviet Union met to discuss how to win the Second Cold War in November 1943. Positive impacts on the relationship between the Soviet Union and USA, but negative impacts on the UK and Soviet Union. -
America's Atomic Bomb Drop
America dropped two atomic bombs on Japan (in Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Stalin saw the bombs as a threat and this increased tensions as the atomic bomb drop was not discusses during the Yalta Conference and nobody but the USA was aware that this was going to happen. -
Yalta Conference
Agreed that Germany should pay $20 billion for reperations. The UK and USA agreed to give the Soviet Union a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe and land in Poland if Stalin promised to give them free elections. -
Potsdam Conference
Germany and Berlin would be split into 4 zones (France, USA, UK, Soviet Union). The Soviet Union would recieve 25% of the industrial equipment from the other three zones. Nazi party was banned and criminals were prosecuted. -
Novikov Telegram
When the Soviet Union found out about the Long Telegram, they asked Novikov (a Soviet ambassador in Washington) to send them his asessment of US attitudes towards the Soviet Union. -
Kennan's Long Telegram
Kennan was a USA ambassador in Moscow who reported his assessment of the Soviet Union's attitudes towards the USA in 8000 words. It was nicknamed the Long Telegram. -
Churchill's "Iron Curtain" Speech
Although Churchill was no longer the Prime Minister, he was still very influential. He was concerned about how Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania had become communist, so he made a speech about how the Soviet Union and become a threat to freedom and peace. The "Iron Curtain" was a metaphorical border that seperated communism and capitalism in Europe. -
Truman Doctrine
Truman believed that poor struggling countries were turning to communism because they were desperate. Truman created the Truman Doctrine to try and pull poor countries away from the idea of communism by giving them money and supplies for rebuilding. This increased tensions as Stalin saw this as bribing countries to be capitalist. -
Cominform
Cominform was established to ensure that members would remain communist and remove any opposition. Members were also discouraged from communicating with Western countries. It was a response to the Marshall Plan and meant Stalin could direct and control the governments of satellite states. Yugoslavia was removed from cominform in1948 after rising tensions with the Soviet Union. -
Marshall Plan
This was the actual economic side to the Truman Doctrine. The Marshal Plan gave $13 billion to countries in need based on their pre-war economy. This economic aid was also available to satellite states but Stalin refused to take the money from the USA. -
Trizonia
The USA, UK, and France joined their zones into one called Trizonia. There was now a clear division between the communist eats and capitalist west. Berlin was also split between the east and west. They created a new currency for Trizonia called the Deutchemark. -
Berlin Blockade
Stalin wanted to show that Germany should have one whole economy instead of splitting it in two (East and West). He tried to gain control of Berlin by shutting land routes into west berlin with a wall around it. This meant that food and supplies could not be delivered normally. West Belin only had enough food for 36 days and had to have food flown in because Truman didn't want to abandon his idea of containment or the Truman Doctrine. -
Berlin Airlift
The USA and Britain flew in 1000 tonnes of food into West Berlin everyday. During the height of the Berlin Airlift, a plane landed every 45 seconds. The allies refused to agree to Stalin's offer - he would lift the blockade if the got rid of the Deutchemark. Stalin couldn't shoot down planes as that would lead to war and had to eventually lift the blockade because it got humilliating for the Soviet Union. -
Comecon
Stalin set this up in response to the Marshall Plan and gave economic aid to the communist countries in his sphere of influence. It discouraged trade with the West and set up trade with other countries that were part of Comecon. It allowed Stalin and the Soviet Union to control Europe's economy. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was formed with 12 members as a stand against communism due to rising tension between the East and West. NATO is a military alliance based on collective security - if one country is attacked, all have to defend it. It further increased tensions between the east and west. -
The Creation of West and East Germany
Germany would still be divided but now theree was the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) - Bonn was chosen as the capital, and the German Democratic Republic (GRD) - East Berlin remained the capital. -
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The Arms Race
A time when the Soviet Union and the USA competed to see who could created the most powerful nuclear weapon first. -
Khrushchev comes to power in the USSR
Stalin dies and Khrushchev is appointed as the new leader of the USSR. -
The Warsaw Pact
This was created as a response to West Geramny joining NATO. There was now not only a seperation in idealogy but there also were two rival military forces prepared for war. This was a militari allience between countries in the 'Eastern Bloc' that guaranteed 'collective security'. It was the Soviet Union's NATO equivilent and increased the likelihood of war in Europe. There was now a very clear divide between the West and East in Europe. -
Hungarian Uprising
The Soviet Union treated and paid their workers poorly resulting in discontentment and poor health. Khrushchev apointed Nagy as prime minister of Hungary and created limited reforms to stop people from protesting. Khrushchev reacted very aggressivly towards the Hungarian Uprising and sent 1000 troops to stop it. Eisenhower decided not to send help to Hungary crushing their hope of freedom and democracy. It caused the Soviet Union to become even stricter. -
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The Space Race
A competition between the USA and the Soviet Union to achieve significant milestones in space exploration. -
Berlin Ultimatum
Khrushchev threatened to hand over transport control to the GDR if the West didn't dematerialise Berlin and make it a 'free' city in 6 months. -
Berlin Refugee Crisis
West Germany had more freedom and a better economy, while East Germany experienced food shortages and sudden arrests by the Stasi who woulf torture people. In 1953 East Berliners protested against their government and began to leave East Berlin to live in the West as there was free movement between the two. This created a refugee crisis as too many people left East and West Germany could house all of the people coming in. This embarassed the USSR and inceased tension between the West and East. -
Geneva Summit
The first meeting discussed what to do with Berlin. The representatives couldn't agree on what would resolve the Berlin Ultimatum. Eisenhower and Khrushchev's relationship improved. -
The Cuban Revolution
Fidel Castro started an uprising against Batista (the leader of Cuba at the time) and succeeded in January 1959. He then formed a new nationalist government. Fidel didn't want the USA controlling Cuba's economy and signed agreements with Khrushchev. In 1960, Eisenhower reduced business with Cuba and b 1961 he banned all trade with Cuba. -
Berlin Wall
The Soviet Union constructed the Berlin Wall to separate East and West Berlin. It became a symbol of the 'Iron Curtain' and temporarily de-escalated tensions between the USA and the Soviet Union. There was a mass migration from East to West Berlin embarrassing the USSR. There was now no free movement between the two sides. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs was a huge disaster for the USA and embarrassed them deeply. The Bay of Pigs invasion intended to remove Castro's government and appoint a pro-American one. The CIA wanted to use Cuban exiles to invade Cuba so it would look like a counter-revolution instead of an American invasion. The exiles were given limited training and were quickly defeated by Castro because he was warned of their arrival ahead of time. It heightened tensions between the USA and Soviet Union. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
America had missile launch pads in West Germany so the USSR felt threatened. Their sugar business agreement caused them to become allies with Cuba and decided to build missile launch pads in Cuba. America sent a U-2 spy plane to spy on Cuba and found these launch pads. During the 'Thirteen Days' Kennedy sent naval ships to guard to coast of Cuba and stop Soviet ships delivering the missiles. They sailed back to the USSR. In return, America got rid of their missiles in West Berlin. -
Kennedy's 'Ich bin ein Berliner' Speech
The USA's president, Kennedy, praised the strength of West Berlin and maintained his country's image as the prospector of freedom. 'Berliner' also means 'doughnut' in German, so it caused some confusion, but the people of West Germany appreciated his attempt to speak German. -
The 'hotline'
Moscow and Washington established a direct communications line with each other. This improved communication between the USA and the Soviet Union. -
Test Ban Treaty
Signed by the USA, the Soviet Union and Britain. The treaty banned the testing of nuclear weapons in space, underwater and in the atmosphere. This treaty slowed down the nuclear arms race.