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Treaty of Versailles
The treaty signed by the Allies and Germany ending WWI. WWII and the Cold War were the results of this treaty. -
League of Nations
An association of many countries to promote international peace and cooperation. This failed when the Soviet union attacked Finland (Cold War). But on April 18, 1946, the United Nations assumed some of its functions. -
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Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949. They were created to punish the German leaders for all their killings and war crimes. Most were found guilty and either put in jail or killed. -
Yalta Conference
Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt met at Yalta, a black sea resort in southern Soviet Union. This is where they decided that Germany would be split into four occupation zones, which are controlled by the US, France, Soviet Union, and Great Britain. The Eastern part of Germany (Soviets) was becoming communism, where the West (allies) were fighting it during the Cold War. -
MAD
Mutual assured destruction was the principle behind Cold War military strategy, It is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender. -
United Nations
An intergovernmental organization established on October 24th, 1945 to promote international co-operation. It was a replacement for the League of Nations The organization was created following the Second World War to prevent another similar conflict, which was proven wrong with the Cold War. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, condemns the Soviet Union's policies in Europe and declares, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent." Churchill's speech is considered one of the opening volleys announcing the beginning of the Cold War. -
Baruch Plan
A proposal by the United States government written mostly by Bernard Baruch.Thd failure of the plan to gain acceptance resulted in a dangerous nuclear arms race between the US and Soviets during the Cold War. -
Truman Doctrine
Also known as the Policy of Containment, the US promised to aid any European country who was resisting attempted subjugation by outside pressures. This was Trumans pledge to fight communism. This was a begining step of the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
Secretary of State decides that the US should provide $13B to 16 European nations (only 16 accepted, the Soviets denied) , but in order to obtain the money, the $13B had to be spent on US trade. Had a very good outcome by increasing Western Europes output by 62% This was again another small step to fight against communism during the Cold War. -
Berlin Airlift
The Soviets blocked all roads, railways, and cut off power to West Berlin during part of the Cold War. Their goal was to force the allies to leave Berlin. The US sent a massive airlift of supplies to West Berlin for 324 days, and flew 2 million tons of supplies. -
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Berlin Airlift
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NATO created
NATO was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
China fell to communsim during the Cold War, and on October 1, 1949, Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China. It broke out immediately following World War II and had been preceded by on and off conflict between the two sides since the 1920’s. -
Russian Communist Revolution
The Russian Revolution took place in 1917, during the final phase of World War I. It removed Russia from the war and brought about the transformation of the Russian Empire into the USSR, replacing Russia’s traditional monarchy with the world’s first Communist state, whcih was the opposing side of the US during the Cold War. -
US sends troops to Vietnam
North Korean invaded South Korea, and thee US advocated that the UN take military action making it part of the Cold War. The largest number came from US troops. This was to fight against communism spreading to the southern part of Korea. -
Joseph McCarthy speech
During the Cold War Joseph McCarthy gave this speech warning of communism in America. He gave specific names of people working within the State Department and listed their crimes. Those individuals lost their jobs, even though McCarthy was never able to give any further evidence to prove their guilt. -
Korean War
The first military action of the Cold War. It was North Korea (the Soviets) vs. South Korea, then the American troops entered for South Korea to fight against communism -
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Korean War
The first military action of the Cold War. It was North Korea (the Soviets) vs. South Korea, then the American troops entered for South Korea to fight against communism -
Warsaw Pact
A military alliance between the Soviet Union and the Eastern Europe communist countries that were under Soviet control. This was the opposing side of the US during the Cold War. -
Sputnik Launched
Soviet artificial satellite, the first of which was launched on October 4, 1957, it was the first satellite to be placed in orbit.The Sputnik crisis led to the creation of NASA and the start of the Space Race (part of the Cold War) between the Soviet Union and the US. -
Fidel Castro Proclaims Communist Cuba
The Communist Party is the ruling political party in the Republic of Cuba. In April 1960, Fidel Castro proclaimed the country a Socialist State and the the Communist Party the leading force on the island. The idea of socialism is deeply penetrated in the society and dominates the economy, army, and social structures. This was another opposing force during the Cold War. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
A failed attempt by the CIA and Cuban refugees to invade Cuba and remove the current leader, Fidel Castro, who was promoting communism during the Cold War. -
Building of Berlin Wall Begins
A barricade was built during the Cold War to divide the city of Berlin made by the East German government to stop the flow of people into West Berlin to try and make them suffer and to spread communism. -
Berlin Wall
During the Cold War the Western sector of Berlin had tension, trying to spread democracy and fight communism. 4,000 people a week moved from East Germany to West, so this was the Soviets way of stopping the East Berliners from leaving. The wall was made to set up traps all around the Berlin so they could not leave. -
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Berlin Wall
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Cuban Missle Crisis
A 13 day confrontation in October 1962 between the US and the Soviet union over soviet missiles deployed in Cuba aimed at the United States. -
Apollo 11
It was the spaceflight that landed the first humans on the Moon, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on July 20, 1969. This was the biggest accomplishment for the US during the space race between the US and the Soviet Union advancing them in the Cold War. -
SALT I
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks were two rounds of bilateral talks and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union which aew the Cold War superpowers, on the issue of armament control. There were two treaties signed that day, the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, and the Interim Agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. -
Non-Proliferation Agreement
An international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, and to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament during the Cold War. -
The Fall of Saigon
The fall of Saigon effectively marked the end of the Vietnam War, ending the first part of the Cold War. -
Pope John Paul II
1978-2005 He adopted a conservative position on church reform and held strong anti-contraception and homosexuality views. He has received almost universal praise for
his efforts to build understanding between Judaism, Islam and Christianity. He has been steadfast in his promotion of non-violent revolution against oppressive regimes, especially communism, which placed him on the allies during the Cold War. -
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Margaret Thatcher
The UK’s first woman Prime Minister, she served from 1979 to 1990. During her time in office, she reduced the influence of trade unions, privatized certain industries, scaled back public benefits and changed the terms of political debate, much like her friend and ideological ally, U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Nicknamed the “Iron Lady,” she opposed Soviet communism and fought a war to maintain control of the Falkland Islands. -
SALT II
In Vienna, Brezhnev and President Jimmy Carter signed the SALT II treaty, which dealt with the arms race during the Cold War. This set more specific regulations on the different missiles. Limits were set on the number of strategic launchers, and the various types of missiles. Each side was limited to no more then 2400 weapons systems -
Soviets Invade Afghanistan
In December 1979, The Soviets invaded Afghanistan as part of the Cold War in order to spread communism. -
Soviets Invade Afghanistan
The Soviet Army invaded Afghanistan in order to prop up the communist government of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan against a growing insurgency. The soviets were invading to try to spread communism during the Cold War. -
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Deng Xiaoping
n office from September 13th, 1981- November 2nd, 1987. He was the chairman of the Central Advisory commission of the communist party. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
As the Cold War began to ease across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West, and took down the wall. -
Lech Walesa
1990-1995, Lech Walesa, the president of Poland, played a small but significant role in bringing the Cold War to an end. When the 10th plenary session of the communist party ended, Walesa played a crucial role in organizing Roundtable talks with the party members. Walesa paved the way for reforms in other countries by taking the first step. -
START I
A bilateral treaty between the US and the USSR on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (which goes hand in hand with the arms race between the US and USSR during the Cold War). START I was the first treaty to provide for deep reductions of U.S. and Soviet strategic nuclear weapons. It played an indispensable role in ensuring the predictability and stability of the strategic balance. -
START II
START II complemented START I by attempting to establish further limits on strategic nuclear weapons for each party during the Cold War. It will also reduce the total number of strategic nuclear weapons deployed by both countries, by two-thirds below START I levels.
