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The origins of the cold war
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Truman Doctrine
In March 1947, in a speech before a joint session of Congress, Truman called on the United States to take a leadership role in the world. In a statement of principles known as the Truman Doctrine, he established another major policy that would guide American actions in the Cold War. -
Marshal Plan
A plan created by George C. Marshall, described at Harvard University, to stop the spread of communism in the post WWII Europe. It also reflected in belief of American aid to Europe economic recoverys to make strong democracys and open new markets for American trade. -
Berlin Airlift
The airlift was created then ended almost a year later to bring supplies from West Germany to West Berlin by plane because the Soviet Union blocaded the West and East Germany border so West berlin could not get supplies fron the United States, France and Great Britian. It ended because the Soviet Union stoped the blockade 11 months later. -
Begining of NATO
Canada and the United States joined Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Member nations agreed that an armed attack against one or more of them shall be considered an attack against them all. The first time since the Monroe Doctrine, Used to help stop the spread of communism in europe. -
First Soviet Atomic Bomb
President Truman announced that the Soviet Union had successfully detonated an atomic bomb. Four months later, President Truman advised the Atomic Energy Commission to proceed with the development of a hydrogen bomb.
U.S. government officials had predicted that it would take the Soviet Union as long as a decade to develop an atomic bomb. The speed with which the Soviets produced a bomb led to charges that development of the device was a product of Soviet espionage. -
China falls to communism
Chinese Communists under Mao-Tse-tung proclaimed the birth of the People's Republic of China after a revolution. Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Nationalists were forced to flee to Formosa (now Taiwan). The "fall" of China shocked many Americans and would contribute to the myth that American government officials were somehow responsible for the country's loss to the Communists. -
Korean War
Communist North Korean forces invaded South Korea, beginning a three-year war. Three days later, the South Korean capital of Seoul fell to the North Koreans. President Truman immediately ordered U.S. air and sea forces to "give the Korean government troops cover and support. Then, Douglas MacArthur successfully landed two divisions ashore at Inchon, behind enemy lines. They got to china where the border evened out. The war ended in 1953 at a stalemate. -
Warsaw Pact
The USSR did not like the fact that NATO was created so they made a warsaw pact with the communist sattlites. The communist sattlites are Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Like NATO, it is a pact that protects eachother where you mess with one, you mess with all. -
Sputnik
The size of this technology gap became apparent in 1957, when the Soviets used one of their rockets to launch Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. The realization that the rocket used to launch Sputnik could carry a hydrogen bomb to American shores added to American shock and fear. -
The U2 Incident
Soviet military again demonstrated its arms capabilities by using a guided missile to shoot down an American U-2 spy plane over Soviet territory. Because these spy planes flew more than 15 miles high, American officials had assumed that they were invulnerable to attack. The U-2 incident shattered this confidence, and made Americans willing to expend considerable resources to catch up to—and surpass—the Soviet Union.
