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Klaus Fuchs
Klaus Fuchs worked on the British Nuclear Program from 1941 to 1943, and he passed information on the nuclear weapons to a Soviet spy named Ruth Kuczynski. "Arrest of a top-ranking British scientist on charges of giving atom bomb secrets to Russia may explain why the Soviet are able to produce the atom bomb, as they claim to be doing." -
The End of WW2
With the end of WW2, the US and the Soviet Union are the only remaining world powers, and are poised to challenge each other for dominance in the coming decades "He expressed the view that Russia does not desire war, but cautioned that Moscow does desire the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of its power and policies" -
The Arms Race
With the start of the Cold War, the US and the USSR began to stockpile vast quantities of nuclear weapons and arms with the intention of surpassing the other. "If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce" -
Espionage
The USSR and the US used espionage as a means of obtaining information about the other sides projects and plans. Both used them throughout the Cold War, with it resulting in the need for agencies such as the CIA. "Since the war it has been a matter of common knowledge that it is the Russian practice to entlist intelligence ahents from the families of persons under Soviet control" -
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The Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was a series of border defenses that divided the countries that aligned with the communists and those countires of the West "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an "Iron Curtain" has descended across the continent." - WInston Churchill on the Iron Curtain -
The Atomic Energy Commission
President Truman created the AEC as a means of funding research and civilian use of atomic power, energy, and other uses of radiation. "...the development and utilization of atomic energy shall, so far as practicable, be directed toward improving the public welfare..." -
The People's Rupublic of Bulgaria
Bulgaria adopted a communist government by the end of 1946, solidifying themselves as a satellite of the Soviets "The People's Republic of Bulgaria is a socialist state, headed by the working people of the village and the city" - Part of Article I of the PRB's constitution -
The Loyalty Review System
The Loyalty Review System was created by Truman as a means of rooting out people who were against the government yet had jobs in the government - communists. "There shall be a loyalty investigation of every person entering the civilian employment of any department or agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government" -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine arose from a speech given by Harry Truman which pledged US support for countries who faced totalitarian threats externally or internally "In addition to the $400,000,000 to be expended before June 30, 1948, the President asked Congress to authorize the detail of American civilian and military personnel to Greece and Turkey, upon the request of those countries" -
Aid to Greece and Turkey
Britain had been sending supplies to Greece and Turkey, but had recently run out of supplies. To combat this, the US under Truman sent $400 million in aid to prevent a communist uprising in Turkey and Greece. "In addition to the $400,000,000 to be expended before June 30, 1948, the President asked Congress to authorize the detail of American civilian and military personnel to Greece and Turkey, upon the request of those countries" -
The Long Telegram
The Long Telegram was a warning of the growing danger posed by the Soviets by George F Kennan "[The] USSR still lives in antagonistic "capitalist encirclement" with which in the long run there can be no permanent peaceful coexistence" -
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Containment
The Containment policy was adoped by the US as a means of containing the spread of communism and keeping it confined. It was outlined in Kennan's Long Telegram in 1947. "It does not work by fixed plans. It does not take unnecessary risks. Impervious to logic of reason, and it is highly sensitive to logic of fforce. For this reason it can easily withdraw—and usually does when strong resistance is encountered at any point" - George Kennan on the Soviets -
The National Security Council
The National Security Council was created as a central place for concerns of national safety to be raised, in direct result of the growing communist threat. "...to provide a comprehensive program for the future security of the United States..." -
The Central Intelligence Agency
The CIA was created as part of the National Security Act of 1947 as a means of monitoring our enemies and potential enemies through spies and other forms of espionage. It primarily focused on intelligence against the Soviet Union. "...to provide a comprehensive program for the future security of the United States..." -
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The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was a practice adopted by the United States where the US would give resources, supplies, and money to European powers with the intent of stopping the spread of communism. -
The Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was a sanction against the powers of the west by the Soviets with the intent of making East Germany solely use the newly-implemented ostmark. The image is the blockaded American sector of Berlin. -
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was a series of supply drops into the portions of Berlin that were not held by the USSR. It was provoked by the Soviet decision to blockade supplies to Berlin. The image is a plane delivering supplies to people in East Berlin, who are standing on rubble. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NATO was created in 1949 as a defense agreement between western nations. It later became a more military organization with the Korean War and the Warsaw Pact. -
The First Soviet Bomb
The Russians were able to successfully detonate an atomic bomb in 1949, with the help of spies placed in the American atomic program. It placed the Soviet Union and the United States as the only two world powers with nuclear weapons. "We have evidence that within recent weeks an atomic explosion occurred in the U.S.S.R." - Truman on the discovery f the bomb's detonation -
The People's Republic of China
In 1949 the communist party of China took power and effectively made the nation into a communist states. This increased tensions in Asia, and helped to spur on later conflicts such as Korea and Vietnam. <<Mao Zedong Proclaims the Peaples Republic of China -
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McCarthyism
McCarthyism was the practice of rooting out communism in American throughout the first half of the 1950s. It was started by senator McCarty, who claimed to have a list of known communists. It helped cause strong anti-communist sentiment in the United States. "We will not knowingly employ a Communist or a member of any party or group which advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States" - The Waldorf Statement -
Brinkmanship
Brinkmanship was the tactic of approaching war, and almost getting to the point of war, in order to convince the other side to back down. It was used by both sides throughout the Cold War. "The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art." -
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The Korean War
The Korean War was a war waged by the United States against the communist powers of North Korea and China, it ultimately resulted in a truce between the two Koreas that still stands (albeit tenuously). "in due course Korea shall become free and independent" - The Cairo Conference decision on Korea -
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was officially formed in 1952 when it received its constitution and became a truly communist nation, as a satellite to the USSR << Communist Propaganda in Poland -
Julius Rosenberg
Julius Rosenberg was a communist spy who used contacts in the United States to provide the Soviets with a large amount of information on the American Nuclear Program, and aided in the Soviets first test "Mrs. Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg... [is] alleged to have pro-Communistic sympathies." -
The Domino Theory
The Domino Theory was the belief that the presence of one communist nation would lead to all the nations around it becoming communist. This drove Congress and America to think that foreign intervention were necessary. "You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly" - Eisenhower on the Domino Theory (allegorically) -
Communist Control Act
The Communist Control Act made it illegal to be a part of the Communist Party or any other communist party in the US. It was a direct response to growing anti-communist sentiment in the United States. "To outlaw the Communist Party, to prohibit members of Communist organizations from serving in certain representative capacities, and for other purposes." -
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was created by the Soviets as a defensive pact between them and other communist states. It was in part a reaction to the induction of West Germany into NATO in 1955. "With a view to safeguarding peace and security and preventing aggression against any State in Europe" - The premise for the creation of the Warsaw Pact -
The Space Race
The Space Race was a race between the United States and the Soviet Union to see who could get into space and on the moon first. Ultimately, the Soviets got the first person in space and the Americans the first person on the moon. "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..." -
The Interstate Highway Act
The Interstate Highway Act was created to place highways all over the country. Many of these highways were put in place to serve a dual purpose of evacuations and protection against a possible attack by the USSR. "...to authorize appropraition for continuing the construction of highways..." -
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Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was an effprt by the United States government to stop the spread of communism in South East Asia by aiding the capitalist South Korea against the communist North Korea. The US ultimately failed in its goals and was forced to withdraw from Vietnam. "With respect to the statement made by the representative of the State of Vietnam, the United States reiterates its traditional position that peoples are entitled to determine their own future..." - The Pentagon Papers -
The Eisenhower Doctrine
The Eisenhower Doctrine put into place a plan where a middle eastern country could receive aid if it was being threatened by a communist country such as the USSR. It was precipitated by the USSR's attempted entrance into Egypt. "Our country supports without reservation the full sovereignty and independence of each and every nation of the Middle East" -
Interventions in Latin America
The United States began to support leaders in Latin America who were anti-communist, supplying them with resources and equipment to overthrow or prevent a communist government. "...resolve to undertake joint action in repelling any aggression against an American state" - The goal of the Act of Chapultepec -
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was created by East Germany with the intent of stopping the spread of Germans from East to West Berlin. The Soviets claimed it was to stop still-present Nazism in western Germany. The image is an example of part of the Berlin wall dividing the East from the West -
The Cuban Missle Crisis
Following the placement of nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy aimed at Moscow, the Russians placed there own missles on Cuba. This led to a confrontation between the two powers that would ultimately create the Moscow-Washington hotline. "...if there is no intention to tighten that knot and thereby to doom the world to the catastrophe of thermonuclear war, then let us not only relax the forces pulling on the ends of the rope, let us take measures to untie that knot" - Khrushchev to JFK -
Socialist Republic of Romania
In 1965 the Communist Party in Romania took power and solidified their hold of the country, and they too joined the growing group of satellites around the USSR -
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Detente
Following the Cuban Missle Crisis, the US and the USSR began to have a thawing of relations in the hopes of a more friendly attitude between the two. It ended with the presence of the Soviets in Afghanistan. "'Détente' has been a one-way street that the Soviet Union has used to pursue its aims" - Reagan on Detente -
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
SALT was a series of talks where the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to limit the amount of ballistic missles held by both countries, especially with the development of the MIRV. "on the problem of the Mideast and on other outstanding problem of the Mideast and on other outstanding problems in which the United States and the Soviet Union, acting together can serve the peace" - Nixon on SALT -
The Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were agreements between the Egyptians and the Isrealites that made peace after their war, and changed the political climate of the Middle East. << Carter, Sadat, and Begin at the Camp David Accords -
The Soviet War in Afghanistan
The Soviets invade Afghanistan intent on subjugating the country, and the US in turn offers military support in the form of weapons to the anti-Soviet rebels in the area << A downed Soviet Helicopter in the middle-east -
The Carter Doctrine
The United States would use military force in the Persian Gulf in order to protect its intrests. This was in direct result of the Soviets invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. "An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America" - Carter on Soviet military action in the middle east -
The Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine was a practice of providing support for guerillas and resistance movements that were fighting communism. It was in use until the end of the Cold War. "Carefully selected, planned targets — judges, police officials, tax collectors, etc. " - A summary of the uses of "rollback"
