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Russian Revolution
The competing ideas of communism and liberal democracy. WWI was an awful time of famine and over working, and by 1917 the people had enough of it. A public demonstration for more bread rations turned into a rebellion that would soon throw the czar out of power and allow a new government to come to power. -
Potsdam conference
The first conference between great leaders after WWII, to secure a lasting peace for Europe, and to rebuild the cities that were destroyed. -
Atomic bomb - Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Started with the Manhattan project, these bombs were dropped on Japan to end the brutal war between them; however, the main purpose was to gain an upper hand on Russia in the start of the cold war. -
Iron Curtain
The "iron curtain" was a barrier between democratic Europe and communist Europe. The Soviet Union was ordered to rebuild these countries destroyed in war, but ended up using them so that he could begin his goal of creating a communist Europe -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was created to protect Greece and Turkey from communist takeover. It was supposedly made to help those countries out of famine and danger, but the real purpose was to stop communism from spreading. -
Marshall plan
The "lifeline to sinking men" was a joint effort of many countries to rebuild and fix the destruction caused from world war 2. This plan would rebuild many countries very quickly, except for those under the control of the Soviet Union. -
Berlin blockade and airlift starts
During the Potsdam conference, Germany was split into four pieces and given to different winning powers from the war. 3 years later, after this conference, access to the city of Berlin was closed off to force all westerners out. Within days, the Berlin airlift was created to drop an estimated two tons of cargo to the starving people of Berlin. In 1949 the blockade was removed, but Germany would be forever split. -
NATO founded
In 1949, the United States, Canada, and 10 other European countries formed a military alliance. In response, the communist countries created the Warsaw pact. -
Berlin airlift ends
At this time, the blockade was lifted, ending both the blockade and airlift -
Soviet Bomb test
The soviets accomplished to create a Nuclear weapon decades ahead of expert guesses. This bomb gave way to a cold war in which both sides had nuclear ability. -
Hollywood 10
the Hollywood 10 was a short documentary released in 1950 that publicly denounced McCarthyism and blacklisting in Hollywood. This is important because in this time, thousands of people were being falsely accused of being communist. -
Korean war
the country of Korea was divided by the 38th parallel, and split between the Soviet Union and the U.S.. China and the Soviet Union sought to help North Korea invade South Korea to create a communist country as a whole. China and Russia took arms with the North, and the U.S. with the South. This was important because it was the closest we would get to world war 3. -
Eisenhower’s Massive Retaliation Policy
This policy was created in the chance that Nuclear war takes place. The policy was that a state commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack. -
Army-McCarthy hearings
This court case, in 1954, was to decide if MacArthur should be jailed for his use of McCarthyism, and the case ultimately ended in the renunciation of his government position. -
Warsaw pact
A pact that the communist countries formed in response to NATO. -
the Vietnam war starts
The Vietnam war takes place after Korea, but much of the same problems occur. The communist Soviet Union had taken Northern Vietnam and in response, the U.S. sent troops to South Vietnam. The U.S. ultimately lost and Vietnam became communist. -
Khruschev Takes over
During the revolutions in the Soviet Union, many powers were trying to take hold of Russia. The premier Georgi Malenkov was in order to lead, but the power struggle between them ultimately led to the rise of Khruschev. -
Hungarian revolution
A revolution was started as a small student demonstration, and gathered enough attention to overthrow the countries government. -
U2 incident
In a final run, a U2 was shot down above Russia. They were not supposed to be flying over the Soviet airspace, and the USSR knew. This turned into a large crisis, only because the USSR did not have the nuclear power they claimed. -
Bay of pigs invasion
The Cuban leader Fidel Castro had taken power of Cuba, and was communist. In an effort to overthrow this, the CIA trained 2400 Cubans to overthrow the government. They were quickly outnumbered and surrendered. -
Berlin wall is constructed
During the early years of the cold war, thousands of Eastern Germans fled to west Germany. In response, the wall was built to keep all inside, trapped. -
Cuban missile crisis
During this 13 day confrontation, The USSR was trying to place nuclear weapons in Cuba. The U.S. was not okay with this, and sent many battleships to intercept the wall they had made in the water. If crossed, WW3 would start. -
Detente under Nixon begins
Near the end of the cold war, the two superpowers were at a stand-off. Neither wanted to procede
to war, so a period of "peace" began and lasted for about 10 years -
The Reagan doctrine
The Reagan doctrine was addressed to attempt to overwhelm Soviet influence and ultimately end the Cold War. -
Reagan's Berlin wall speech
This speech was near the end of the Cold War, and Reagan addressed the Berlin wall. He asked that it be torn down, and the war to end. -
The Berlin wall falls
The cold war had ended, and the wall was taken down.
