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Yalta Conference
FDR of the US, Churchill of Britain, and Stalin of Russia met in Crimea, Soviet Union. They were known as the "Big Three". This connects to the political GASPIRE theme because these three politicians are making a deal about what they have won in the biggest war in history. This impacted the Cold War because after the USSR gained control over some of Eastern Europe, the US feared that those countries would become communist. They tried to aid these countries in fighting communism. -
Truman Docterine
After the Yalta Conference, the USSR had control over parts of eastern Europe. The US feared that these countries would become communist, so President Truman signed the Truman Doctrine. It allowed him to receive $400 million meant to help Greece and Turkey fight the communist forces, going against the USSR and making tensions grow. The social GASPIRE theme relates to this because these two countries were scared that their social relations with the US would cause the Soviet Union to attack. -
Marshall Plan
This was created by US Secretary of State George Marshall. Meant to rebuild Europe after is was wrecked by World War II. The GASPIRE theme intellectual relates to this event because Marshall was trying to create a plan that would solve many of Europe's problems. Members of the Soviet Union thought that the US was trying to undermine their current position in parts of Europe. -
Berlin Blockade
Angered by the US attempting to aid the democratic parts of Germany and other European countries, the Soviets made US entry into Berlin impossible by blocking land and water access. Since this was causing the people of Berlin to starve, the US and Great Britain flew in resources to them, causing the Soviets to back down. This would be economic because both the US and Soviets did this because they hoped for economic gain in Berlin. -
NATO is Formed
NATO was a group of allied countries that vowed to protect each other during times of attack. This stood for North Alliance Treaty Organization. A few countries that were a part of it were the US, Great Britain, Canada, and Italy. This organization may relate to the religious theme because most of the countries the were allied had similar values and religious beliefs, so they would be more inclined to help each other. -
Comecon
In response to the Marshall Plan, the Soviet Union created comecon. It was founded by Stalin and meant to provide members of the USSR with aid. It relates to the GASPIRE theme geographic because Stalin wanted to control these certain areas of Europe, the USSR, so he wanted to have power over more geography and the US threatened him. -
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Korean War
When North Korea crossed the 38th parallel, the US came to help South Korea and the USSR and China came to the aid of North Korea. This was considered a proxy war. In the end, a border was reestablished and the war ended in a draw. However, communism did not spread. This relates to the political GASPIRE theme because these countries are fighting over politics and beliefs, but calling it the Korean War and fighting in Korea. -
Warsaw Pact
The members of the Warsaw Pact included the Soviet Union, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, and Bulgaria. Similarly to NATO, this was an alliance between the countries involved. Its purpose was to be the opposing force to NATO during the Cold War. This relates to the psychological GASPIRE theme because the Warsaw Pact may have been made to intimidate the members of NATO. -
Vietman War
While the US aided South Vietnam, the Soviet union and China aided North Vietnam, almost exactly the same as the Korean War. USSR and communist China in the North and the US in the South. Also, it is also considered a proxy war just as the Korean War is. The geographic GASPIRE theme relates to this conflict because this war is being fought in another country, but it is still part of the Cold War between the US and USSR. -
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Space Race
After Russia released the first satellite into space, Sputnik, the Space Race began to captivate the world. On April 12, 1961, the Soviets proved to be far more technologically advanced then the US when they put the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. After this, JFK promised that the US would put a man on the moon. On July 20, 1969 he did just that. This technological race would be the intellectual GASPIRE theme because these countries are trying to prove which one is smarter than the other. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion/Cuban Missle Crisis
With the support of Russia, Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government and put in place a communist regime. When the US attempted to invade Cuba, it was known as the "Bay of Pigs Invasion" and it failed. After this, the USSR sent missiles to Cuba and JFK demanded that they remove them. In 1962, they did. Relating to the psychological GASPIRE theme, the Cuban missile crisis was intended to scare the US. -
Détente
This was when the political tensions finally began to ease between the US and the Soviet Union. US President Nixon and Soviet Leader Brezhnev met and agreed to SALT (strategic arms limitations talk). This led to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The economic GASPIRE theme relates to this meeting because these two countries had been put through so much financially to fund this war and they both just wanted peace. -
Berlin Wall Comes Down
Built in East Germany, which was then controlled by the USSR, the purpose of the Berlin Wall was to prevent East Germans from going to West Germany, which was led by the western democracies. Government officials decided to knock it down because the people of East Germany had had enough. The cultural GASPIRE theme could go along with this event because this wall separated two different governments, and therefore two different cultures. Bringing it down would have caused them to mingle. -
Soviet Union Collapses
Since the collapse of the USSR, Russia has had issues with Chechnya, an area that used to be a part of the Soviet Union. Additionally, they have been at war with Georgia and have ongoing conflicts with the US. Most recently, they were suspected of playing a part in the election of Donald Trump. This would be considered the social GASPIRE theme because Russia has had multiple different problems with other countries since the fall of the USSR. -
Cold War Museum Founded
The Cold War Museum was founded in Warrenton, Virginia. Its purpose is to preserve the history if the Cold War and honor its veterans. They also have a traveling portion of the exhibit that has been all over the US and Europe. The creation of this event relates to the art GASPIRE theme. The creator wanted to make the artifacts and memories saved from the Cold War pieces of art for everyone to observe and remember the times of the Cold War. -
Interview With My Dad, Who Lived Through the Cold War and Remebers it Vividely.
- How do you remember most from the Cold War? "I am such a big hockey fan, so the thing that stands out to me the most would be the USSR's Red Army hockey team. They seemed unbeatable, making them seem overall better than us."
- What was the scariest part of the Cold War for you? "The single biggest thing that scared me as a kid was just the size of the USSR and what they did to Germany during WWII."
- What did you think about the KGB? "They seemed unstoppable. Vicious and very scary."
