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Russian Revolution
It was a time of political and social revolution across the Russian Empire. It started with the ending of monarchy and ended with the establishment of the Soviet Union. This is significant to the Cold War because without the establishment of the Soviet Union, there never would have been a Cold War. -
Potsdam Conference
This was a conference with the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was about how to administer Germany, who had given unconditional surrender on May 8. During this meeting they established the postwar order, peace treaty issues and countering the effects of the war. This was significant to the Cold War because this is when they divided Germany into 4, which is what started the problems that led to the Cold War. -
Atomic bomb- Hiroshima/Nagasaki
The United States wanted unconditional surrender from Japan, but they kept ignoring the US. On July 26, the US said they need to declare unconditional surrender right now, or they will get "prompt and utter destruction". Japan ignored this, so on August 6, the United States dropped the first Atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Japan still would not give complete unconditional surrender. So on August 9, the United States dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered on August 15. -
Long Telegram- Containment
In 1946 George Kennan wrote a telegram to the Department of State, talking about his views on the Soviet Union and US policies towards them. He said that the Soviet Union would not be able to keep peace with the West of Europe. He said that the Soviets were very suspicious of all other nations and their security could only be found in the destruction of rival power. This is significant to the Cold War because this telegram is why the Truman Doctrine was made -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was at first a non-physical boundary that separated post-war Russia and its states from the rest of Europe. It later became and actual wall dividing the two places. Russia's side, the East, was communist led by the Soviet Union and the West side was countries that were NATO members. This is significant to the Cold War because this is how communism was contained so it did not spread into the rest of Europe. -
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan was a system made by the Soviet Union. It was supposed to provide help to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were aligned, politically and economically, with the Soviet Union. This is significant to the Cold War because the Soviet Union rebuilding these countries was one of the reasons the Cold War began. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a foreign policy to counter the Soviet expansion in Europe. The doctrine helped countries who were against communism and being threatened by the Soviet Union. The United States helped these countries economically and with their military. The United States really wanted to help Greece and Turkey. This is significant to the Cold War because the date of truman's speech introducing this doctrine, is the day the Cold War started. -
Hollywood 10
The Hollywood Ten was when 10 members of the Hollywood film industry publicly denounced what the House Un-American Activities Committee did. The HUAC was an investigative committee of the US House of Representatives. The people who were in this film, know as the Hollywood 10, went to jail and were banned for working for major Hollywood Studios. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American plan that was supposed to help rebuild the economies of countries in Western Europe, after World War 2. The United States gave over $12 billion to Western Europe. The goals of the United States was to rebuild war-torn areas, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, improve European prosperity, and prevent the spread of Communism This was significant to the Cold War because this plan was supposed to help with the containment of communism. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was when the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies road, railway and canal access to the parts of Berlin under Western control. The Soviet Union said they would drop the blockade if the Allies withdrew the Deutsche Mark from West Berlin. The Deutsche Mark was the new currency for West Germany. This was significant to the Cold War because this was the first major international crises of the Cold War. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was when the Soviet Union blocked Berlin so that the Allies could not bring food, fuel or anything to their parts of Berlin. The Allies started flying planes into Berlin, bringing in food, fuel and anything else they needed. This is significant to the Cold War because the Soviet Union was trying to start a war and the allies found a solution to the problem, other than war. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger Hiss was a man who was accused of spying accused of spying for the Soviet Union. He was also convicted of perjury in connection with this charge. Before this, he helped make the United Nations and was a US State Department official and a UN official. In his trial, it was said that he was secretly a communist. He got two 5 year sentences, but only served three and a half. -
NATO
NATO is an international alliance between 29 countries from North America and Europe, and it stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are supposed to protect each other in times of invasions or war. One of its articles says that if one of the 29 members is attacked, it should be considered an attack against all the members, and the other members should assist the attacked country. -
First Soviet Bomb Test (Berlin Airlift)
The Soviet bomb test was a project ordered by The Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin. He was trying to develop nuclear weapons during WW2. After WW2, the Soviet Union made a nuclear bomb, code named First Lightening. The West was very surprised by this because they did not think that Russia would make one until 1953. The US detected it and told everyone. This was significant it the Cold War because it was the reason the hydrogen bomb was made. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese communist revolution was when China fell to communism. China had the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party. Since the 1920s, these two parties had been in on and off conflict with each other. This is significant to the Cold War because it led the United States to suspend diplomatic ties with the people's Republic of China for years. -
Korean War
The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. During the Cold War, Korea was split by the US and the Soviet Union. Both sides had their own Korean leader,and they both thought that the Korean split was temporary. Both of the leaders thought that they were the leader of all of Korea. On June 25, North Korea, with the support of the Soviet Union and China, invaded South Korea. This is significant because the UN sent troops into Korea to help, and 90% of the were American troops. -
Rosenberg Trial
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were a couple who were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. They were accused of giving top secret information about radar, sonar, jet propulsion and nuclear weapon designs. During this time, the United States was the only country with nuclear weapons. They were convicted in 1951 and executed in 1953. Years later, it was revealed that Ethel was not directly involved in spying. -
Army McCarthy hearings
The Army McCarthy hearing was when accusations were investigated between the United States Army and US Senator Joseph McCarthy. The Army accused the Chief Committee Council, Rof Cohn, of pressuring the Army into giving special treatment to David Schine. David Schine was a former McCarthy aide and friend of Cohn. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty between the Soviet Union and seven other socialist countries in Eastern Europe. It was the regional economic organization for socialist states in Central and Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union created this in response to NATO, but also was thought to be the Soviets way of keeping control in Central and Eastern Europe. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution started as a student protest in Budapest. The students were shot at by the State Security Police. This led to violence and disorder in the capital. People organized themselves into militia and started fighting the State Security Police and the Soviet Troops. This continued until November 10. 2,500 Hungarians and 700 soviet troops were killed. -
U-2 Incident
The U-2 incident was when the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy plane The pilot was captured and President Eisenhower was forced to admit to the Soviet Union that the US had been flying spy planes over the Soviet Union for many years. The pilot was sentenced to 10 years in prison, convicted by the Soviets. But after two years he was released because the Soviets traded him for a captured Soviet agent in the US. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was when the CIA trained Cuban refugees to try to overthrow Fidel Castro, who was a communist. 1,200 Cuban refugees with American weapons and planes, went ashore on the Bay of Pigs. the Invasion went really bad because Castro's military had very fast counterattacks. -
Berlin Wall
On August 13, 1961 the communist government of the German Democratic Republic started putting up barbed wire and concrete walls between East and West Berlin. The purpose of this wall was to keep out fascists who did not like communism. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis was between the US and the Soviet Union and it lasted for 13 days. The Soviet Union had sent nuclear missiles to Cuba, which is just 90 miles from the US shores. President JFK decided to make a naval blockade around Cuba. The whole world thought a nuclear war was about to break out. It was all avoided because the Soviet Union said they would remove the missiles if the US would not invade Cuba. -
Assassination of JFK
on November 22, 1963 John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. JFK was riding in a motorcade with his wife, Governor John Connally and his wife. He was shot by former US marine Lee Harvey Oswald. John Connally was also shot but he recovered. JFK was pronounced dead 30 minutes after the shooting. Oswald shot Kennedy because he did not like capitalism and he was a communist. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Invasion of Czechoslovakia was called Operation Danube. 5 countries from the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia. They were the Soviet Union, Poland, Bulgaria, East Germany and Hungary. The invasion stopped Alexander Dubček's who was the first Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. -
Nixon visits China
President Nixon g=had a 7 day visit to 3 cities in China and it was the first time a president visited the People's Republic of China. When Nixon went to Beijing it ended 25 years of no communication or diplomatic ties between the US and China. Nixon visited China because he wanted more leverage over relations with the Soviet Union. -
Reagan elected
Ronald Reagan won against Jimmy Carter in the 49th presidential election. His plan was to go after the Soviet Union and confront them. He also campaigned for increased defense spending, implementation of supply-side economic policies, and a balanced budget. -
SDI announced
SDI stood for the Strategic Defense Initiative and nicknamed Star Wars. It was a proposed missile defense system against the Soviet Union. The plan was to make a defense system that would construct a space-based anti-missile system. Reagan made the speech so that the Soviet Union would spend tons of money trying to make the same defense system, but this system was impossible to make. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
The Geneva Conference between US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. It was about international diplomatic relations and the arms race. From this meeting, Reagan and Gorbachev became friends. -
‘Tear down this wall’ speech
The ‘Tear down this wall’ speech, also known as the Berlin Wall Speech was made by US president Ronald Reagan. In this speech Reagan told Gorbachev to tear down the wall that had separated East and West Berlin since 1961. This speech was very significant because tearing down the wall was not only a physical barrier but it was also a symbolic barrier between two political ideologies: democracy and communism. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. An end to the Cold War was declared at the Malta Summit three weeks later, and the reunification of Germany took place during the following year.
