-
The Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was when the Communist Party overthrew the Russian Monarchy. It established the Soviet Union. Ended November 7, 1917 -
Potsdam Conference
An agreement between the victors of WWII on how Germany would be divided up and occupied to stop another war. Ended on August 2, 1945 -
The Atomic Bombs
The US Dropped two Atomic Bombs on Japan to force Japan to surrender. It killed about as many people as the previous firebomb attacks in one explosion rather than tons of napalm. The second Bomb was dropped on August 9th, 1645 -
The Long Telegram
A telegram sent from George F. Kennan to Washington about how to deal with Russian foreign policy. It suggested the use of Containment, to stop the Russian expanse. -
Iron Curtain
The border between communist countries and non-communist countries. Coined by Winston Churchill. -
Molotov Plan
USSR's economical aid program to build up countries in eastern Europe that supported the USSR bot economically and politically. -
The Truman Doctrine
Give political military and economic help to countries, specifically Greece and Turkey, to protect them from a communist takeover. -
Berlin Blockade
Russia blocked the import of food and supplies to West Berlin in an attempt to starve out the democratic powers, fearing a reunified Germany. Ended May 12th 1949. -
NATO
A defensive alliance between many Western Europe, and the US and Canada, to protect against the Soviet Union. It wasn't dissembled after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and continues to exist today. -
First Soviet Bomb Test
The first successful soviet nuclear bomb shocked the US, as they had expected it to not function yet, and began an arms race to produce the most nuclear bombs. -
Alger Hiss case
He was accused of spying for the Soviet Union, he was sent to prison for perjury. He maintained that he was innocent until he died. His conviction has remained fairly controversial to this day, because of the lack of documents required to prove either way. -
Rosenberg Trial
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused of, tried for, convicted of, and executed for spying on the US for the Soviet Union. -
Marshall Plan
A program of financial aid to give over USD$12 billion to Western Europe to help their economies recover. It was intended to protect them from a communist takeover, and thus the US from the expanse of communist territories. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
Five countries of the Warsaw Pact invade Czechoslovakia, since Czechoslovakia refused to follow their demands. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
Warsaw pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia after Czechoslovakia underwent a period of liberalization. The US did nothing to help Czechoslovakia because they were trying to create a treaty with the USSR and didn't want to risk their treaty for Czechoslovakia. -
Nixon visits China
When Nixon went to China and started formal relationship with them, the US and China started to engage in trade, resulting in a economic boom for China and the US. -
Fall of Saigon
When North Vietnam captured South Vietnam, the US did the largest ever helicopter evacuation. Evacuations had occurred prior to the attack, but they didn't evacuate everyone because they feared it would stop the US from giving aid to South Vietnam (which they never did anyways) -
SDI announced
The Strategic Defense Initiative was a military project to build anti-ballistic missile weapons. It never produced any effective weapons, and was intended mostly as a bluff. It was nicknamed "Star Wars" by Senator Ted Kennedy because of how ridiculous it was. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
A diplomatic meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. They talked about various important things, but didn't create any treaties or change what they were doing. However, they did agree to further talks in other places in the future. -
‘Tear down this wall’ speech
A speech by President Ronald Reagan given in West Berlin challenging Mikhail Gorbachev to remove the wall between West and East Berlin. It was somewhat controversial as many US politicians didn't want to anger Gorbachev, with which Reagan had established fairly positive relations. Reagan decided not to revise the speech. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
When West Germany changed their emigration laws to allow citizens to leave, massive numbers of people tried to emigrate, and their facilities were quite unable to handle it. Removal of the actual wall itself took a long time, but the sudden change in policy had huge effects that immediately changed the way the Cold War ended.
