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Yalta Conference
The last meeting of the Big Three: US (Roosevelt), Britain (Churchill) and Soviet Union (Stalin). They agreed on plans for the reorganization of Germany and announced the United Nations. -
Nuremberg trials
The Allies punished Nazi leaders for their war crimes. Though they could agree on Germany's punishment, the US and Soviet Union could not agree on its economy. Both nations wished to harm Germany's economic recovery; however, that would be detrimental to Europe as a whole. -
Hollywood Ten
10 members of the Hollywood film industry publicly denounced the controversial tactics employed by the HUAC in the anti-communist crackdown spreading through the US. They received jail sentences and were blacklisted from major Hollywood studios. -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman asked Congress to help support Greece and Turkey. He declared that it should be US policy to provide aid to those resisting Communist aggression. -
Taft-Hartley Act
The Taft-Hartley Act authorized the rights of laborers to unionize and bargain collectively. In addition, it outlawed closed shops, providing workers with the right to decline membership in a union. While the Act affirmed the rights of unions, it also significantly restricted their activities and powers. This law was enacted by Congress despite President Truman's veto. -
Berlin Airlift
The Soviet Union closed all rail and road access to West Berlin, prompting the US to airlift massive amounts of supplies to the city. The Soviet Union finally lifted the blockade. East and West Germany remained divided. -
Marshall Plan
The US’ plan to provide financial aid to the nations in Europe that were still suffering postwar. The Soviet Union was offered aid if they made political reforms, but refused to cooperate and denounced the plan. -
Executive Order 9981
Issued by President Truman because he did not think Congress would pass it, this executive order abolished racial discrimination in the US armed forces. It disbanded segregated army units and was a breakthrough in race relations. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was an alliance that was created in response to the Soviet Union’s expansion. It was a significant step in the militarization of the Cold War. -
NSC-68
The National Security Council Memorandum Number 68 urged for a massive expansion in the US' military spending and for the development of the hydrogen bomb. After the start of the Korean War, which seemed to mark the failure of the containment doctrine, the US did indeed increase military spending. -
Korean War
The Korean War began when communist North Korea invaded South Korea. The US came to the aid of South Korea. The War was devastatingly destructive on Korea, but ultimately ended in a truce. It showed that the US was willing to fight to contain communism, while the Soviet Union was willing to send troops to expand it. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
US Senator Joseph McCarthy had gained a reputation as an aggressive red-hunter. When he turned to the army with suspected communists, the army countered that he had tried to get preferential treatment for a former staff member. The hearings were publicized on television; McCarthy was eventually condemned by the Senate for "conduct unbecoming a member". -
The Space Race
Space was an intense area of competition between the US and the Soviet Union. As a result, NASA was created and the US became the first to put humans on the moon. The Soviet Union was seen as the villains, with their efforts to surpass the US and prove the power of communism. -
Vietnam War
A conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and the United States. The war was ended when communist forces seized control of South Vietnam in 1975. The country was eventually unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In the US, the war had broken the myth of American invincibility and bitterly divided the nation. -
Suez Crisis
Israel, Britain and France launched an attack to retake the Suez Canal after Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized it, with the support of the Soviet Union. The US threatened the three nations with economic sanctions, prompting them to withdraw their troops. As a result of the Crisis, the US and Soviet Union took on a more powerful role in world affairs. -
Eisenhower Doctrine
In response to the Suez Crisis, President Eisenhower proposed for the US to hold a more proactive role in the Middle East. It established the region as a battlefield for the Cold War. -
U-2 Spy Incident
An incident that raised tensions between the US and the USSR. An American U-2 spy plane was shot down and its pilot captured. When confronted with accusations of espionage, the US was forced to admit it had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years. Later, the captured pilot was returned in exchange for a captured Soviet agent. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
After Fidel Castro overthrew the American-backed president in Cuba, the US attempted to remove him. Kennedy believed that, although Castro posed no real threat to America, removing him would show Russia, China, and skeptical American public that he was serious about winning the Cold War. The Bay of Pigs was a failed invasion launched by the CIA; the invaders surrendered within 24 hours. -
Rise of the Berlin Wall
A barbed wire and concrete wall between East and West Berlin, constructed by East Germany. The official purpose was to keep the West out, but ultimately kept the East in. It physically divided and showed the difference between the western democrats and eastern communists. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A tense political and military standoff between the US and the Soviet Union after the US discovered the Soviet Union assembling ballistic missiles. The fear of a nuclear war was quelled when the Soviet leader agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba if the US promised not to invade and to remove their installations in Turkey. -
Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty
The US, Soviet Union, and Great Britain signed an agreement to prohibit the testing of nuclear weapons in outer space, underwater or in the atmosphere. It was the important first step towards controlling nuclear weapons. -
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
Negotiations between the US and the Soviet Union, aimed at slowing the arms race. Abolition of nuclear weapons was acknowledged as impossible; instead, the nations focused on limiting their weapon development to stabilize their relations. -
Soviet Union invades Afghanistan
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to support the Afghan communist government against the anti-communist Muslim guerrillas. The Soviets never recovered from the public relations and financial losses, later contributing to the fall of the Soviet empire. This conflict also established a breeding ground for terrorism, lending itself to the rise of Osama bin Laden. -
Perestroika
A series of political and economic reforms meant to kick-start the economy of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Perestroika, meaning "restructuring" in Russian, ultimately failed, hastening the fall of the Soviet Union, which in turn, ended the Cold War. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The East Berlin Communist Party announced that citizens of the German Democratic Republic were free to cross the borders. The fall of the wall paved the road for East and West Germany to officially reunite almost a year later.
