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Yalta Conference
WWII meeting between FDR, Stalin, and Churchill. Here, planning for a post war world began. Agreements of how people would be treated, what land would be divided, and land that would be given back to countries were planned and decided. However, during the Cold War, these agreements, which were kept mostly secret, became known when Stalin broke some of the promises that he made at the conference. -
VE-Day
WWII ends in Europe;German forces surrender after allied forces began pushing into Germany and Hitler commits suicide -
Potsdam Conference
The big three(Truman, Churchill, and Stalin) met to discuss terms for the end of the World War in Potsdam, Germany. Topics that were dealt with included how to handle Germany, the end of the war with Japan, and the new borders that would be split up among the countries. Overall, it determined how to fix conditions in Europe. -
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Atomic Bomb
After Japan does not agree to an unconditional surrender, the US uses the new technology of the Atomic bomb, which had been worked on for years. The US hoped that this would bring the war to an end. First, a bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, and then three days after, Nagasaki was bombed. Japan surrenders a few days later the second bombing(August 14). The bombs destroyed the cities,and killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people from burns, the immediate impact, and debris. -
VJ-Day
WWII ends completely and war ends in Japan. Japan surrenders after the atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Speech said by Winston Churchill in Fulton, Missouri, explaining that there was way more separation between the east and west sides of Europe because of the tensions, and the “iron curtain” was being put into place. -
Truman Doctrine Announced
Harry S. Truman gives an address to Congress that would allow the US to protect Greece and Turkey. The address became known as the monroe doctrine. This is often credited as an official declaration of the cold war. It outlined the foreign policy that the US would have during this time, which was that the US would be able to give military help and assist other countries that were affected by the head of communism, the Soviet Union -
Marshall Plan
Plan created by America to aid countries in Western Europe. It provided funds for economic support and recovery after WWII. This also helped defend these countries against communism. -
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Berlin Blockade
Attempt by Soviet Union to stop the US, Great Britain, and France from moving West. Land travel into west Germany was stopped. -
NATO Created
NATO was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was a military alliance for collective security, and consisted of Western Europe, Canada, and the US. -
Molotov Plan
Plan created by USSR to provide economic support for their allied countries in eastern Europe. This served as the Soviet Union’s version of the Marshall Plan. -
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Korean War
War started by the people of Korea, fighting against each side.(north supported by USSR, South supported by US0. It was the first military action of the Cold War. It was thought to be a war about international communism, and feared to trigger a possible WWIII.America worked to find a peace agreement with the North, and when the war finally ended, 5 million lives were lost. -
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Cuban Revolution
Revolt in Cuba that was lead by Castro, who was a communist, against Batista’s government, the Cuban dictator that the US government supported. The revolution ended when Batista and his supporters left Cuba, and the Cubans with Castro established their power they fought for. -
Warsaw Pact Created
This was created by USSR to counter NATO. This was a military alliance between Eastern European countries and USSR. -
U2 Incident
The US flew spy airplanes over the USSR. When the USSR developed a new missile, it was tested and ended up hitting and destroying the US’s U2 plane that was flying over and on a mission at that time. This raised tensions even more between both countries as the US tried to make up a story of how it was not a spy plane flying until they admitted the truth. -
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Bay of Pigs
Invasion launched by the US CIA following the Cuban revolution. Hundreds of Cubans who had fled Cuba were trained by American for this full-scale invasion. However, the plan for this to push Castro from power did not succeed, because President kennedy cancelled air support to go to Cuba for the invasion, leaving the Cubans only with what they had. This resulted in the Cubans bein killed or captured by Castro's troops that greatly outnumbered them. -
Berlin Wall
The wall was built in Berlin by Eastern Germany(The German Democratic Republic, GDR) to keep out Western Germans. It was constructed right in the center of the city so the sides were clearly kept out of each other. Later, on November 9, 1989, GDR gave permission for the wall to be crossed anytime. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
Time in the Cold War closest to breaking out into a nuclear crisis. Nuclear missiles were beginning to be placed in Cuba by the Soviet Union(by Nikita Khrushchev ). The US response was to place a naval “quarantine” in Cuba and not a blockade. Instead of attacking Cuba, President Kennedy wanted to wait to see if a peaceful resolution could be made. It eventually ended when Khrushchev announced he would remove the missiles from Cuba when the US agreed it would remove missiles from Turkey. -
Sputnik
Sputnik-1 was the world’s first artificial satellite. It marked technological advancement for Soviet Union, and the US began to fall behind. This launch was surprising to the US, who also were working to achieve this task. -
Lunar Landing
The first moon landing in history. Kennedy wanted to achieve landing a man on the moon by the time the 1960s ended. This represented more advancement that the US had been making. The crew for this mission launched in Apollo 11, and a few days after being launched, Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon.
