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Joseph Stalin
Became Soviet dictator in 1926. By 1927, he began a massive effort to industrialize the country. He had modernized the USSR with a 5 year plan, but he did not tolerate opposition to his rule. His efforts brought 10 million deaths, most were peasants who resisted communist policies. He may have been a determined leader who brought the USSR into being a world superpower, but his dictatorship killed MANY. Died in 1953 -
Harry S. Truman
He became the 33rd president of the united states after the death of Franklin Roosevelt in 1945. Truman lead the US threw the end of WW 2 and the cold war begun under his control. he failed to win the korean war which lead to a decline in support for truman. Truman also created the Truman Doctrine, supporting foes of communism. -
N.A.T.O.
A mutual defense alliance. The threatening expansion of the Soviet Union in Europe led to the forming of NATO. 12 countries agreed to come to the aid of any member who was attacked or was affected possible Soviet aggression -
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong was a major revolutionary who came into power in 1945 and was responsible for China’s change to communism. Mao Zedong turned China into a Socialist/Communist country by founding the People’s Republic of China. -
United Nations
Roosevelt thought that a new international political organization could prevent another world war. 1944 D.C. delegates from 39 countries met to discuss the new organisation, which was to be called the United Nations. There will be a General Assembly where every member nation in the world would have one vote. There will be a security council with 11 members, 5 of which are permanent(Britain, France, China, the Soviet Union, and the United States). Permanent members have the power to veto. -
Containment
Containment was the United State’s policy of containing communism. It was a policy that meant that the U.S. would use any means necessary to contain the spread of communism. It started in 1946 and the result was wars and tensions between Soviet supported countries and U.S. supported countries. It was significant because it was the United State’s effort to contain communism and enveloped many different events after World War 2. -
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy was a U.S. republican senator, in power from 1946-1954, who was notorious for making unbacked claims of communism in the U.S. Government. He represented the growing persecution and paranoia of communism in the United States. He was censured by the senate in 1954. -
Truman Doctrine
March 12, 1947, President Truman set forth a new policy stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent being taken over by the Soviets. Arguably the cause of the Cold War. The policy won the support of Republicans who controlled Congress, sending $400 million in American money, but no military forces, to the region. In 1952, both Greece and Turkey Joined NATO, a military alliance that guaranteed their protection. -
Marshall Plan
American program to aid Europe, by the United States giving monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II. This was of course to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. The plan began in April of 1948 and ran for 4 years. The goals of the United States were to rebuild a war-devastated region, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again. The plan weakened the appeal of Communism and opened new markets for trade. -
Berlin Airlift
This was in response to Soviet troops cutting off all road and rail traffic to West Berlin. The American commander in Germany, General Lucius Clay, warned that if Berlin fell, West Germany would too. In June of 1948, Truman the Berlin Airlift to begin. The goal was to keep West Berlin alive without provoking war with the Soviets. For 11 months, cargo planes brought over 2 million tons of supplies, providing Berliners with food, medicine, and coal. Stalin lifted the blockade on May 12, 1949. -
Korean War
Soviet supported North Korea invaded American backed South Korea. The fighting went back and forth across 38th parallel before an armistice agreement was settled on in 1953. It showed the rising tensions between the USSR and the US and brought the Cold War to Asia. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight was a republican and the 34th president and served for two terms, 1953-1961. Before his time in office he was the commander of the D-day invasion. He promised to deny and defeat communism and he also put and end to the korean war. -
vietnam war
The U.S. supported South Vietnam fought against the communist North Vietnam in an attempt to stop the spread of communism. The US used air superiority and artillery while the north vietnamese used conventional guerilla tactics. The U.S. eventually pulled out of the war.It was a major battle against the spread of communism and a very costly war. North Vietnam ultimately took control of South Vietnam after the peace agreement on April 30th, 1975 -
Nikita Khrushchev
Sovet leader by 1956, after Stalin. He had attacked Stalin's policies and insisted there were other ways to build a Communist society. Started the "de-Stalinization" process in Soviet Union. Also it was his idea to place missiles in Cuba, but agreed to take them down when the US found them. The CMC weakened his political position. -
John F. Kennedy
He was the 35th president of the US and was elected in 1961 at 43, the youngest to be elected into the white house. He promised to close the missile gap in his election. He failed in 1961 in the Bay of Pigs Invasion and almost led the Cuban missile Crisis into a nuclear holocaust. -
Berlin Wall
In June of 1961, Khrushchev met with Kennedy and said that he wanted to stop the flood of Germans pouring out of Communist East Germany into West Berlin. He did this by Building a wall through Berlin, sealing off the Soviet Sector. Guards were posted along the wall and shot anyone trying to escape from the East. -
Cuban Missile Crisis (part 1)
The closest the world has ever been to a nuclear war. Summer of 1962, USA's intelligence learned that the Soviets had equipment in Cuba. On October 22, Kennedy announced on TV that US spy planes have photos of the Soviet's long-ranged missiles in Cuba. The missiles where very close to America, and it came off as a threat. JFK immediately ordered a naval blockade to stop Soviets from delivering more missiles. Also JFK demanded that they dismantle the existing missile sites. -
Cuban Missile Crisis (part 2)
Soviet Union offered a deal after secret negotiations and came to the conclusion that they will remove the missiles, if the US promises to not invade Cuba and to remove their missiles from Turkey, which was near the Soviet border. Neither did JFK nor Khrushchev wanted a nuclear war. Reached agreement on Oct. 28. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
He was the 36th president attending office after the assignation of JFK in 1963. Inherited Kennedy's Foreign policy and most of his advisers and thought to be carrying out Kennedy's legacy. Got extremely involved with the Vietnam War. One of the main exponents in the 1964 Civil Rights Movement. -
Ronald Reagan
America’s 40th president, said to be America’s most popular president since FDR.
During the Cold war, Reagan initiated Strategic Defense Initiative, SDI, also known as Star Wars – a wide-scale research and development effort aimed to build an antimissile defense shield. He made peace with Gorbachev to avoid an arms race or any other unnecessary conflict. -
Iran Contra Scandal
The Iran Contra Scandal (also known as the Iran Contra Affair) was a secret arrangement in the 1980s to sell arms to Iran to provide funds to the Nicaraguan contra rebels. This scandal was a product of different initiatives during Ronald Reagan's presidency. -
George H.W. Bush
President Bush had previously been vice president during Reagan’s presidency. Bush headed administration task forces on deregulation and fighting the War on Drugs. He promised “no new taxes” in his campaign, but since America’s deficit was so enflames from Reagan’s presidency, he didn’t follow through with his promise. -
Fall of Berlin Wall (part 1)
By 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union(Reagan is now in office). He believed that the Soviet Union had to reform its economic system or it would soon collapse. Gorbachev wanted to make peace and Reagan challenged him by demanding that the Berlin Wall be taken down. The Soviet economy in the late 1980s was really suffering, and to save it Gorbachev makes some changes to Soviet principles with hope of a positive outcome. -
Fall of Berlin Wall (part 2)
In 1989, these new principles lead to peaceful revolutions spreading across Eastern Europe, eventually reaching East Germany. At midnight on November 9, 1989, guards at the Berlin Wall opened the Gates and within days, bulldozers leveled the hated symbol of Communist repression. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
He became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1990. He gave more rights back to the people ended the Cold war, which symbolized the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. At the ends of the Cold War communism fell he was soon forced to step down from presidency. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
The collapse of the Soviet Union was a great blow to the hopes of revolutionaries. The primary causes of its collapse were political and economic and they were the result of the
culture of war. -
Warsaw Pact
After West Germany joined NATO, the decision alarmed the Soviets. The Soviet leaders responded by organizing the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance, with all the Communist countries.
