-
The Yalta Comference
The primary purpose of the Yalta Conference was to discuss the post-war reorganization of Europe and the Pacific. It specifically focused on Germany's fate, the establishment of a new international organization (the United Nations), and the Soviet Union's entry into the war against Japan. The Yalta Conference divided Germany and Berlin into four allied zones: the Soviet Union (east), the United States (south), Great Britain (northwest), and France (southwest). -
The Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference finalized post-war arrangements, including the division of Germany into four occupation zones, the demilitarization and denazification of Germany, and the establishment of the Council of Foreign Ministers to draft peace treaties with former Axis allies. The conference was significant for finalizing post-war arrangements, including Germany's occupation and demilitarization, and for marking the start of the Cold War with Truman informing Stalin about the atomic bomb. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a US foreign policy pledge, announced in 1947, to support democratic nations against communist threats, particularly in Greece and Turkey, marking a shift towards actively containing communism's spread. The purpose of the Truman Doctrine was to prevent communism worldwide, explicitly stopping the Soviet Union from expanding its sphere of influence. -
Period: to
The Cold War
-
Operation Vittles
Operation Vittles was launched in response to the Soviet Union's blockade of land access to West Berlin. By blocking passage into West Berlin, they hoped to suffocate them into turning to communism. Because no food or supplies were allowed in, the US began to send food through aircraft. They would fly over Berlin and drop food from the sky. Operation Vittles successfully sustained West Berlin during the Soviet blockade and demonstrated the strength of Western cooperation. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was primarily caused by the devastation of World War II, which left Europe in a state of economic ruin and vulnerability to communist expansion. This prompted the United States to offer economic aid to rebuild and stabilize the region. the Marshall Plan provided markets for American goods, created reliable trading partners, and supported the development of stable democratic governments in Western Europe -
The Korean war
The Korean War stemmed from the division of Korea after World War II. Communist North Korea invaded South Korea by taking over the capital city, Seoul, and pushing back South Korean and American soldiers. Ultimately, it was a lot of back-and-forth pushback from both sides. Finally, President Dwight Eisenhower, with a pledge to end the war, went to Korea to sign a ceasefire, but there was never actually a peace treaty signed. But Korea remained divided along the 38th parallel. -
The Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was the armed revolt that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959, led by Fidel Castro and his followers. Many Cuban citizens fled to the U.S. after Castro became a communist dictator. Castro began to bring Cuba closer to the Communist USSR, starting with a trade agreement. -
The Space Race
The "space race" was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve spaceflight dominance. In the beginning, it seemed as if the soviets were always just 1 step ahead of the U.S., with the creation of the first ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile, and the Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth. The soviet union was also the first to send animals and humans into orbit, but the U.S. was ultimately the first to successfully land on the moon. -
The U-2 Incident
On May 1, an American U-2 spy plane, piloted by Francis Gary Powers, was shot down over Soviet airspace while attempting to spy on the Soviet Union. The Union captured Powers and interrogated him, where he admitted to spying on the Union for the US. This event disastrously escalated tensions between the US and USSR and was a great embarrassment to the Eisenhower Administration. -
The Fall Of The Berlin Wall
This event marked the symbolic end of the Cold War and the beginning of German reunification. The Berlin Wall fell due to a combination of the weakening of the Soviet Union, growing unrest in East Germany, and a misspoken announcement about new travel policies that led to a mass migration of East Germans to the West.