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Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was an 8-day long conference that was attended by President Roosevelt, Winston Chuchill, and Joseph Stalin to discuss the fate of Germany and the post-war world. Stalin was determined for Germany to remain divided in to four occupation zones; Churchill did not agree. Roosevelt was hopeful that the Soviet Union would join the war against the Japanese; they did. He also requested Stalin's support in a world peace-keeping organization; this created the United Nations. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the line that divided Europe from the beginning of WWII until the end of the Cold War. It was created when Churchill made a speech called 'Sinews of Peace' that described the political and economic situation in Europe. Stalin heard about this speech and thought that Churchill's words were a call to war, and the 'Iron Curtain' was created. -
Satellite Nations
The Satellite Nations were the communist-dominated nations scattered around Europe. The countries included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Poland. Stalin created these communist nations because "Communism and Capitalism are incompatible, and another war is inevitable." -
Marshall Plan
The U.S. sent Europe almost 13 billion dollars in aid to help them rebuild their economy. President Truman signed the four-year project plan in April, 1948; it was called the Marshall Plan. America also aimed to rebuild war-stricken areas, remove barriers, and rebuild Europe's economy and make them prosperous again. -
Chiang Kai-shek
China's leader, Chiang Kai-shek, was greatly supported by the U.S. because he was nationalist and strongly against communism. On the other hand, the U.S. knew the Chinese government was corrupt because Kai-shek overtaxed his citizens even in times of famine and other crisises. He was officially out of office on May 28th, 1948, and then became president of the Republic of China. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift began when the U.S. and Britain assisted West Berlin by transporting goods to them by air over East Berlin's blockade. The blockade was created by Stalin because he believed Germany was better off weak and divided. The Soviets eventually surrendered their blockade because it was rendrered useless due to the Berlin Airlift. -
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
NATO was created as a defensive military alliance with 10 European nations, Canada, and the U.S. against the Soviet Union's blockade on the Atlantic. The blockade was created by East Berlin to cut off all transportation to West Berlin. They did this because they believed Germany was better off divided and weak. The U.S. and Britain helped West Berlin rebel by transporting food and supplies by air, creating the Berlin Airlift. This continued for 327 days until the Soviets gave up the blockade. -
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong was the leader of the communist forces in China, and he won the support of many Chinese peasants. He distributed land to the homeless and reduced rent for them. Meanwhile, Roosevelt refused to send troops to help nationalist China resist communist forces, though. Eventually, Chiang Kai-shek, China's nationalist leader, and his troops retreated to Taiwan, and China became communist as Mao took control. -
한국 전쟁 (The Korean War)
The Korean War began when North Korea became a communist nation while South Korea became an independent nation, and they were divided by the 38th Parallel. North Korea invaded the south and 16 nations from the UN sent troops to South Korea to help deflect the attack. Reguardless of their numbers, the north captured the capital of Seoul. General MacArthur launched a counter attack, which caused the North Koreans to surrender. In these battles, anywhere from 800,000-1,000,000 people were killed. -
The U-2 Incident
The U-2 Incident occurred when a U.S. spyplane was shot down over the airspace of the Soviet Union due to the fear of Americans spying on the Soviets. The origin of the flight was originally denied, but later confirmed as a surveillance mission on the Soviet Union. Because of the incident, the 1960s opened with great tension between America and the Soviets.
