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Yalta Conference
Yalta ConferenceThe Big Three (Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill) met at Yalta in Ukraine to plan what would happen to Europe after Germany's defeat. They discussed about the dividing of Germany, the formation of the UN, German war reparations, the entry of Soviet forces in Japan, and the future of Poland. -
Potsdam Conference
Potsdam ConferenceIt was the second conference of the Allied leaders held in Potsdam. The leaders, Stalin, Harry Truman, and Churchill met to negotiate terms for the end of WWII. The major question was how to handle Germany. The Potsdam Conference did not end with complete agreement due to the many disagreements. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall PlanThe Marshall Plan was also known as the European Recovery Program. It was a project instituted at the Paris Economic Conference to aid economic recovery in certain European countries after World War II.Completed in 1952, the Marshall Plan was one aspect of the foreign aid program of the United States and greatly contributed to the economic recovery of Europe -
Berlin Blockade and Berlin Airlift
Berlin AirliftBerlin BlockadeThe Soviet Union stopped all shipments to Berlin from West Germany and cut off electricity from the western part of Berlin. It left about 2.5 million people without supplies and power. In response to the blockade, the US and Great Britain supplied necessities to wester Berlin by air transport known as the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin Blockade lasted 320 days and finally ended on May 12, 1949 -
NATO
NATOAlso known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, it was established under the North Atlantic Treaty by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States. The organization was established to safeguard the freedom of the North Atlantic countries during the Cold War. -
Communism China
China CommunismCommunist forces under Mao Zedong take over China and defeats the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek. However, the United States continued to support the Nationalists which is forced to retreat to the island of Taiwan. -
McCarthyism
McCarthyismU.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy begins his communist witch hunt in the United States. "Our job as Americans and as Republicans is to dislodge the traitors from every place where they've been sent to do their traitorous work." -Joseph McCarthy -
Korean War
Korean WarKorean WarThe Korean War began when soldiers from the North Korean People's Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between South Korea and Norh Korea. By July, the US had enter the war on South Korea's behalf. After some struggle back and forth across the 38th boundary, the fighting stalled. In July 1953, the Korean War ended. -
Rosenberg Executions
Rosenberg ExecutionsJulius and Ethel Rosenberg, a married couple convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage in 1951, are put to death in the electric chair. They were accused of heading a spy ring that passed top-secret information concerning the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union -
Vietnam War
Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War began shortly after the division of North and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel. The US involvement in the Vietnam War was due to the fear of the "domino effect." If South Vietnam was to fall under the rule of communism, its bordering counties, such as Laos and Cambodia, would also fall to communism and communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia. After the wihdrawl of the US from Vietnam in 1973, South Vietnam collapsed to communism. -
Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pactthe Warsaw Pact was formed as communist military alliance to maintain power over Eastern Europe. The treaty called on the member states to come to the defense of any member attacked by an outside force. Members include included the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. -
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U-2 Incident
In 1956, the flights of the U-2 spy planes began over the USSR. The new spy planes flew so high that it could not be shot down by Soviet fighters or antiaircraft missiles. It also carried listening devices and powerful cameras that could read a nespaper on the ground from 23.000 meters. In May 1960, one of the U-2 planes were shot down by improved soviet missiles. The USSR accused the US of spying. This incident caused a downturn in US-Soviet relations. -Modern World History second edition -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
bay of pigsBay of Pigs Invasion On April 1961, the CIA launched a full scale invasion of Cuba by 1,400 American-trained Cubans who had fled their homes when Castro took over. However, the invasion did not go well because they were badly outnumbered by Castro’s troops, and they surrendered after less than 24 hours of fighting. -
Berlin Wall
Berlin WallOn August 13, 1961, the Communist government of East Germany began to build a barbed wire and concrete between East and West Berlin. The official purpose of this Berlin Wall was to keep Western "fascists" from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, but it primarily served the objective of stemming mass defections from East to West. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile CrisisDuring the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. In the end, Khrushchev offered to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. -
MAD and Deterrence
Stands for Mutually Assured Destruction and deterrence is where no side would dare to strike first when it knows the attack would destroy itself too. MAD is a doctrine based off of deterrence. - Modern World History second edition -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Gulf of TonkinThe Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave broad congressional approval for expansion of the Vietnam War. In August, North Vietnamese torpedo boats supposedly attacked the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, off Vietnam, in a pair of assaults. -
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Salt I
Salt IIt was the first series of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, extended from November 1969 to May 1972. During that period the United States and the Soviet Union negotiated the first agreements to place limits and restraints on some of their central and most important armaments. -
Salt II
Salt IIThe completed SALT II agreement was signed by President Carter and General Secretary Brezhnev in Vienna on June 18, 1979. The negotiations for the agreement began in November 1972. The primary goal of SALT II was to replace the Interim Agreement with a long-term comprehensive Treaty providing broad limits on strategic offensive weapons systems. -
Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union
Leader GorbachevGorbachev introduces the policies Glasnost and Perestroika to the USSR. He signs the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty with the United States to limit nuclear weapons and announces the withdrawl of Soviet forces from Afganistan. In 1990, he wins the Nobel Peace Prize and resigns as president in 1991 -
Berlin Wall falls
fall of berlin wallThe Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the leader of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens could cross the border. That night, crowds of people brought their hammers and picks to chip away the wall, and many families were reunified. The Berlin wall is one of the most powerful and significant symbols of the Cold War. picture: www.coutausse.com -
START signed
STARTStart stands for The Strategic Arms Reduction Talk. It was signed on July 31, 1991 by George W. Bush and Gorbachev for additional disarmament of US ans Soviet Union nuclear weapons. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
USSR fallsThe fall of the Soviet Union began to happen after Gorbachev came to power. In April of 1985, Gorbachev and his allies called for "revolutionary changes" and USSR made reforms and signed tresties to disarm both superpowers. Gorbachev withdrew Soviets from Afganistan and The Cold War finally came to an end.
