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Yalta Conference
Cited as start of Cold war. Big 3 met to discuss German terms of surrender and post war occupation of Germany -
Arms Race
The build up of the arms race was a characteristic of the cold war between the US and the Soviet Union through the development of nuclear weapons and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -
Truman Doctrine
Established that the United States would provide political, economic, and military assistance to all democratic nations under the threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. -
Marshall Plan
Plan signed by president Truman that promoted European economic integration and federalism, channeling over $13 billion to finance the economic recovery -
Berlin Blockade
An attempt by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of France, Great Britain, and the United States to travel to their sectors of Berlin, which lay within Russian-occupied East Germany -
Berlin Airlift
Russians closed all highways, railroads, and canals from western occupied Germany into western occupied Berlin. Allies decided to supply their sectors of the city from the air. -
Comecon
Council for Mutual Assistance. Soviet plan to aid in rebuilding Soviet block nations. -
Korean War
This invasion was the first military action of the cold war. American troops had entered the troops on South Koreas behalf. As far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism -
Joseph Stalin Dies
Died of a heart attack which was a great relief to many because of his mass murdering -
Nakita Khrushchev Comes To Power
Largely persuaded a policy of peaceful coexistence with the west, he instigated the Cuban Missile Crisis by placing nuclear weapons 90 miles from Florida. -
Space Race
Race between the US and Soviet Union for spaceflight capability. The technology required was considered to be supreme. -
Vietnam War
Called the 'American War' in Vietnam, the war was part of a larger regional conflict and a manifestation of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies -
Eisenhower
Eisenhower Doctrine (a country being threatened by armed aggression could ask for American economic or military forces) -
Sputnik
1st satellite to orbit Earth intentionally. Sent radio signals back to Earth. Started the Space Race between the USSR and UR -
U- 2 Incident
An international crisis erupted when the soviet union shot down an American U-2 spy plane in the soviet air space and captured its pilot. -
Yuri Gagarian
Gagarian was a cosmonaut. He was the first man to travel in space. The Vostok 1 was his spaceship -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by a group called Brigade 2506. They intended to overthrow the communist government ran by Fidel Castro. -
Berlin Wall
Guarded concrete barrier that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. It was built to protect to protect its population from fascist elements to prevent building a socialist state -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Political and military standoff between over the installation of nuclear armed soviet missiles on Cuba. -
John F. Kennedy
President Kennedy ordered USA to blockade Cuba ports during the Cuba Missile Crisis. Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed with the terms. -
Vietnamization
Under the control of President Richard Wilson, the process of slowly taking US troops out of Vietnam -
Detente
French for relaxation. Improvement for US and Soviet relations. -
Fidel Castro
Was a prime minister of Cuba. Communist forces seized control of Cuba and soviet supported government set in Cuba -
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
Heavily armed elements of a soviet airborne brigade were airlifted into Afghanistan to violently overthrow the regime of President Hafizolla Amin. -
Perestroika
Means "restructuring". Gradual changing of Soviet economy allowing private enterprise and dismantling of national bureaucracy. -
Glasnost
Means "openness". Freedom of expression for Soviet citizens. This eased harsh treatment of opponents of the soviet system. -
INF Treaty
Required United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate all of their nuclear and conventional ground-lunched cruise missiles. This treaty marked the first time the superpowers agreed to reduce their nuclear arsenals and eliminate an entire category of nuclear weapons -
Mikhail Gorbachev Comes To Power
Worked hard to open up the political process in the soviet union, pushing through legislation that eliminated communist power -
German Reunification
In East Germany, conservative parties supporting reunification won the elections, and the new government and the force of events proceeded to dismantle the state. -
U.S.S.R. Breakup
Mikhail Gorbachev resigns his post of president of the Soviet Union leaving a newly independent state.
