Cold war

Yalta Conference

A meeting in February 1945 between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin to discuss the post-war reorganization of Germany and Europe, including the division of Germany into four occupation zones.

United Nations General Assembly

The main deliberative organ of the UN where all member states have equal representation to discuss and make recommendations on international issues.

Security Council

The UN body responsible for maintaining international peace and security, consisting of five permanent members with veto power (US, UK, USSR, France, China) and ten rotating members.

Truman Takes Over

Following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the 33rd U.S. President, adopting a more suspicious and confrontational stance toward the Soviet Union.

Potsdam Conference

The final wartime meeting in July 1945 where Truman, Stalin, and Attlee discussed the administration of defeated Germany, though tensions grew over reparations and the future of Eastern Europe.

Clement Attlee

The British Prime Minister who replaced Winston Churchill mid-conference at Potsdam after the Labour Party's victory in the 1945 UK general election.

American Post-War Goals

• Promote Democracy: Spread democratic governance and self-determination.
• Economic Access: Gain access to raw materials and markets for U.S. industry.
• Stability: Rebuild European governments to ensure stability and prevent the spread of communism.

Soviet Post-War Goals

• Security: Create a 'buffer zone' of friendly states in Eastern Europe to protect against future invasions.
• Reparations: Rebuild the Soviet economy using equipment and resources from occupied Germany.
• Spread Communism: Encourage the rise of communist regimes globally.

Satellite Nations

Countries in Eastern Europe that were technically independent but remained under heavy political, economic, and military influence or control by the Soviet Union.

Soviet Takeover of Eastern Europe

The process by which Stalin installed pro-Soviet communist governments in countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria after their liberation from Nazi control.

East Germany

The Soviet occupation zone of Germany which eventually became the German Democratic Republic (GDR), a communist state aligned with the USSR.

Finland — Treaty of Cooperation

The 1948 Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance which allowed Finland to remain independent and neutral in exchange for promising to resist attacks on the USSR through its territory.

Josip Broz (Tito)

The communist leader of Yugoslavia who successfully resisted Stalin's attempts to control his country, maintaining an independent socialist path outside the Soviet bloc.

Stalin’s Speech (1946)

A speech in which Stalin declared that capitalism and pulses of imperialism made future wars inevitable and that the Soviet Union must emphasize industrial growth to prepare.

Cominform

The Communist Information Bureau (1947), an organization established by the USSR to coordinate and control the activities of communist parties in both Eastern and Western Europe.

Winston Churchill’s Speech

The 'Sinews of Peace' address given in Fulton, Missouri (1946), where Churchill famously warned that an 'iron curtain' had descended across the European continent.

Iron Curtain

The ideological, political, and military barrier that separated the Soviet-controlled Eastern Bloc from the democratic nations of Western Europe during the Cold War.

Cold War

A state of political hostility and geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, characterized by threats, propaganda, and proxy wars rather than direct military conflict.

George Kennan

A U.S. diplomat and historian known for his 'Long Telegram,' which argued that the Soviet Union was inherently expansionist and must be resisted through firm containment.

Containment

The fundamental U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War aimed at stopping the spread of communism beyond its existing borders.

Dardanelles

A strategic strait in Turkey that the Soviet Union pressured the Turkish government for control over, prompting the U.S. to demonstrate naval power in support of Turkey.

Greece

The site of a post-war civil war where communist insurgents attempted to overthrow the monarchy; U.S. intervention here was a primary catalyst for the Truman Doctrine.

Dean Acheson

An American statesman who served as Undersecretary of State and was instrumental in crafting the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan to combat Soviet influence.

Truman Doctrine

An American foreign policy announced in 1947 providing economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey, establishing the principle that the U.S. would support 'free peoples' resisting subjugation.