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Russian Communist Revolution
In 1917, this violent revolution ended centuries of Russian Imperial rule and Romanov dynasty. The Bolsheviks destroyed the tradition of czarist rule by seizing power and later became the communist party of the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that would later take part in the Cold War. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty that was very important to ending WWI, also ending the state war between Germany and the Allied Powers. This treaty also was to punish Germany by reducing their military and making them accept the blame for starting the war. The separation of Germany and the Cold War enabled them to rebuild the western zones and integrate them into a western alliance without worries of the German aggression. -
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an international organization to settle problems and disputes. This was created after WWI to prevent it from recurring in the future, though the United States did not sign. To try and decrease the Cold War tensions, and end the violent war in Angola, Cuban troops started to withdraw from the African Nation. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was the second war time meeting between Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. They all agreed during this meeting that they were going to demand Germany’s full surrender and also began plans for post-war world. This conference contributed to leading to the Cold War by giving the Soviet Union control over East Germany. -
United Nations
A multi government organization that created to encourage international cooperation. It was intended to prevent any conflict and replace the League of Nations. It now has 193 members of the United Nations. This plays a major part in the Cold War because it was like a battleground for the U.S. and the Soviets, because they both held vetoes, and the Security Council was not permitted to act without the joint permission. -
Baruch Plan
A proposal by the U.S. government to the united nation atomic energy commission during the first meeting in June 1946. This was right before the Cold War started and so this must likely had to do with the building if the U.S. nucleate bomb. -
General Assembly
The General Assembly is a policy making, main deliberative, representative organ of the United Nations. All 193 Member states of the UN have many discussions of international peace and security issues. Regional based voting blocs were created and during the Cold War the Soviet Union and Eastern Germany countries created one of the strongest blocs. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Sir Winston Churchill told his "Sinews of Peace” speech a historic message known around the world as the "Iron Curtain Speech.” This can be considered an announcement of the beginning of the Cold War. -
Nuclear Deterrent
If you have a nuclear weapon, it helps stop people from attacking you. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy to stop the spread of communist from the Soviet Union. The treaty said that the United States would provide political, military, and economic assistance to any democratic nation under communist threat from internal external authoritarian forces. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was created to help aid Western Europe economically recover and rebuild after WWII. America gave over $13 billion dollars which is worth almost nine times as much now. This plan reduced the influence and power in Communist parties in Western Europe. -
Berlin Airlift
The United States started delivering food, water, and medicine by air to citizens of West Berlin because all land routes were blocked by the Soviets. This was the first major international crisis during the Cold War. It was close to 2 million people that were helped by American planes for nearly a year. -
NATO Created
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization which is a military alliance involving governments between many North American and European countries influenced by the North Atlantic Treaty. This was just one side well the communist formed their own called the the Warsaw Pact, these two organizations lasted throughout the Cold War. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China, this ended a civil war between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party. This spread the cold war to East Asia. -
Nuremberg Trials
From 1945 to 1946 Germany was chosen as a site trials. Judges from the Allied powers gathered for the hearings of twenty-two major Nazi criminals, and sentenced 12 Nazis to death. These trials were against the Warsaw Pact, so that might have caused more tension in the war. -
Joseph McCarthy Speech
Joseph McCarthy said he had a list of names of people within the American government that were known communist. This put the nation into a panic about the government. This had weakened the government since the people didn’t know who they could trust, which might have given the Soviets an advantage. -
Korean War
The Korean War was between the United Nations and supported by the United States. This war started when North Korea invaded South Korea and became the first armed war in the Cold War. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance with the communist in Europe, including Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. This pact was made to spread communism while the United States and 11 other Western nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This alignment created the platform for the military standoff that continued throughout the Cold War. -
Sputnik Launched
The Soviet Union launched the world’s first satellite called Sputnik. Which helped start the space race, but the space race really grew from the Cold War and how each wanted to have the most power. -
MAD
(Mutually Assured Destruction) is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy saying if a missile or missiles are launched the other will launch back. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was when Cuba launched 1,400 exiles on the south coast of Cuba, Fidel Castro then overthrew the Cuban Dictator Fulgencio Batista in an armed revolt. For a couple years the U.S. and the CIA tried to throw Castro from power but he was determined to win the Cold War. -
Building of the Berlin Wall begins
The Berlin Wall was built overnight to stop the democratic Germans of East Germany from fleeing during the Cold War. This was where thousands of Eastern Germans were leaving to be on the democratic side. The communist Germans then put an end to it by building the Berlin Wall. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was 96 miles long and was made out of concrete with barbed wire fence on top. This was to separate the East Germany from West Germany and to prevent democrats from leaving and going to West Germany. -
Fidel Castro Proclaims Communist Cuba
After a year of Cuba and the U.S. have a tense relationship, the Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared that he is a Marxist-Leninist, which is a type of communism. This announcement is what started the strong hostility between these two nations. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
October 16th 1962 till October 28th 1962. The U.S. and the Soviet Union had a 13 day political and military standoff, due to the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba about 90 miles from the U.S.. This was known to be one of the biggest confrontations in the Cold War. -
U.S. sends troops to Vietnam
The United States sent troops into Vietnam to help stop the spread of communism. At first this was a defensive mission which then quickly transitioned into direct combat operations. The U.S. was still sending more troops and by 1969 there were more than 540,000 American troops in Vietnam. -
Non-Proliferation Agreement
an international treaty, to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology and to promote peaceful use of nuclear technology. The Cold War was mostly based on nuclear weapons and power so this could help prevent another war like this from happening, as well. -
Apollo 11
July 16th 1969 till July 24th 1969. The first mission where two humans landed on the moon successfully. Which was a large win for the U.S. in the space race. This win for the United States helped show how powerful our nation is and to intimidate everyone else in the Cold War. -
Kent State Shooting
Four students were killed and nine were injured, when the Ohio National Guard decided to open fire on a crowd protesting the bombing of the Cambodia by U.S. military forces. This is connected to the Cold War because the Vietnam War was thought to be like a proxy war. The U.S and the Soviets did not go to war directly, but they were both supporting different sides. -
SALT (I/II)
(Strategic Arms Limitations Talks) were agreements signed by the U.S. and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics between 1972 and 1979. They were intended to restrain the arms race in strategic ballistic missiles armed with nuclear weapons. -
Fall of Saigon
On April 30th 1975, capital city of South Vietnam fell to North Vietnamese and ended the Vietnam War. The introduction of vietnamisation caused the US forces in South Vietnam to be constantly reduced leaving the South Vietnam military to defend their country against the North. This connects to the cold war because it ended proxy war of the Cold War. -
Deng Xiaoping
Born August 22, 1904. Deng was the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 till 1989. -
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II was born in Wadowice, Poland on May 18, 1920. He was the first non- Italian pope in over 400 years and John Paul opposed communism and worked to spread religion of Christianity. -
Margaret Thatcher
Born October 13, 1925 A British stateswoman who also served as the prime minister(1979-1990). It is said that Thatcher helped end the Cold War with her strong courage and leadership. -
Soviets Invade Afghanistan
December 25th 1979 till February 9th 1950. The Soviets sent troops into Afghanistan and took over military and political control over major portions of the country. This was the only time the Soviet Union invaded a country outside the Eastern Bloc in the Cold War. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
At this point in the Cold War, East Berlin’s Communist Party announced the change in relationship between East and West Berlin. This then led to the fall and citizens were able to cross the country's border. -
Lech Walesa
Lech Walesa was born on September 29, 1943 and was a Polish politician and labour activist. He co founded the Soviet bloc’s first independent trade union called Solidarity. He was also president of Poland from 1990 to 1995. -
START (I/II)
(Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the U.S. and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on the limitations and reductions of strategic offensive arms.
