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The Containment Policy
The purpose of the Containment Policy was to prevent the spread of communism throughout Europe. It was the United states strategy during the Cold War. The policy was overall affective due to the result of the cold war and the Soviet Union dissolving. -
Potsdam
During this time after WW2 Truman demanded free elections in Eastern Europe, however Stalin wanted to maintain his communist states and spread his form of government. This even overall led to the Cold war. -
The Yalta Conference
The Yalta conference was the meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union for the purpose of discussing Europe's postwar reorganization. The importance of this event is that it primarily led to the cold war by giving the Soviet Union control over Eastern Europe. Also led to the division of Germany. -
Arms Race
The arms race was an ongoing challenge between the U.S. and the USSR during the Cold War of who could supply the most weapons. The result of arms race contributed to the tension between United States and Russia still today, although the Soviet Union was dissolved. -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy to stop the expansion of Soviet government spreading. President Harry S. Truman pledged to contain Soviet threats to Greece and Turkey. The doctrine served financial, economic, and military aid to any nation allegedly threatened by communism. It became the foundation of American foreign policy and led to the formation of NATO, a military alliance that is still in effect. -
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was a tactic used to counteract the closing of the boarders by the Soviet Union between east and west Berlin.The U.S. and the British flew airplanes with 1.5 million tons of supplies into West Berlin to aid them. In order to avoid conflict, the soviets lifted the blockade, allowing supplies to be sent to West Berlin once again. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was a U.S. idea in which to aid war-torn Europe with $13 billion in loans for economic support. The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-torn regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and improve European prosperity. Most of all the U.S. wanted to prevent prevent the spread of Communism throughout Europe by the USSR. -
The Berlin Blockade
The blockade was the Soviet Union blocking the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin.The Berlin air lift counteracted the blockade and eventually led to the reopening of the borders. The effect of the blockade was East and West Germany being established as separate republics later that month. -
The Korean War
The Korean War was a war against the forces of international communism itself. The Americans entered the war on behalf of South Korean as way to contain and stop the spread of communism against North Korea and their aid from the USSR. The rate of civilian casualties was higher than World War II’s and Vietnam’s. Due to a signed armistice, a boundary was drawn between the North and the South permanently. -
Nikita Khrushchev comes to power
Khrushchev came to power after the death of Stalin. Khrushchev was responsible for the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union. He also lead during the Cuban Missile crisis. Eventually he forced to resign as both premier and head of the Communist Party. -
Joseph Stalin Dies
Joseph Stalin was the governing leader of the Soviet Union from mid 1920's till his death in 1953. His death marked a significant change in the policies of the Soviet Union. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt against the government and Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, led by Fidel Castro. Eventually Castro's communist forces seized control of Cuba. This event helped the Soviet Union see Cuba as an ally and used it against the USA during the Cold war. -
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a treaty composed of the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania during the Cold war. It provided a unified military command and maintenance of Soviet military units on the territories of the other participating states. The main reason for the treaty was to strengthen the Soviet's hold over satellites. After Germany unified in 1991 the Warsaw Pact dissolved . Over all the pact was a failure due to NATO and everyone leaving. -
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a battle of Emperor Bao Dai wanting a unified communist country within Vietnam. However, the U.S. got involved due to the fact that the fall of South Asia was involved. In wanting to stop the fall of communist it was necessary to listen to the domino theory and stop North Vietnam from advancing. The effects of the war were the staggering death toll, the physiological being of soldiers, and the changing of the way Americans approach military actions. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Uprising was a revolt against the Hungarian peoples government for having Soviet imposed policies. After announcing a willingness to negotiate a withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Politburo changed its mind and moved to crush the revolution. Overall this led to considerable losses of membership for communist parties in capitalist states and the withdrawal of the Soviet military from Hungary. -
Space Race
The space race was a battle between the U.S. and the USSR for dominance in spaceflight capability. The race started with the launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit by the Soviet Union and led to the U.S.'s launch of Explorer I. The result of the great space race the enhancement of our theoretical and practical understanding of astronomy, meteorology, physics and the various earth sciences. -
The U-2 Incident
The U-2 incident was when an American spy plane was shot down by the USSR with the pilot Gary Powers in it.The incident had convinced Khrushchev that he could no longer cooperate with Eisenhower, and the Soviet leader walked out of the Paris meeting. Soviet negotiators also abandoned any plans of nuclear disarmament the following month. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs incident was the invasion of Cuba by Americans and Cuban exiles to lead a revolt against Castro. The orders for the invasion were given by President Kennedy. The invasion failed. The effect of the invasion was that it led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. -
Construction of the Berlin Wall
The construction of the Berlin Wall was thrown up overnight as a plan by Nakita Khrushchev, the new leader of the Soviet Union, to stop the flow of refugees from East Germany through West Berlin. The wall became representation of division between the two superpowers. It was also an iconic symbol of the Cold War. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile crisis began due to the USSR planning on keeping a nuclear weapon and missiles in Cuba. Due to the fact that neither wanted war nor a fight the USSR agreed to President Kennedy's requests to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba.Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey. It was the closest the two superpowers came to nuclear conflict. -
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan happened when the Soviet Union got in-between the conflict of anticommunist Muslim guerrillas and the Afghan communist government during the Afghan war. Shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles supplied by America to the anticommunists helped to neutralize Soviet air power. Finally the Soviet Union signed an accord with the United States, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and agreed to withdraw its troops. This led to the fall of communism in Russia and throughout Europe. -
Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power
When Gorbachev came to power he tried to discipline the Soviet people as a way to overcome economic stagnation. The people did not like him nor his policies due to the fact that they led to terrible economic performance. His resignation led to the Soviet Union being dissolved. This eventually led to the ending of the Cold War. Gorbachev was the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union. -
INF Treaty
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics that eliminated all nuclear and conventional missiles, as well as launchers, with ranges of 500–1,000 kilometers. The treaty resulted in the United States and the Soviet Union destroying a total of 2,692 short-, medium-, and intermediate-range missiles. This solved much tension between the two countries by eliminating fear. -
The fall of the Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall began with the German East Communist Party announcing that all GDR citizens could cross the border whenever they pleased. Then, that night, those from the east and the west all gathered at the wall and tore it down with everything they had. The fall of the wall symbolized the unification of east and west Germany once again. -
German Re-Unification
German Re-Unification is an event in which the German Democratic Republic became a part of the Federal Republic of Germany. This even is important in the fact that it reunited the nation of Germany -
U.S.S.R. Breakup
The dissolution of the U.S.S.R happened when they officially granted self-governing independence to the Republics of the Soviet Union. From August to December, all the individual republics, including Russia itself, had either seceded from the union or at the very least denounced the Treaty on the Creation of the Soviet Union. The dissolution of the USSR also signaled the end of the Cold War.
