-
The Russian Revolution
This revolution started on March 8th, 1917, and lasted until the 16th of June in 1923. This revolution abolished the previously established monarchy in Russia, giving birth to the Soviet Union. This revolution led to communist Russia and the spread of communism throughout Russia, this spread of communism is what lead to the conflict between Russia and the U.S which was the Cold War. -
The Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam conference was held in July of 1945, during this conference, the leaders of the three nations in the Allied forces gathered together. During this conference, Britain and the U.S agreed to establish political freedom in Europe, while Stalin had different plans, he wanted to dominate Eastern Europe and establish Communism. This conference was an effort to try and align the goals of the Allied forces. -
The Atomic Bombs
Two atomic bombs were dropped in August on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the development of these bombs was code-named The Manhattan Project. The dropping of the two bombs effectively ended the war against Japan. -
Long Telegram
Significance: Revealed the true motives and reasoning behind Stalin and finally gave the U.S something to go off of.
Overview: This telegram was sent to Washington D.C by George F. Kennan, who cracked the soviet code and discovered the reasoning behind the Soviet aggression was that the Soviets had to try and make the rest of the world seem just as aggressive as them in order to mask their own aggression -
The Iron Curtain
The term used to describe the Soviet area of influence. Russia forced its culture and ideals onto this area. Russia claimed to use as a buffer zone to prevent further attack. The whole eastern side of Europe was included in this zone -
The Molotov Plan
Overview: The Molotov Plan was a system created by the Soviet Union in 1947 in order to provide aid to rebuild countries under the Soviet Unions' sphere of influence or that were politically aligned with the Soviet Union.
Importance: The Molotov Plan directly goes against the goals of the U.S to stop the spread of Communism by offering support to communistic countries. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative passed in 1948 by president Harry Truman, this initiative allowed the U.S to send money, supplies, and troops to any European countries facing poverty. This plan helped stop the growth of Communism based on the containment plan that was created to help stop the spread of communism -
The Berlin Airlift
Staling shuts down all major entrances in Berlin to try and starve the country and force the Western allies into submission. Power, shipment goods, and transportation systems were shut down. The U.S, acting under the Truman doctrine, flew in supplies into Berlin every 3 minutes to keep the Germans from starving. -
The Berlin Blockade
Overview: The Berlin blockade started on June 24th, 1948 and was an attempt by Stalin to take all of Berlin for himself. During this period of time, Stalin shut down all forms of transportation in, and out of Berlin, as well as cutting off all power and water.
Importance: Due to the very limited access to Berlin, it made it extremely difficult for France, Great Britain or The U.S to access their sector of the capital, Stalin was hoping this would destroy Germany, and ultimately most of Europe. -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was President Truman declaring the U.S the leader of the free world, and this specifically called for the U.S to help Greece and Turkey -
NATO
The prospect of further spread of Communism prompted the U.S and 11 other western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty organization, which stated that if one of the nations in this treaty was attacked, they would all join each other in war. -
Communist Chinese Revolution
Overview: The Chinese Communist revolution took place on October 1st, 1949. This revolution was lead by the communist party of china and their chairman Mao Zedong. This revolution resulted in the creation of the 'Peoples Reblic of China' in 1949
Importance: The conversion of China into a Communist Country is a direct win for Stalin; his goal is to spread Communism around the world and with China becoming a Communist Country he now had allies for his cause. -
First Soviet Bomb Test
Overview: On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union surprised the world with its first test of their own atomic bomb, the RDS-1 as it was called.
Importance: With the Soviets now having their own Nuclear Bomb in their possession, the U.S no longer had any power over Russia, and could not use their bombs as a war deterrent. This even also caused lots of Panic in the U.S. due to the fear of Stalin using the RDS-1 against the U.S. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
On August 20, 1968, The Soviet Union tried to invade Czechoslovakia to crack down on reformist trends in Prague. The Soviet Union was successful in stopping the revolution, but it had unintentional consequences on the soviet union, Czechosloslovakia became a Non-Communist Nation. -
Richard Nixon Visits China
Richard Nixons' visit to China was the first form of communication between the U.S and China in 25 years and was important in maintaining an advantage over the Soviet Union when it came to social communications with China. -
Reagan Elected
Reagan won the election by a landslide against his opponent Jimmy Carter. The beginning of what some called the "Reagan Era" Due to the rise of Conservatism that came to be after he was elected. -
SDI Announced
Background: The Strategic Defense Initiative was announced by President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983. It was a proposed missile defense system to protect the U.S from attack by nuclear ballistic missile, and submarine-launched missiles. Importance: SDI was never launched because of the lack of technology at the time to develop such a system, it was also thought to disrupt the system of MAD that was already established and start another arms race -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
Background: The Geneva Summit took place on November 19 and 20th 1985. During this Conference President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Army General Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time to hold talks on diplomatic international relations and the arms race Importance: During this conference, the U.S and Russia both made requests to cut down their nuclear firepower to avoid war and the arms race. -
‘Tear down this wall’ speech
Background: The 'Tear down this wall' speech or the Berlin Wall Speech was given by President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin on Friday, June 12, 1987. Reagan called for the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to get rid of the Berlin wall, which separated West and East Berlin. Importance: There was a debate on whether or not this speech was the cause of the fall of the Berlin wall. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Background & Importance: The fall of the Berlin Wall happened on November 9th, 1989, and ended the divide between inner Germany and brought down the Iron Curtain that descended on Europe. The end of the cold war was later declared at the Malta Conference Three weeks later, and Germany began re-unifying the following year
