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Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a statement made by Winston Churchill and FDR, who met in Newfoundland to discuss their goals for the war. The leaders decided agreed upon supporting self-determination, democratic ideals, and were against territorial expansion. These ideals were in direct opposition to the USSR, who was apart of the Allies. The opposing viewpoints of Britain, the US, and the USSR, was a contributing factor to the cause of the Cold War. -
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The Cold War
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Tehran Conference
The purpose of the Tehran Conference was to determine the next step of the Allies against the Axis powers. This included discussing opening a second front in France, the Soviets declaring war against Japan, and figuring out how to split up Eastern Europe post-WWII. Those attending the conference included Winston Churchill, President Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. -
Yalta Conference
The goal of the Yalta Conference was to map out the plan for after WWII. Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt all met in Crimea, Russia, and came to the arrangement that Berlin and Germany would all be divided, that free elections would be held in Eastern Europe, and that the Soviets would declare war against Japan three months after the defeat of Germany. Also, the United Nations was officially formed. -
Potsdam Conference
Churchill, Truman, and Stalin all met in Potsdam, on the outskirts of Berlin, to determine Germany's fate after it had declared defeat. The Big Three came to the arrangement that Nazi leaders were to be convicted of war crimes, Germany would be given the chance to hold free elections, war reperations were to be made, and Germans were to be expelled from all areas outside of Germany. Also, Germany was to be completely demilitarized. -
Truman Doctrine
The main goal of the Truman Doctrine was to voice the United States' stance to providing economic, political, and military assistance to any nation trying to fight off communism. This doctrine was specifically intended for the nations of Greece and Turkey, whose governments' possibility of falling to communist forces were an imminent threat. In all, the US provided $400 billion in aid to Greece and Turkey. -
Berlin Airlift begins
The blockade of West Berlin resulted from hostilities between the U.S. and the Soviets, causing the Soviets to blockade U.S. relief from the ground, forcing supplies to be airlifted to the people of West Berlin. The Berlin Airlift lasted almost an entire year. -
NATO established
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was the first defense organization that the United States joined. The member included Canada, the U.S., and the Western European powers. The purpose of NATO was to create a defensive league of democratic nations against their common enemy, the communist nations. -
Soviets test first atomic bomb
The Soviets tested their first atomic bomb in 1949, in Kazakhstan, shocking the United States who believed that the Soviets wouldn't possess the technology as soon as they had. The reason for the quick development of the bomb was due to the competition between the two nations to possess the most powerful weapons incase of another war. After the detonation of the atomic bomb, many Americans became fearful that the Soviet Union would attack the United States, ultimately destroying the nation. -
Communist China formed
On October 1, 1949, communist leader Mao Zedong officially announced the communist nation of the People's Republic of China. This was bad news for the democratic nations, and many Americans blamed Truman for the "fall of China". -
Warsaw Pact formed
The Warsaw Pact was the defense organization formed by the Soviet Union and Bulgaria, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Albania, Romania, Poland, and Hungary, in response to the formation of NATO. The significance of the pact was that all participating countries agreed to come to one another's aide in case of an attack. -
Invasion of Hungary
In 1956 a revolution took place in Hungary, a nation controlled by the USSR. The people wanted a more democratic government, however, the Soviets refused, and on November 4th, Soviet tanks arrived in Budapest to crush the rebellion. Thousands died, and roughly 250,000 Hungarians fled. Remarkably, the US did not intervene to support the pro-democratic activists, contrary to it's self-determination ideals. -
Soviets launch Sputnik
The USSR launched the first man-made satellite in 1957, leading to the "Space Race" between the US and the Soviets. The US were frightened at this accomplishment, because this meant the USSR could potentially spy on the US from space, or even put missiles in space. -
Fidel Castro takes over Cuba
Starting in 1953, Cuba was engulfed in a revolution. Fidel Castro led the revolutionaries in an attack against the dictator, Batista. Castro's attempts were repeatedly unsuccessful, until in 1958, the US announced they were going to stop selling weapons to Batista. Batista realized his rule as dictator was doomed, and decided to flee Cuba. Fidel Castro took his place, establishing Cuba as a communist nation. -
The U-2 Incident
During the Cold War, the US wanted to gain knowledge on the Soviets' nuclear program. On May 1st, 1960, pilot Francis Gary Powers, was flying over Russia in a spy plane, when he was shot down by a missile. The pilot survived the attack, and was captured by the Soviets and convicted of espionage. This event furthered the tension between the two -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs was an invasion of Cuba by US-spondered, Cubans, to overthrow the Communist government. The invasion was a complete fail, and resulted in 114 deaths and roughly 1,100 Cubans were captured. The U.S.'s failure was significant in that it led to further tension during the Cold War. -
Berlin Wall built
Following the end of WWII, Germany, and its capital, Berlin, was split between the Allies. West Berlin was controlled by the United States, and East Berlin was controlled by communists. By 1961, almost two thousand East Berlinites were fleeing from communism, to West Berlin, consequentially hurting the economy. The Soviets' solution to this problem was building an "iron curtain" along the border. This wall served as a symbol of oppression, and also seperated families on either side. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States. The conflict arose when the US recieved news of Soviet warheads being shipped to Cuba, which let to JFK ordering the Navy to blockade the ships from reaching Cuba. The two nations narrowly avoided a nuclear war by negotiating terms; the Soviets agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba, while the US promised to remove their nukes from Turkey. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The "fall" of the Berlin Wall came when the government of East Berlin told their people that they could visit West Berlin, a freedom they had not had for 28 years. Crowds gathered to celebrate, however, the actual deconstruction of the wall wouldn't begin until 1990. -
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Post-Cold War
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Soviet Union's collapse
Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, began to impliment a hands-off approach to Soviet satellites (countries apart of the Union), which led to revolutionary movements. This, along with a poor economy, led to the weaking of the Soviet Union's power. In August of 1991, a communist group tried to stage a coup (seize power), from Gorbachev, which was unsuccessful. Gorbachev resigned from his position, leading to the fall of the USSR, and marking the end of the Cold War. -
New START Treaty signed
President Obama and Russian President Medvedev signed a new START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty that declared the commitment of both US and Russia to limit their nuclear weapons. The treaty is expected to last until 2021. Both the US and Russia have agreed to limit their numbers of nuclear warheads to 1500, and their missile launchers by half.The START treaty is a lasting effect of the end of the Cold War, and the end of the arms race.
