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The Yalta Conference
on February 4th, 1945, Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchchill, the "Big Three" allied leaders meet at the Yalta Conference to discuess the division of seperating zones of occupation in Germany,
It's importance: it's decisions regarded the ongoing progress of the war and the postwar world. -
Potsdam Conference
At the Potsdam Conference the Big Three leaders meet again; President Truman with the Soviet Leader and British Prime Minister. They determine the future of the post war in Europe. Churchill is replaced by Clement Attlee half way through the conference, due to Churchill's party losing elections in Britain. During conference they establish military administration for Germany and they agree on putting Nazi Leaders on trail for war crimes.
It's importance: they discussed terms for the ending of WW2 -
Little Boy
After sucessfully creating an atomic bomb, the Americans drop an atomic bomb, "Little Boy," on Hiroshima, Japan. The event shocks the world and soon dropping another bomb in Japanese land, called "Fatman"
Importace: It was a shock to the world and major blow to the japanese and it was the first of the two atomic bombs dropped in Japanese land. -
Vietnam's Freedom
Ho Chi Minh from Vietnam, declares Vietnam's independence from France after Japan surrendered in WWII. He even quotes American's Declaration, "All men are created equal."
Importance: They declared independenece from a powerful nation. -
Iron Curtain
A physical boundary, called the Iron Curtain, divided Europe into two seperate areas from 1945, after WWII ended until 1991 when the Cold War came to an end.
Importance: it marked the start of the cold war between the democratic Western work and the Communist Eastern bloc with the Soviet Union as its political center. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry Truman presented the Truman Doctrine establishing that the U.S. would provide, political, military and economic assistance to all democratic natons that were under threat from external or internal authority forces. Truman also pledged to contain any threat made by the Soviet to Greece and Turkey.
Importance: to stop Soviet Imperialism during the Cold War -
The Marshall Plan
Was a type of aid for Western Europe, in which the U.S. gave $13 billion to help them rebuild Western Europe economically after WWII.
Importance: it was aid from the Americans. -
Berlin Airlift
The Soviet Union blocked all routes traveling to and from West Berlin preventing the citizens from getting any type of surivial supplies. The U.S. began a massive airlift of food, water, and medication and any other necessity into West Berlin.
Importance: this event prevented West Berlin into falling into the control of the Soviet Union -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed as a military alliance between the U.S. and 11 other Western nations after WWII to strengthen their ties.
Importance: it was a counter-balance to the Soviet and Warsaw Pact. -
The Korean War
75000 soldiers from North Korean's People Army invaded South Korea across the 38th parallel. Although it first started out as a civil war, it soon became international when the Republic of China aided North Korea and the United Nation, under U.S. leadership, aided South Korea.
Importance: The invasion was the first military action of the cold war -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a defense treaty formed by the Soviet Union and it's seven Soviet satallite states in Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War.
Importance: it was a mutual defense organization putting the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. -
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
After Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista, as leader of Cuba, for the next two years, the U.S. Department and the CIA attempted to push Castro from power. 1400 American trained Cubans invaded Cuba, but they surrendered less than 24 hours of fighting due to being outnumber by Castro's troops.
Importance: Castro turned to the Soviet Union or economic aid and protection whic led to the Cuban Missile Crisis between the U.S. and Cuba. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was built by the Communist government of East Germany as a way to stop fleeing Easterns into the West. The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences were about spliting the city into 4 sectors. The Soviets took their sector spliting it into: East Germany, communist like the Soviet Union and West Germany, a democratic republic.
Importance: The wall was a way to keep East Berliners from defecting to the West. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The U.S. and the Soviet's leader had a confrontation, militay and political standoff because the Soviet Union installed nuclear-armed missile in Cuba, which was just 90 miles from U.S. shore.
Importance: President Kennedy agreed to not invade Cuba again in exchange for the removal of the missiles in Cuba. He also agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey. -
Berlin Wall Falls
The fall of the Berlin Wall was an unexpected event. On the midnight of that day, the Communist leader of East Germany gave permission to the East Berliners to go to West Berlin, opening the gate along the wall. Once the gates were open thousands of East Berliners crossed the border and both sides started taking hammers and sledgehammers tearing the wall.
Importance: it was the first sign that East and West Germany would reunify as one and it was a sign of change -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
After meeting a few days before Christmas day, 11 representatives from the Soviet republics met declaring their independence from the Soviet Union. Only one repubic of the 15 Soviet Union republics remained as part of the Union, since 3 Baltic republics had already declared ther freedom. Soviet leader Mikhail Garbachev resigned his job on Decmber 25 after the dissolution of the nation.
Importance: it was the ending of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
