-
The Iron Curtain
When World War II ended in Europe, Germany had no functioning government. At the Potsdam conference the allies agreed on many major issues. First, the allies agreed to divide Germany into four zones. The Soviet Union occupied one-third of the country and the remaining two-thirds were occupied by the United States, France and Great Britain. Second, the allies also divided berlin. And lastly they agreed on a plan to have Germany pay for the destruction and repairs caused by the war. -
Period: to
cold war timeline
-
On the Edge of War
Tension between the United States and the Soviet Union were soon to start a war for power. The cold war was a conflict between capitalism and capitalist democracy. As communism speared tension rose. Truman, Stalin, and Churchill all stated that another war was in the making. Churchill stated that the iron curtain was a threat to peace. -
The Truman Doctrine
Soviet communist were threatening the governments of Greece and turkey. President Truman used this opportunity to announce the Truman doctrine. The doctrine was a pledge to provide economic and military aid to oppose the spread of communism. The U.S. congress agreed to send hundreds of millions of dollars to aid Greece and Turkey. -
The Marshall Plan
More economic war-related problem existed throughout Europe. Truman thought if conditions grew worse more people would turn to communism. Therefore the Marshall plan was announced which aided $13 billion for rebuilding Europe. The plan helped Western Europe make a rapid recovery. -
The Berlin Blockade
The division of berlin was only supposed to be temporary, but in 1947 western leaders started talking about forming an independent democratic German nation. The Soviets opposed this plan. In June 1948 the soviets set up an 11 month blockade to block all route to western berlin. Western leaders organized the berlin airlift by which they could import the supplies they needed by air. In May of 1949 the soviets called off the blockade. -
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact.
After the berlin crisis the western zones of Germany formed the federal republic of Germany, or West Germany. A few months later, the soviet zone became the democratic republic, or East Germany. The United States, Canada, and other western European countries formed the NATO which was designed to counter soviet power in Europe. In 1955, the Soviet Union and communist nations formed the Warsaw pact. -
The Arms Race
In 1949 the U.S. was surprised by the soviets successful test of an atomic bomb. Soon the U.S. wasn’t the only one with an advantage in technology. In the fall of 1952 the United States tested the first hydrogen bomb. But less than one year later the soviets had the same idea. The two superpowers were then in an arms race, a struggle between nations to gain an advantage in weapons. -
The Korean War
North Korea which was occupied by the soviets was established as a communist government. South Korea which was occupied by the U.S. was anti-communist. In June 1950 North Korea attacked South Korea. Their goal was to make all of Korea unite under communist government. North Korea dominated South Korea but in 1951 the war settled into a stalemate. In 1953, both sides agreed to an armistice. Nothing changed, North Korea was still communist and South Korea was an ally to the west. -
The Vietnam War
When Vietnam heard of France trying to reclaim south East Asia communist rebels fought back, forcing the French to give up control of Vietnam. Vietnam was then temporarily divided into two halves. The north was controlled by communist and the south was controlled by anti-communists. When a revolution began in the south, the U.S. sent military to aid them. The north began to fight against them. The Vietnam War lasted until the mid-1970s. -
Cuba
When Cuba became communist in 1961 and formed closed ties with the Soviet Union the U.S. was worried since Cuba was only 90 miles south of florida.in 1961 the U.S. invaded the Bay of Pigs in Cuba thinking it would cause an uprising against Cuba’s communist leader, Castro. The U.S. was quickly defeated.in 1962 the Cuban missile crisis, a confrontation between the U.S. and soviets over the installation of soviet missiles in Cuba. After two weeks soviets removed the missiles. -
The Berlin Wall
After communist East Germany and democratic West Germany formed in 1949, tens of thousands of East Germans left their country by crossing from east to west. By 1961 about 1,000 people would cross each day. To stop this East Germany began creating a wall between the two cities. The Berlin wall was heavily guarded anyone who tried to cross would be shot. -
SALT I and SALT II
The SALT talks led to agreements limiting the number of nuclear weapons on each side. They also led to the anti-ballistic-missile treaty, which prevented the development of weapons designed to use to shoot down nuclear missiles. The talks were an important element to the prevention of nuclear war. These talks resulted in an arms control treaty in 1979. -
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces
When Ronald Regan was elected president he took an aggressive positon against the Soviet Union and spoke of developing a missile defense system although it went against the ABM. In 1988 the two countries ratified the INF treaty, which called for elimination of certain types on missiles. -
The "Ending" of the War
The Cold War began to end and many social and economic changes began to take place around the world. In the fall of 1989 the berlin wall was taken down and the collapse of the Soviet Union began. Many countries struggled for freedom in Europe. Many little battles were still occurring throughout Europe. -
The United States
Throughout the 1990s to the 2000s new conflicts with the Middle East and America emerged. Many battles between the two broke out. In the early 2000s America started receiving terrorist threats. On September 11, 2001 the deadliest terrorists attack took place where four hijacked passenger planes crashed into the twin towers killing 3,000 people. Conflicts with the Middle East are still occurring today.
