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Nuclear Arms Race
On August 6, 1945 America dropped the first bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima and just three days late another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The US had shown the power and the ability for mass destruction in such a short time. This led to both nations starting to create mass production of nuclear weapons. The reason for the arms race was so the fear of America having the upper hand if it came down to war or the need for Nuclear weapons.No nation got hurt by the nuclear arms race. -
Containment Policy
The containment policy started with the diplomat George Keenan who sort a way to stifle the communist expansion throughout east Europe. This was due to the fact that on the 12th of march 1947 a potential soviet threat faced turkey and Greece to which Truman retaliated with the Truman doctrine stating the united states will commit itself to the free world against totalitarian dictatorships. Due to the aggressive enforcement of the containment policy, Tensions would remain high. -
Space Race
The Space Race was a competition between two cold war rivals, that being the USA and the USSR, for supremacy in space flight capability. The competition began on August 2, 1955 , when the Soviet Union responded to the US announcement by declaring they would also launch a satellite "in the near future". The Soviet Union beat the US to this, with the October 4, 1957 orbiting of Sputnik 1, and later beat the US to the first human in space. But the US had the landing of the first humans on the Moon -
Espionage 1- American spy plane incident
The U-2 spy incident was highly significant towards the cold war as it shows both sides having very differing views regarding the alleged espionage. On May 1st Gary Powers spy plane was shot down by the Soviets with there new air missiles. The pilot of the spy plane was Francis Gary Powers, and he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built in attempt to stop the East German citizens from entering into West Germany.The German democratic Republic claimed that the wall was built to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. But, it was actually to o prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period. -
Check Point Charlie
Check Point Charlie contributed significantly to the the cold war as it was the biggest standoff in the Cold wars history. This Standoff emphasised the distrust between the two nations. , 33 Soviet tanks rolled up to the Soviet fence and 10 proceeded onto Checkpoint facing off with American tanks for the first time in the cold war. Tank cannons were loaded and guns loaded ready to fire awaiting orders, which caused great tension.This showing the distrust between the East and West Europe. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The crisis itself was a stand off between one side being assured destruction and the other private negotiations. the Americans promised to remove all Jericho missiles in turkey as well as signing a non-invasion agreement with Cuba. In return, the Soviets would dismantle their Cuban missile facilities and remove from the situation their arms shipment. The matter was resolved on the 28th of October and the world wasn’t caught between two opposing forces. -
Détente
It was a policy brought in by the US President Richard Nixon, designed to ease the tension and to make time for treaties to be finished up which started up in 1969. It was created to combat and prevent a nuclear war between the Soviets and the USA. The policy and some treaties were signed by the Soviets in an agreement that no more fighting would take place but this agreement only lasted a few years. The Détente ended when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979.
