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The Cold War
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Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" Speech
On this day, Winston Churchill gave his most famous post-war speech in the small town of Fulton, Missouri. The speech, which has been recognized by many as the "start" of the Cold War, coined the term "iron curtain," used to describe the division between the USSR along with Eastern Europe; and Western Europe. It also showed a change in Western opinion of the Communist East. Before, they'd been seen in a positive light, having had an important role in winning the war, now, the view was negative. -
Truman Doctrine Announced
On this day, U.S. President Truman gave a speech to Congress. The speech addressed Britain's discontinued financial and military aid towards Greece and Turkey, countries which Truman believed were under communist threat. Truman's response was to declare that it was the U.S.'s job to help countries that were at risk of being taken over by communism. This speech has been seen as the unofficial "declaration" of war during the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan Announced
Secretary of State George C. Marshall outlined his plan for US assistance of European countries at a Harvard commencement ceremony. Since the US was the only major power left relatively unscathed after WWII, it was decided that the US would help other nations recover through what was officially known as the European Recovery Program. The countries included Germany, along with nations that would later make up the European Union. The US benefited in that the ERP spread American economy ideas. -
Berlin Blockade Begins
The end of the war saw Berlin split into 4 sectors, each occupied by either France, Britain, the US, or the USSR (the idea came from Yalta). In 1948, after Western countries had the idea of spliting Germany into 2 separate nations, the USSR attempted to block the other 3 countries from their respective sectors. The 3 blocked countries created an airlift that brought supplies to West Berlin. After nearly year, the USSR let up on the blockade, and the country was split just days later. -
NATO is created
65 years ago today, the US, France, Italy, the UK, Canada and 7 other countries formed an alliance. One agreement of this alliance was that if one country was attacked, all other allied countries would see it as an attack to their own nation. Over the years, other countries joined in the pact, including West Germany, Greece, Turkey, Spain, and many others. 6 years after NATO was created, an opposing group formed under the Warsaw Pact. This split Europe into 2 different teams during the Cold War. -
Mao Zedong Proclaims People's Republic of China
After WWII, war broke out between Chinese communists and the Nationalist Chinese leader, Chiang Kai-Shek. As a result of the civil war, communist leader Mao Zedong rose to power in China and proclaimed it a communist nation, calling it the People's Republic of China. This was seen by many as a US failure, with many believing that Truman was unable to stop communist forces from taking over China. The US refused to recognize the new government, and the 2 countries faced each other in war in 1950. -
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The Korean War
This war began when the North Korean People's Army crossed the 38th parallel boundary into South Korea (Korea had been split up and occupied by Soviets and Americans after WWII). The war came as a result of tensions between the dictators of the north and south, and eventually, there was US involvement. The original US goal was to get the communists out of South Korea, but later changed to liberating the north. See individual events for more details. -
The Schuman Plan
The Schuman Plan was designed to create a supranational community. From the WWI and WWII, France concluded that certain values (justice) should not be defined by the State alone. This proposal resulted to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, and was the forerunner of several other European Communities. Schuman himself was also considered as one of the founding fathers of the European Union. -
European Defense Community (EDC) Treaty Signed By Western Nations
The European Defense Community (EDC) was a plea proposed in 1950 by a French PRime Minister named René eleven in response to the American call for the rearmament of West Germany. The purpose of EDC is to form a pan-European defense force as an alternative to German proposed accession to NATO. Although it was initially going to include West Germany, France, Italy and Benelux countries, the treaty signed on 27 May 1952 didn't go into effect. -
End of Korean War
Originally, US General MacArthur had said that there was "no substitute for victory" in Korea. Truman thought this would provoke war with China and the USSR, and MacArthur was fired. Fighting continued for a while, although peace-talks were had. In the end, there really was no victory. The 38th parallel remained the border, and an armistice was signed. A 2-mile-wide demilitarized zone (that still exists today) was created between North and South Korea. -
West Germany Becomes a Sovereign Nation
On this day, allied (French, British, and American) occupation of West Germany ended. With that, West Germany became its own country. Western countries had advocated for the split of Germany and the creation of a democratic West Germany years earlier. In 1949, plans for the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany were announced and 6 yars later, occupation ended. Days after West Germany became a sovereign nation, it joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). -
Warsaw Pact
Also known as the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, the Warsaw Pact was a mutual defense against NATO and assured the power of communism within the member countries in Central and Eastern Europe such as E. Germany, Hungary, Poland, USSR, and Albania.
Influenced by the creation of NATO, the Warsaw Pact was signed in 1945 and was in impact until 1989. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were originally members of the Warsaw Pact but joined NATO in 1989. -
De Stalinization Process Begins
After Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev became the leader of the USSR. In February of 1956, Khrushchev gave a speech that criticized Stalin's leadership tactics over the USSR. Although the criticism was supposed to be kept secret, word got out to the US. Later, in 1961, Khrushchev renamed Stalingrad and had Stalin's remains removed from Lenin's mausoleum in Moscow's Red Square. -
Hallstein Doctrine
Walter Hallstein was a German politician. The Hallstein Doctrine was Hallstein's establishment of future West German foreign policy and diplomatic relations. The doctrine maintained that West Germany would not have diplomatic relations with any country that recognized East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The doctrine was only actualy used twice; in 1957 with Yugoslavia and in 1963 with Cuba. -
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Mao's Great Leap Forward
Chinese leader Mao Zedong's "Great Leap Forward" was a plan to get China on par with other major international powers like the United States. This meant that China needed to advance economically and technologically. Mao's main goals were to boost Chinese agriculture and industries. Overall, the idea didn't work. Widespread starvation occurred, and even Mao Zedong himself admitted the program was a failure. -
Creation of the Berlin Wall
Apparently, people took the term "iron curtain" pretty literally. The Berlin Wall was created to cut off access to the west. In the years since the separation of the two nations, 2.5 million East Germans had fled to West Germany, typically via West Berlin. Khrushchev suggested cutting off access, so East German soldiers set up over 30 miles of barbed wire, later replacing the fence with an actual wall. The wall extended throughot its 28 years of existence but was torn down in November of 1989. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union built nuclear missile bases on Cuba, only 90 miles from America. Kennedy didn't want to risk invading Cuba, so he set up a blockade called "quarantine." In response to this blockade, Khrushchev proposed to remove Cuban missiles if America promises not to conquer Cuba. Kennedy took the first deal and affirm to discuss the removal of the American missiles in Turkey secretly. Indeed, the missiles in Turkey were removed safer and the nuclear weapons in Cuba also removed. -
China Joins Atomic Race
China joins the race for atomic weapons and detonates their first Atomic Bomb. The USSR had previously promised help in the building of weapons but had backed out in 1959. This was a big accomplishment for China for they had developed their own atomic weapon. -
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Operation Rolling Thunder
The mission was launched in march 1965 by Lyndon B Johnson. It was a sustained bombing of North Vietnam to slow transportation and supplies into South Vietnam. In the beginning there was a strict order not to bomb anything near Hanoi and Haiphong but changed in July 1966 to target ammunition dumps and oil storages. In 1967 it expanded to power plants, factories and airfields near Hanoi and Haiphong. In a span of 3 years, 643,000 tons of bombs were dropped on North Vietnam. -
Crushing of Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia
Alexander Dubcek called for more social and political freedom. This brought a spark in the public and Dubcek quickly rose to the top in power and ended censorship, secret voting and allowed other political parties to be formed. The soviets however were against this and went in with tanks. The citizens revolted and tried to sabotage the attack but the soviets fought back too hard and removed the reforms from power -
Brezhnev Doctrine Outlined
This established reform movements as a “common problem” of all socialist countries. Brezhnev, a Soviet politician, justified the invasions of surrounding countries, basically ensuring the spread of communism. It also stated that no country could leave the Warsaw Pact. This brought many other countries to make treaties with the USSR. -
Ostpolitik (German for "new eastern policy")
German for "new eastern policy," Ostpolitik means the normalization of relations between FRG and GDR. The policy was initially influenced by Egon Bahr (change through rapprochement) and mainly run by Wily Brandt. Ostpolitik was an effort to break with the policies of the Christian Democratic Union (elected gov. of West Germany). In contrast with communist region of East Germany under Christian Democrats, Brandt's Social Democrats attempted to gain a certain degree of cooperation w/ East Germany. -
The US Lands First Man on the Moon
The US is the first country to put a man on the moon. This creates even more tension between big countries because during the atomic race there was also the space race. And now the US was ahead in the race. Previously, in the 1950s, Russians had done outerspace experiments with Sputnik and Sputnik II, but the US was the first to get a man on the moon. -
Treaty of Moscow
The Treaty of Moscow was a treaty established between West Germany and the Soviet Union. The treaty established a better relationship between the FRG and the GDR, with the two countries recognizing each others' territories and increasing trade. -
SALT Treaty Signed
Strategic Arms Limitations Talks I was mainly about negotiations between the two countries: US and USSR on the issue of armament control. However, the US chose not to ratify the treaty in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It froze the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers at existing levels and provided for the addition of new submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers only after the same number of older ICBM and SLBM launchers had been dismantled. -
Helsinki Agreement/Accord ("final act")
Signed between the US, Canada and 33 European States including Russia: the Helsinki Accord stated the “inviolability” of frontiers, gave principles for state peaceful interaction, co-operation in economics and science as well as humanitarian issues. The accords worked to improve relations between the Soviet bloc and the west, however the agreement was not binding. -
SALT II Treaty
The SALT II Agreement was never ratified by the US Senate, but it was an agreement between the US and the USSR. SALT II had to do with nuclear weapons, attempting to establish numerical equality of nuclear weapons between the two countries and limiting the number of MIRV missiles. The treaty did little to improve relations and nuclear status, and it was met with criticism by those who were anti-nuclear-weapon control and those who supported nuclear weapon control alike. -
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Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan was initiated by Soviet invasion of Africa. The war was between Soviet led Afghan forces against multi-national insurgent groups called the Mujahideen. The Peshawar Seven received military aid in Pakistan and China, and weapons and financial aids from the US, UK, Saudi Arabia and others. The consequences were Geneva Accords of 1988, withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, and continual Afghan Civil War. -
Strategic Defense Initiative
The SDI was Reagan's missile defense program concept. The SDI was a space-based program, and, because of this, it was nicknamed "Star Wars." The initiative of the initiative was to be able to intercept a missile during its flight, which would require advanced technological development. Ultimately, the program was cut due to costs and the fact that it would be very difficult to achieve. -
Soviet Union's Legislative Election
In 1989, USSR marked a legislative election for the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union. The elections consisted of first round on 26 March and a second round on 9 April. This was the first relatively free election in the USSR, and the last national elections before the USSR dissolved in 1991. -
Polish Legislative Elections
Although all Parliamentary seats were not freely contested, the victory of the Solidarity opposition was celebrated and highlighted the fall of Communism in Poland. As a result of this election, Poland eventually became the first country of the Eastern Bloc to adopt the democratic election. Despite its not entirely democratic process, the event is marked as a peaceful transition to democracy. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
After an announcement by East German government official Gunter Schabowsi that the travel through the border to the West was open , the Berlin Wall falled. Although it was a surprise and shock for most people, the Berlin Wall was inundated with people from both sides, and there was a huge impromptu celebration along the Berlin Wall. -
German Reunification
The German reunification was when German Democratic Republic (East Germany/GDR) joined the Federal Republic of Germany to form the reunited nation of Germany. This event was remarkable due to the peaceful revolution, and the united Germany remained a member of the European Community (later the European Union) and of NATO. -
Two-Plus-Four Treaty
Also known as Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, the Two-Plus-Four Treaty was negotiated between Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, and the Four Powers (France, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and the US). The Four Powers ultimately cancelled all rights they held in Germany, and thus allowing a united Germany to become fully sovereign. -
The START Treaty
Known as Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, START treaty was a treaty between the US and USSR on the Reduction and limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, mostly nuclear weapons. Signed on 31 July 1991, the treaty led to decrease in more than 6,000 nuclear warheads, 1600 ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and bombers. -
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Due to the growing political unrest, Soviet military and the Communist party of the Soviet Union attempted coup defeat to oust Mikhail Gorbachev and reestablish a strong central regime in August 1991. Due to this action, twelve republics of the Soviet Union were acknowledged as independent and created a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Afterwards, many former Soviet republics have retained close with Russia.