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Potsdam Conference
Conference at the end of the war in Europe between the U.S., Russia, and U.K. Discussion of post-war Germany. Stalin promises free elections in E. Europe -
Atomic Bomb - Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The Manhattan Project, a secret atomic bomb project, was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan. The atomic bomb resulted in the death of 200,000+ Japanese citizens and military. It was a brand new weapon of warfare that only the U.S. had. This weapon changed the direction of the war, and really warfare itself. It was also held over the USSR as a threat if they refused to negotiate. -
Long Telegram
Written by George F. Kennan, a Russian Ambassador, the long telegram was a 8,000 word telegram to the United States government advising how to address the Soviet Unions expansionism. In the telegram he proposes the idea of containment, a strategy where the U.S. would have to place resistance against the Soviets expansion attempts. -
Iron Curtain Speech
The Iron Curtain speech, said by Winston Churchill, was about Stalin's hostility towards Western Europe following WWII. Churchill famously stated, "An iron curtain has descended across the continent." in the speech, referring to the economic and geographic situations to come to Europe during the Cold War. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy, established by President Truman, that stated the U.S. was to provide military, political, and economic aid to nations being attacked by communists in Europe. The goal of the Truman Doctrine was to contain communist influence by strengthening vulnerable countries. Truman also had requested that Congress would financially aid Greece and Turkey. -
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan, a program created by the Soviet Union, provided aid for Eastern European countries that were communist. The Soviet Union had refused the help of the Marshall Plan, from the U.S. and instead created this. -
Hollywood 10
The Hollywood 10 had attended prison after refusing to answer any questions regarding their affiliation with communism. They were then put on a blacklist, for suspected communists, in the motion-picture industry. The Hollywood 10 included: Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner, Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbo. By the 1960's the blacklist disappeared. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was made by the U.S. to directly financially support European countries under attack from communist agendas. The money was used to aid economic growth to strengthen the countries to resist communism influence. The U.S. loaned over $15 billion to European countries from 1948 to 1951. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade, attempted by the Soviet Union, was blocking all access to Eastern Berlin; via rails, roads, and waterways. Stalin claimed the allies no longer had any rights there and wanted them to abandon Western Berlin. This course of action was executed by Stalin because the Allies had reunified Germany and set up a stable currency for the country, this was seen as a violation of the Ally agreements. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was a united effort by the U.S. and allies to get needed resources (food, water, medicine, candy for the kids, clothes, etc.) to support over two million West Berlin citizens. Within a year, nearly 200,000 U.S and Ally planes delivered one-and-a-half million tons of supplies to West Berlin. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, was a military alliance created by the U.S. Canada, and several Western European countries. The goal was to establish security against the Soviet Union, collectively, to resist communist expansion. -
First Soviet Bomb Test
The Soviet Union had successfully tested their first nuclear weapon. The U.S. no longer had the advantage of being the only country with the single strongest war weapon of its time. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese Communist Revolution, launched by Mao Zedong; Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and founder of The Peoples Republic of China. The goal of the revolution was to preserve Chinese communism. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger Hiss, a former State Department official, was accused and convicted of being a spy. He was exposed by Whittaker Chambers of having been a member of an underground communist group. Hiss denied all accusations and even sued Chambers. However, in November of 1948, Chambers presented documents proving he and Hiss had committed espionage and a package containing photos of State Department documents with notes in Hiss' own handwriting. Finally, in December of 1950, Hiss was convicted. -
Korean War & Korean Armistice
The Korean War started in 1950, initiated by North Korean leader Mao Zedong, a communist, the North Korean army attacked South Korea. The UN got involved, and sent UN forces to help South Korea. China, a North Korean ally, joined the war. The war spread far across both Korean peninsulas, when finally the war was at a stalemate in 1953.
Korean Armistice, an agreement between North Korea, China, and the U.S. military commanders, ensured the complete ceasefire from all sides in the war. -
Rosenberg Trial
The Rosenberg Trial convicted Julius and Ethel of espionage in 1951. Julius Rosenberg had been proven of informing the Soviet Union of confidential information and recruiting spies within the Manhattan project. Julius was considered to be leading a spy ring involving more than eight people. Ethel Rosenberg was never proven of having committed espionage. When arrested they had plead the fifth, this being in the time of McCarthyism, this ultimately lead to their conviction and execution. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu, a battle between French and communist Viet Minh forces, on a small mountain outpost of the Vietnamese border called Dien Bien Phu. The French were defeated by 40,000 Viet Minh troops, despite massive amounts of help from the U.S.. French forces retreated following this event. Communists Viet Minh having control over Vietnam concerned the U.S. and became more involved in the Vietnam War. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
Joseph McCarthy, a U.S. senator, ordered mass amounts of investigations and hearings on suspected communist infiltrators. He brought the period of time known as McCarthyism. McCarthy didn't provide any viable evidence to support his accusations he charged ahead with accusations towards anyone he suspected. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a mutual defense organization treaty signed by seven European countries, including: Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. All of the countries military were under the command of one Marshal Ivan S. Konev of the Soviet Union. The treaty made it so, if there were an outside force attacking any of the member states, the other member states would come to their defense. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution, a major uprising in Hungary, was triggered by the demand for a more democratic government and freedom from Soviet oppression. The Soviet Union responded with violence, troops, and tanks following Hungary's claim that they would be exiting the Warsaw Pact. Thousands of Hungarians were killed and injured, while more than 200,000 Hungarians fled the country. In the end, the Soviet Union beat Hungary into submission. -
U-2 Incident
The U-2 Incident occurred when the USSR shot down an American U-2 spy plane. The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, had admitted that America's CIA had been spying on them for years. Powers was then placed in prison for espionage, however, after being in there for less than two years he was released in exchange for an American captured USSR Soviet agent. The US and the USSR had swapped spies for the first time. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
President John F. Kennedy launched an invasion of the South Coast of Cuba with Cuban exiles, Brigade 2506. He launched an air strike on Cuban planes but missed. When Brigade 2506 landed on Bay of Pigs they were immediately under heavy fire. Cuban planes had sunk the escort ships and destroyed all air support so Kennedy sent 6 unmarked planes to help, an hour too late. Brigade 2506 members were either killed, imprisoned or swam out to sea. The U.S. traded baby food and medicine for the men back. -
Berlin Wall
In 1961, the Soviet Union began to build a barbed wire and concrete wall called the Berlin Wall, right in between East and West Berlin. The sole purpose of this wall was to keep Western fascists out of Soviet Union communists territory. Eastern Berliners were not permitted to cross the wall at all, the wall was almost 14 feet high, and those who tried to climb over or escape at all were imprisoned, killed, or internally exiled. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
American U-2 spy planes flew over Cuba after finding out that the Soviets had shipped missiles to the island. They had spotted new military construction and technicians, later a ballistic missile on a launching pad was reported. The US set up a naval blockade, stopping all shipments. The conflict ended when Kennedy and Khrushchev came to an agreement, the US wouldn't invade Cuba and secretly agreed to remove missiles out of Turkey, and the Soviets would remove all missiles. -
Assassination of JFK
President John Franklin Kennedy was riding in an open-top convertible, through the streets of Dallas Texas, when he was shot at by a sniper. Along with Kennedy in the car were his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and his wife. Only John Kennedy and John Connally were hit in the assassination attempt. There were swarms of excited people on both sides of the vehicle. The bullets that hit Kennedy were fatal and he died within half an hour at Parkland Hospital. John Connally survived. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution, passed by Congress, allowed President Johnson to take whatever measures he thought necessary to promote international peace and security in southeast Asia, including war. With this they gave President Johnson a "blank check" basically a limitless amount of money to utilize in war. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was in result of two destroyer ships that were stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin, radioing that they had been shot at by North Vietnamese forces. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a series of attacks by North Vietnam on hundreds of South Vietnam cities and outposts, on Lunar New Year. The goal of the attacks was to stir up a revolt among the South Viet citizens and push the U.S. troops out. However, South Vietnam and U.S. forces were able to hold off the attacks against North Viet forces. When news coverage reached American screens, the support for the war effort quickly depleted as it was blatantly obvious the war wasn't near an ending. -
Riots of Democratic Convention
At a Democratic National Convention in Chicago, there was a gathering of thousands of Vietnam War protesters on the streets battling with police officers. They were also chanting, "The whole world is watching." The National Democratic Convention was attempting to make a decision regarding their stance on Vietnam inside the Conrad Hilton Hotel. -
Kent State
The Kent State Massacre, taking place on the Kent State University campus, students protested the bombing of Cambodia by U.S. forces were confronted by the Ohio National Guard. The guards shot into the crowd without warning, killing four students, wounding eight, and paralyzing one following the crowd getting more rowdy towards them. Just two days prior the same Guardsmen used tear gas to disperse a different assembly on the same campus. This resulted in widespread protests on college campuses. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
Ceasefire in Vietnam began with a peace agreement between the U.S., South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and Viet Cong. North Vietnam released all American war prisoners and the U.S. military withdrew all their troops from South Vietnam. -
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the surrendering of the South Vietnam's stronghold Saigon to North Vietnam forces. When South Vietnam was attacked the U.S. didn't provide any help despite promising to do so. The South Vietnamese 18th Division fought hard at Xuan Loc, the last of their defenses, beating three North Vietnamese divisions. On April 30, North Viet forces crashed through the gates of the presidential palace, taking over, North and South Vietnam were both under communist government. -
Reagan Elected
Reagan was elected into office on January 20, 1981 and served until January 20, 1989. He was part of the Republican party and won the election by quite a lot compared to the Democratic party running individuals like Jimmy Carter. He's the 40th President of the U.S. He was well known for his anti-communism and his republicanism. His policies are said to have contributed to the fall of Soviet communism. -
SDI Announced
The Strategic Defense Initiative, aka Star Wars program, proposed by President Reagan in 1983. It was a strategic defense system against Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles by intercepting the missiles while they were already in the air, intercepted by laser battle stations from land and space by technology yet to be calculated. SDI would also need sensors on the ground, in the air, and in space to detect the attacks as well. As well as missile platforms to intercept missiles. -
Tear Down This Wall Speech
A speech given by President Reagan at the Berlin wall, he famously addressed Soviet President Gorbachev stating, "Secretary General Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization. Come here, to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” The wall symbolized the Communist Era in the Soviet Union and to truly provide freedom it had to be torn down. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
At midnight of November 9, 1989 the wall opened to cross into West Berlin and East Berlin. Berliners flocked to the wall with plenty of alcohol and cheer, chanting "Tor auf!" meaning "Open the gate!" More than 2 million Eastern Berliners visited the Western Berlin streets for what some say was the greatest street party in history. Citizens chipped away at the Berlin Wall with hammers and picks and government bulldozers broke down larger sections. Germany unified officially in October 1990.