-
Bolshevik Revolution
This was a period when rapid revolutionary activists such as Lenin rose to seize power form the Provisional Gov't; the current gov't after WW1.
Lenin’s slogan ‘All power to the soviets’ provided clear recognition that Soviets had the power to end the PG. Also, his April thesis advocated the overthrow of the PG by promising the end of war and confiscating landed estates and establishing a republic of Soviet workers -
Death of Lenin
After being shot at 3 times in 1918, Lenin suffered sever strokes 6 years later, which undoubtedly led to his early death at the age of 53. During his last days, he began to question how much power he had put into Stalin's hands. Such is justified by Stalin's actions in the upcoming years. Lenin's death undoubtedly steered the Soviet Union into the wrong direction, as the only man who knew how to enact communism properly, was Lenin. And now Stalin began his reign of terror. -
Period: to
Stalin in Power
Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign.
Once in power, he collectivized farming and had potential enemies executed or sent to forced labor camps. Stalin aligned with the United States and Britain in World War II, but prior to this he engaged in an increasingly tense relationship with the West, the Cold War. -
Period: to
Teheran Conference
Meeting between U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in Tehran. During this meeting, the leaders coordinated their military strategy against Germany and Japan and made a number of important decisions concerning the post World War II era. -
Yalta Conference
This was a major conference that involved the leaders of the Allied Nation as they planned the final defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany in Yalta, Crimea -
Period: to
Potsdam Conference
Allied Conference of WW2 held at Potsdam. The chief participants were Stalin, Truman and Churchill.
During this meeting, they discussed various peace settlements prior to the war, but didn't sign any treaties relating to peace. Although the Potsdam Conference’s Declaration on Germany stated, “It is the intention of the Allies that the German people be given the opportunity to prepare for the eventual reconstruction of their life on a democratic and peaceful basis.” Which led to the Iron Curtain. -
End of WWII
This global war lasted 6 years, and was ended abruptly when the US nuked Japan with the newly developed Nuclear Bombs. This sparked the rapid and intense development and testing of nuclear weaponry that would become the major cause for concern during the Cold War. -
Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech
This speech may be regarded as the most important Churchill delivered as Leader of the Opposition. The mention of “the iron curtain” attracted immediate international attention, and had an incalculable impact upon public opinion in the United States and in Western Europe. Russian historians date the beginning of the Cold War from this speech.
Churchill in his speech, aimed for better relations with the US, and warned against the expansionist policies of the Soviet Union. -
Period: to
Truman Doctrine
This was the US foreign policy in response to Communism.
It was on this day, that the Cold War started.
The policy stated that the US would do everything in its power to aid and prevent other nations from turning to Communism in fear of the 'Domino Effect'. Naturally, this increased tensions between the US and the USSR, leading to somewhat intense confrontations down the track like the Cuban Missile Crises, the the Korean War; a perfect example at how not to contain Communism. -
The Marshall Plan
This was the US response to alarming levels of expansion done by the Soviet Union. As such, the plan would provide economic aid to Eastern European Countries in order to rebuild their economy. This was done to prevent the 'Domino Effect' of nations falling to communism from happening. It also stated that the US would intervene militarily to halt the spread of communism, which led to future conflicts with the USSR like the Korean War. -
Period: to
Berlin Blockade
This was a climax point of the Cold War as it revealed the subliminal acts of seclusion behind communist practice. Since the USSR controlled East Germany, and part of Berlin was owned by the US, feuds began to sprout in fear of espionage. As such, Stalin prevented travel between partitioned Germany. This refused Western access, but those who still managed to escape from East Berlin were skilled workers and the lot. This then led to a complete shut off of the borders, thus the Berlin Wall rose. -
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)
This was the US's version of the Warsaw Pact; it allied most of the European nations and provided aid both militarily and economically in an attempt to prevent them from becoming communist.
This treaty was less focused in parts of Asia, hence leading to the spread of communism being rapid in unstoppable in Asian countries. -
Period: to
Korean war
This was the first military action of the Cold War; as the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north crossed the 38th parallel (border), and came into contact with the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. Not long after, US troops got involved in the war on South Korea's behalf and as far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself. -
Death of Stalin
No one knows how many people died at the hands of Stalin. But even after his death, his subordinates kept carrying out his brutal policies and murderous orders.
This then led to the cooling down period, or de-stalinisation enacted by Nikita Khrushchev. -
Period: to
SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organisation)
Military alliance between the US and Asia. The US ONLY provided provisions for Self and mutual aid. This was done to prevent the spread of Communism, but this undoubtedly demonstrated a poor attempt at the US's foreign policy; Asian countries were the closest to Communism and were more prone to collapsing. More focus should've been placed in Asia rather than entirely in Eastern Europe -
Geneva Summit
This was a meeting between the leaders of the US, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union to discuss the end of the Cold War. Talks of disarmament, the re-unification of Germany, and increasing economic ties were discussed, but through no avail as no agreements were made.
Nevertheless, this was still known as an important first step towards easing Cold War tensions. -
Period: to
Warsaw Pact
Formally known as the treaty of friendship, was the Soviet Union's counter measure towards the US's NATO. Composed originally of the Soviet Union and Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, it provided a unified military command and for the maintenance of Soviet military units on the territories of the other participating states. -
Period: to
Vietnam War
Conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States.
The US got involved because of their Foreign Policy of Containment, which aimed at containing communism to their own sector of the world. -
Period: to
Hungarian Uprising
After the death of Stalin, and the criticism followed by his rule from Khrushchev, nationalist groups in Hungary revolted against the current Soviet Leader, of which broke out into fighting in 1956.
The rebellions won the first stage of the revolt, voting in Imre Nagy who declared Hungarian neutrality whilst appealing to the United Nations for help. Following this, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary and executed Nagy for treason, which made Hungary slowly evolve into some internal autonomy. -
Launch of Sputnik
History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I, the world's first artificial satellite
While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space race. It caught the world's attention and the American public off-guard
In addition, the public feared that the Soviets' ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S. -
MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)
This was a massive principle that both the US and USSR were limited by; they were fearful of the nuclear power that each other possessed. In other terms, if the US launched a nuclear bomb towards the Soviet Union in an attempt to destroy it, the Soviets would counterattack with their own nuclear missiles, thus destroying each other in the process along with any civilians that are inhabiting the area. -
Sino-Soviet Split
This was the tearing down of relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the USSR caused by differing perspectives of the traditional Marxist principles.
After Stalin died, China's leader Mao considered himself to be the leader of Communism because he was the most senior communist, rather than Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev did not see it that way, as he lead 1 of 2 world superpowers.
The split became prominent with the process of de-stalinisation, seeking relations with the US. -
U-2 Spy Plane Incident
Confrontation between the US and the USSR with the shooting down of the US U-2 reconnaissance plane over the Soviet Union
Soviet Premier Khrushchev stated that the plane was an 'aggressive act' by the US -
Bay of Pigs
This was the US's foreign policy at work; an attempt to contain communism so close to its border. JFK dealt with this threat in Cuba by forcefully invading and attempting to assassinate the current communist leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro.
This led to an embarrassing defeat, and prompted the USSR to take action to aid its own ally with their foreign policy. Thus leading to the very well known Cuban Missile Crises, as both the US and USSR fought over the ideological differences. -
Vienna Summit
The first meeting between the US leader, JFK, and the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev.
For the 44-year-old Kennedy, it was an initial contact with the leader of the rival superpower. For Khrushchev, 67, it was an opportunity to batter an opponent he saw as weak and inexperienced after just four months on the job. Only the erection of the Berlin Wall and Missile Crises came.
(https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/vienna-1961-when-cold-war-tensions-came-to-the-boil-2292795.html) -
Period: to
Cuban Missile Crisis
Defined the Nature of the Cold War and showed how imminent the threat of Nuclear missiles was.
US felt threatened after Cuba became communist, as they determined the use of airstrikes to destroy the missile silos in Cuba
Led to the most severe 6 days of the Cold War, nearly bringing the world to nuclear destruction, and undoubtedly proving that the communist ideology influenced and took part in the development of the Cold War. -
Period: to
Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Representatives of the United States, Soviet Union and Great Britain signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons in outer space, underwater or in the atmosphere. The treaty, which President John F. Kennedy signed less than three months before his assassination, was hailed as an important first step toward the control of nuclear weapons. -
Period: to
Prague Spring
This was a period during the Cold War that demonstrated the USSR's attitude towards the slightest bit of rebellion in satellite nations. As said in C N Trueman’s article The Prague Spring of 1968, “announced the end to censorship and the right of Czech citizens to criticize the government”. This then led to massive uprising of citizens in response to Soviet take over, attacking USSR’s corrupt gov’t. Neighboring nations followed Dubcek, causing major concerns for the USSR. -
Brezhnev Doctrine
This was another Soviet foreign policy that was put forth by Leonid Brezhnev in 1968. It stated that the Soviet Union can and will intervene-including militarily-in countries where socialist rule was under threat. This was largely in response to the Prague Spring; after showing little signs of rebellion, it was shown that providing necessary forces to halt a revolution-a counterrevolution, was the only way to uphold communism in satellite nations. -
Period: to
Détente
This was the period of time where tensions between the Soviet Union and the US began to decrease. As such, many policies were introduced to do so, like the Arms reductions -
SALT 1
This, and SALT 2, were agreements between the US and USSR was aimed at curtailing the manufacture of strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
Of the resulting complex of agreements (SALT I), the most important were the Treaty on Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Systems and the Interim Agreement and Protocol on Limitation of Strategic Offensive Weapons. This meant that nuclear missiles may be used theoretically to incoming intercontinental missiles launched by the other superpower. -
Nixon's Visit to China
This was a surprising first step for Nixon, as this was an important strategic and diplomatic overture that marked the culmination of the Nixon administration's resumption of harmonious relations between the United States and China -
SALT 2
A basic problem in these negotiations was the asymmetry between the strategic forces of the two countries, the U.S.S.R. having concentrated on missiles with large warheads while the United States had developed smaller missiles of greater accuracy.
As such, SALT 2 set limits on the number of strategic launchers for both sides. Removed from consideration after tensions between the US and the USSR grew after the Soviet's invasion of Afghanistan. -
Period: to
USSR Invasion of Afghanistan
In order to prevent a US influenced leader from taking over a communist nation, the USSR intervened in the form of a coup. This forced America to intervene, but ultimately failed to do so as America had underestimated the capabilities of the Communist Ideology, as they had won the initial coup, but failed in winning the latter coup.
Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/event/Soviet-invasion-of-Afghanistan) -
Period: to
Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START)
The START negotiations were successors to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks of the 1970s. Reagan proposed radical reductions, rather than merely limitations, in each superpower’s existing stocks of missiles and warheads. In 1983 the Soviet Union abandoned arms control talks in protest against the deployment of intermediate-range missiles in western Europe. This then resumed in 1985 and culminated in 1991 with a comprehensive strategic-arms-reduction agreement signed by Gorbachev and Reagan. -
Ronald Reagan announces ‘Star Wars’ program
This was US President Ronald Reagan's announcement to develop an anti-missile capability to counter the threat of Soviet ballistic missiles, making such nuclear weaponry 'obsolete' -
Glasnost
Under Glasnost, freedom of speech and press was encouraged, which was unheard of during Stalin's reign of terror.
Gorbachev believed that in order to reform Soviet society/economy, they needed to approach the matter more critically and openly. As such, they needed to identify what was working and what needed reform without fear with the belief that as people spoke about problems, solutions would be found that would lead to rebuilding the economy/society. -
Period: to
Perestroika
Perestroika or Reform, was Gorbachev's economic policy aimed at rebuilding the Socialism in USSR. He did this by initiating an Arms Summit to reduce the amount of spending on the Arms Race with the US.
Hence the Strategic Arms Reductive Talks (START) began
Proved to be unsuccessful as living/social conditions worsened, “In 1989, the Central Committee admitted that a number of consumer items had disappeared from shops” Briggs (2005) . -
Gorbachev becomes General Secretary
This was another revolutionary period that marked the final years of communism. It wasn't entirely Gorbachev's fault, nor was it his policies, but it was the existing economic state that the USSR had been in prior to Mikhail's rule.
Nonetheless, Gorbachev becoming General Secretary of the USSR undoubtedly marked the dramatic change in relations with the Western Nations, as the Soviet society grew, communist theory was disregarded and forgotten. -
Period: to
Reykjavik Summit
Another meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev. This summit was not meant to be a meeting, bu to be a talk about limiting each other's nuclear weapons to create momentum in ongoing arms-control negotiations.
It almost resulted in a sweeping of Nuclear weapons on both sides, although no agreements were reached concerning such. -
Period: to
Washington Summit
The historic accomplishment was not the treaty but what Ronald Reagan said. After forty years of bellicose anti-Soviet rhetoric, the Gipper sounded like a dewyeyed peacenik. The “evil empire” label is now inoperative, he told reporters. “In the past,” Reagan explained, “Soviet leaders have openly expressed their acceptance of the Marxian theory of the one-world Communist state, that their obligation was to expand in the whole world. They no longer feel that way.” -
Period: to
Moscow Summit
Meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev in Moscow. It was during this Summit, where both leaders signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the IN -
Disintegration of the Berlin Wall
This historically marked the end of the Cold War; as the collapse of the wall began, the collapse of Communism followed. Thus ending the international conflict between the US and the USSR about differing ideologies
