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Joseph Stalin (1878-1953)
Joseph Stailn was the USSR's dictator from 1929-1953. He lead with terror and he turned the Soviet Union into a military power house. He fought with the U.S. and Britain in WWII and kept a tense relationship with the U.S. after WWII which then turned into the Cold War. Joseph Stalin would become a huge figure in the beginning of the Cold War and the communism movement. -
Containment (1946)
Containment was a strategy to help keep the Soviet Union from spreading their communist ways and to help those who were free from leaders seeking to take away their freedom. This proposition soon lead to the Atomic Age. This was important because it helped the U.S. be able to help contain the spread of communism. -
The Red Scare
Those who supported Communism in the U.S. formed the HUAC to show that communism was present in the U.S. Many federal workers, and workers in the movie business were fired and not able to work for some time due to putting messages in the movies or because they supported the Soviet's views of communism. The red scare helped the U.S. and other countries fighting communism that it was huge and could have been a part of their own home countries. -
NATO
The U.S. and 11 other western countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A security pact that stated that a threat against one of the 12 countries who signed was a threat against them all. Countries that signed: Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States.
This organization was extremely important, it allowed the forces against communism to come together openly and try to best stop the growth. -
The Atomic Age
The arms race was a time in the Atomic Age when both countries were racing to build the deadliest weapon. The Soviet Union started with the atom bomb, the U.S. followed with the hydrogen bomb, and so it continued to see who would come up with the deadliest weapon. This time of the war caused schools to practice bomb drills for fear of being bombed on a daily basis. -
The First Step
The first battle started when the Soviets stationed in North Korea moved in as a threat on their western neighbors. This launched a battle that showed the U.S. that not interveining was not an option.
The war eventually ended in 1953 after coming to a stalemate. This time started the physical part of the war and jump started the beginning to the end of the war. -
Domino Theory
This theory stated that a win for communist rule in one country would result in muliple others. This didn't prove to be extremely accurate becasue when communism hit Vietnam the global effect wasn't as large as this theory predicted and communism didn't spread through all of Southeast Asia. This was an important theory to understand becuase if the Soviet Union was able to control one country, it could have resulted in many more countries turning to communism. -
Warsaw Pact
An alliance between the USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland and Romania. This pact was made in answer to the NATO. This pact created a military alliance and an internal security component for all countries that signed. -
Space Race
The Soviet Union started the race into space by launching the first Sputnik satellite which moved the United States to get their satellites and rockets into space as well. This event was a crucial time for the Soviet Union and the U.S. to put their energy into something besides nuclear attacks during the Cold War. -
Bay of Pigs
After Castro overthrew the Cubian president, the CIA planned an invasion involving some of te cubians that fled thier homes when Castro took over. This battle didn't last long, and the U.S. surrendered after only a few short days it ws realized that there was no hope in winning this invasion. -
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall separated east and west Berlin. This wall in Germany was meant to keep the Western Facists from the Eastern Socialists. The wall stood until November 9,1989. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This even showed that the real communist threat was in the postcolonial "third world". This was an intense 13 days political arguement over the Soviet missiles placed on Cuba within 100 miles of the U.S. -
Neil Armstrong
NASA's Apollo 11 mission won the Space Race for the U.S. when Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon and became the first man to do so. -
SALT I
Treaty signed by U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev to halt all threats of a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This treaty was an important event becasue it allowed for NATO to then put their focus on stopping communism. -
The End of the Cold War
The Berlin Wall finally came down in 1989 signifying the end of the Soviet's influence and the long awaited end to the Cold War.
