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Yalta Conference
The Big Three Allied leaders - Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill - meet at the Yalta Conference to discuss postwar world order. They also plan to divide Germany into separate zones. -
World War II Ends
After testing the first atomic bombs earlier in the year, the United States sends two atomic bombs to Japan, one in Hiroshima and one in Nagasaki, just two days apart. The Japanese surrender and WWII ends. -
Containment
George Kennan writes his Long Telegram introducing the idea of containment, which basically suggests that communism is contained to its own area rather than spreading from one country to another. -
Iron Curtain
Winston Churchill delivers his famous speech explaining that the "iron curtain" was the boundary between capitalism and communism. It was a symbol of the Cold War. -
Truman Doctrine
Truman delivers a speech explaining that he willl help any nation threatened by communism, helping the idea of containment. -
Berlin Blockade
The Soviet Union blocks all paths to the part of Berlin that was being controlled by Western Allies in an attempt to force Allies out of Berlin by taking over the supply of resources to the city. It was a failure for the Soviets as the Western Allies instituted an airlift to deliver supplies. -
NATO
Military alliance between Western countries in support of Capitalism, mainly the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Western Europe. The alliance states that if one of the countries within the alliance goes to war then all other countries will help. -
Truman fires MacArthur
MacArthur disagrees with Truman's policies and disrespects the authority of the President, getting himself fired, regardless of his reputation as a hero. -
Domino Theory
President Eisenhower delivers the symbolic idea of a domino theory in place, where if one country falls to Communism then others will most likely follow, like a row of dominoes would do. -
Warsaw Pact
Military alliance designed to counter the NATO organization. Member nations included the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. -
Great Leap Forward
China's leader, Mao Zedong, begins the Great Leap Forward to industrialize the nation. It greatly fails to progress China and results in famine where millions die. -
Bay of Pigs
CIA sponsored American attack to overthrow Fidel Castro of Cuba. It was a huge failure on America's part. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This event was the closest to a nuclear war that the world has come to. Nuclear weapons were in place and both the United States and Soviet Union were prepared if battle were to take place. -
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)
Reagan and Gorbachev limit and reduce the amount of nuclear weapons in each country. They removed about 80 percent of all nuclear aresenals. -
Fall of Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachev resigns and the Soviet Union is separated into independent countries. Also, this marks the end of the Cold War.
