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Great Purge
Between 1936 and 1938, three very large Moscow Trials of former senior Communist Party leaders were held, in which they were accused of conspiring with fascist and capitalist powers to assassinate Stalin and other Soviet leaders, dismember the Soviet Union and restore capitalism. -
The Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the name for the boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. This was the efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West and non-Soviet-controlled areas. -
The Red Scare
The Red Scare was hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, which intensified in the late 1940s and early 1950s. (Communists were often referred to as “Reds” for their allegiance to the red Soviet flag.) -
The Yalta Conferance
Yalta Conference meeting of FDR, Churchill, Stalin - the 'Big Three'
Soviet Union has control of Eastern Europe. The Cold War Begins -
President Roosevelt Died
Roosevelt won reelection in 1944, but eventually, with his physical health declining during the war years, he died in April 1945, less than three months into his fourth term. The Axis Powers surrendered to the Allies in the months following Roosevelt's death. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was a meeting between the three larges powers in the world at the time. Stalin, Churchill, and Truman all met near Berlin to discuss war punishments and how to go at rebuilding Germany. -
The Atomic Bomb
The US had a secret program named the Manhattan Project. In this program, many scientists began working on splitting an atom. Albert Einstein was a large motivation for Americans to create the Bomb. Once created and testes the US dropped 2 bombs. One on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki. -
V J- Day
The Japanese surrendered bringing World War Two to an end. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild a war-devastated region, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again. -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a document written by President Truman stating that the US will attempt to discontinue the spread of communism through Europe and the world. -
Formation of West Germany
The French, USA and UK partitions of Germany were merged to form West Germany -
The Fall of China
The creation of the PRC also completed the long process of governmental upheaval in China begun by the Chinese Revolution of 1911. The “fall” of mainland China to communism in 1949 led the United States to suspend diplomatic ties with the PRC for decades. -
Berlin Blockade/ Berlin Crisis
Russia’s response to the merger of the French, USA and UK partitions of Berlin was to cut all road and rail links to that sector. This meant that those living in Western Berlin had no access to food supplies and faced starvation. Food was brought to Western Berliners by US and UK airplanes, an exercise known as the Berlin Airlift. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. NATO was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere. -
The Soviet Bomb Test
The Soviet Bomb Test was as it sounds there first successful nuclear bomb test. This was a huge surprise to America and other allied countries for we all thought that the Soviets were not that close to creating a bomb. -
Development of the Hydrogen Bomb
Harry Truman orders the development of the hydrogen bomb. The United States tests a hydrogen bomb in the Marshall Islands. -
Josef Stalin
After the calamity of World War Two, he wanted to ensure the security of the Soviet Union, the expansion of Communism beyond the Soviet Union, secure his position in world affairs and create of a Soviet empire. -
The Korean War
After WW2 the North Koreans were affected by the Russians to jump towards communism. North Korea then invades South Korea who at the time was being led against communism. The Americans came in to help the south Koreans fight off the communist North Koreans. Then China got involved with the North Koreans. The Battle ended in 1953 when an armistice was signed to separate the county into a north and south. -
Dwight Eisenhower
President Dwight Eisenhower suspends aid to Israel in protest at its invasion of Egypt. -
HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)
The HUAC was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having fascist or communist ties.