-
Period: to
Rachel and Mark's Ch. 26 Cold War Timeline
-
The Yalta Conference
In February 1945, Roosevelt met with Stalin and Churchill at Yalta to work out the future of Germany and Poland. They agreed on the division of Germany into American, British, French, and Soviet occupation zones. Later, the American, British, and French zones were combined to create West Germany. The Soviet zone became East Germany. Roosevelt and Churchill rejected Stalin's demand that Germany pay the Soviet Union $20 billion in war damages. -
The establishment of the United Nations in San Francisco
In April 1945, delegates from 50 nations met in San Francisco to adopt a charter, or statement of principles, for the UN. The charter stated that members would try to settle their differences peacefully and would promote justice and cooperation in solving international problems. In addition, they would try to stop wars from starting and “take effective collective measures” to end those that did break out. -
The Potsdam Conference
During the conference, Churchill was replaced by Clement Attlee, who had just won the British election. Thus, new representatives from Britain and the United States now faced off against Stalin. They continued to debate the issues that had divided them at Yalta, including the future of Germany and of Poland. Stalin renewed his demand for war payments from Germany, and Truman insisted on the promised Polish elections. -
The Army-McCarthy Hearings
Democrats asked that the hearings be televised, hoping that the public would see McCarthy for what he was. Ever eager for publicity, the senator agreed. For weeks, Americans were riveted to their television sets. Most were horrified by McCarthy's bullying tactics and baseless allegations. -
The launch of 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. It could carry a hydrogen bomb to American shores added to American shock and fear. -
The U-2 Incident
A 1960 incident in which the soviet military use da missile to shoot down a american U-2 spy plane. the U-2 shattered this confidence, and made Americans willing to expend considerable resources to catch up to—and surpass—the Soviet Union. One legacy of the Cold War was the creation of what Eisenhower called a “permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.”
