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Russian Communist Revolution
Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin was at the head of the revolution against the Provisional Government. This was the start of the rise of the Soviet Union and the communist presence in Russia. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a very harsh treaty that led to the rise of totalitarian leadership in Germany. Germany was in a very bad condition so the idea of communism and dictators who promised better times appealed to the German people. -
League of Nations
The League of Nations expelled the USSR from the organization in response to the Soviets invading Finland. -
Nuclear Deterrent
The United States and the Soviet Union had two different policy when it came to nuclear weapons. The Soviets believed that nuclear war could be fought and won while the United States believed in nuclear deterrence. -
Yalta Conference
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin all meet to discuss what to do with Germany after WW2. Stalin wants a divided Germany but FDR and Churchill don't. This foreshadows the Cold War because of the different interests of Stalin, a Communist, and FDR and Churchill, Democratic Capitalists. -
MAD
MAD stands for mutually assured destruction. This timespan goes from the 1940's to the 1990's. August 6th was when the U.S. dropped the first atom bomb so it paved the way for more nuclear weapons owned by both the US and the USSR that could, if dropped, cause complete destruction of the world. The Cold War was constantly fearful of MAD because of the tensions between the US and the USSR. -
General Assembly
The first meeting of the General Assembly created the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission to try to get rid of all weapons of mass destruction, including the atomic bomb. -
United Nations is Created
The United Nations was created after WWII in order to maintain international peace. Originally signed as a formal opposition to Germany, Japan, and Italy, it's use during the Cold War was to maintain peace between the United States and the Soviets. -
Nuremberg Trials
From November 20th 1945- October 1st 1946, a series of military tribunals occurring in Nuremberg Germany were hosted by the Allie nations. Many high ranking Nazi were sentenced to death. -
Iron Curtain Speech
This speech was given by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The "iron curtain" was a border that divided the Soviet Union controlled countries from the non-Soviet controlled countries. -
Baruch Plan
The Baruch Plan was meant to control the use of atomic weapons, but when the U.S dropped two atomic bombs on Japan and ending WWII , this gave the U.S a monopoly on atomic weaponry. It was argued that the U.S not sharing their atomic secrets would cause more tension between them and the Soviets. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was one of Truman's foreign policies that was created to stop Soviet imperialism. This is also known as containment because Truman did not want communist ideals to keep spreading into Europe. Two examples of this doctrine in effect is in Greece and Turkey. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was a plan of economic aid to Europe. Stalin refused to let his Eastern Bloc receive any of this aid from the West. Therefor they recovered much slower and remained communist because they didn't have the strength to revolt. -
Berlin Airlift
When the Soviets tried to cut off West Berlin from the Allies to gain complete control of the capital, the Allies began to airlift essentials and drop them over West Berlin. These airlifts ended on May 12th 1949 when the Soviets backed off and ended their blockade of West Berlin. -
NATO is Created
NATO is created as an effort for collective security against the Soviet Union. The United States saw a strong, rearmed, and economically stable Europe as a vital prevention to the spread of communism. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
Russia has influence and control in China and the United States suspends diplomatic ties due to Russia's control. -
Joseph McCarthy Speech
McCarthy caused a scare in the United States after giving a speech about "enemies from within", creating the idea that there are communist spies in the United States. -
Korean War
The Korean War was between the Soviet backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea in the south. This was invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. -
U.S. Sends Troops To Vietnam
The U.S. believes that a communist victory in Vietnam will lead to the fall of many of its neighbors. This is known as the domino effect. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was an alliance formed between the Soviet Union and its Eastern satellite nations. It stated that if one country were to be attacked, the others would raise arms in defense. These were all communist nations. -
Sputnik Launched
Sputnik was the first artificial satellite ever launched into space, and was done so by Russia. This started the space race between the United States and Russia, eventually leading the United States to land a man on the moon. -
Castro Proclaims Cuba Communist
When Castro came to power, he made close diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union, so when he proclaimed himself and Cuba as a communist country, this established the animosity between the United States and Cuba. -
Bay of PIgs Invasion
The US tried to train Cuban exiles to overthrow the communist leader Fidel Castro because the US feared having a communist nation so close to their homeland. The US also did not want communism spreading into the America's. They ultimately failed miserably at this mission. The invasion ended on April 19th, 1961. -
Building of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built by the Communist government in East Germany to prevent citizens from escaping to free West Berlin from Communist East Berlin. -
Berlin Wall (any fact between construction and fall)
The Berlin Wall was the perfect symbol of the "Iron Curtain" that separated the democratic, free West and the Communist East during the Cold War. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
From October 16th-28th 1962, the United States and Russia were on the edge of nuclear war. After the Bay of Pigs invasion failed miserably, the United States looked weak and inefficient. Khrushchev and Castro make a secret agreement so the Soviets can store missiles on their land. -
Apollo 11
President Kennedy set a goal for the United States to send men to the moon before the end of the 1960's, and with the United States far behind Russia in the space race, it was crucial to complete this mission in order to establish dominance over the Soviets and the ability to not only launch space craft, but missiles too. This goal was successfully completed about 6 months before the end of the decade from July 16th to the 24th in 1969 -
Nuclear Proliferation Treaty
The Nuclear Proliferation Treaty was meant prevent the spread of nuclear weapons/technology and maintain international peace. It was considered among the successes of détente, in which the United States and Soviet Union cooperated to slow the rate of spread of nuclear weapons. -
Kent State Shootings
After President Nixon announce he'd be invading Cambodia, there were protests at universities all across the country. With the communist party Viet Minh coming to power, the United States and their allies in Southern Korea invaded. The Ohio National Guardsmen were sent to Kent to control the protest, it escalated and became violent, 4 students were shot. -
SALT 1
The acronym SALT stands for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks/Treaty. This was between Brezhnev (USSR) and Nixon (U.S.). It was created to reduce the amount of nuclear weapons (ABM, ICBMs, and SLBMs) held by the East and West during the Cold War. -
Fall of Saigon
Saigon was the capital of South Vietnam, so when it fell, it also marked the end of the war and a chance of democracy in Vietnam. This meant that since communist North Vietnam had won, essentially the Soviets had won. -
Margaret Thatcher
(May 4th 1975- November 28th 1990) Margaret Thatcher was an important figure in ending the Cold War. She strongly supported a "real détente" that Russia supported in both words and actions. Instead the USSR was arming and continuing their domestic oppression. -
Deng Xiaoping
(March 1978-June 17th 1983) Deng Xiaoping was a revolutionary Chinese statesman. Deng improved relations with the west but did little to improve relations with the Soviets, still adhering to the Maoist line from the Sino-Soviet split that the Soviets were "hegemonist". -
Pope John Paul 2
Pope John Paul ii has been credited with being key to bringing down Communism in Eastern Europe. He used his spiritual inspiration to see its downfall. He is also credited with giving the Polish the courage to demand change. -
SALT 2
SALT 2 is an agreement between Carter (U.S.) and Brezhnev (USSR) to further reduce the number of nuclear weapons on both sides of the Cold War. -
Soviets Invade Afghanistan
From December 25h 1979-February 15th 1989, this is the only time during the Cold War when the Soviets invaded a country of the Eastern bloc. The United States denounced the Soviet's actions -
Lech Walesa
Lech Walesa helped form and lead the first non-communist independent trade union in Poland (Solidarity). Before this he organized free non-communist trade unions. He was the president of Poland from December 22 1990- December 22 1995. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall signified the thawing of the Cold War across Europe. -
START 1
START 1 or the first strategic arms reduction treaty/talk negotiated one of the largest and extremely complex arms control or reduction in history. START 1 was between the US(George H.W. Bush) and the USSR (Gorbachev). This was to reduce the amount of nuclear weapons that were stockpiled during the Cold War. -
START 2
This was just an even further reduction of nuclear weapons between the US and Russia. It was discussed by George H.W. Bush (US) and Boris Yeltsin (Russia).
