cold war

The Big Three at Yalta (1945)

Roosevelt (USA), Churchill (UK), and Stalin (USSR) met to discuss the post-war reorganization of Germany and Europe.

Potsdam Conference (1945)

The final wartime meeting where tensions rose over reparations and the future of Poland; Truman informed Stalin of the atomic bomb.

The Iron Curtain (1946)

A term popularized by Winston Churchill to describe the ideological and physical boundary dividing Europe into democratic West and communist East.

Truman Doctrine (1947)

A US policy stating they would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian (communist) forces.

Marshall Plan (1948)

A US initiative providing over \$13 billion in economic aid to help Western Europe rebuild and resist the spread of communism.

Berlin Blockade and Airlift (1948-1949)

Stalin cut off all land access to West Berlin; the West responded by flying in supplies for 11 months until the blockade was lifted.

NATO (1949)

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization; a collective security alliance formed by Western nations to defend against Soviet aggression.

Warsaw Pact (1955)

A military alliance of communist nations in Eastern Europe, established in response to West Germany joining NATO.

Hungarian Uprising (1956)

A nationwide revolt against the Soviet-imposed government; it was crushed by the Soviet Red Army, demonstrating that the USSR would not tolerate dissent.

Berlin Wall (1961)

A concrete barrier built by East Germany to stop its citizens from fleeing to the West; it became the ultimate symbol of the Cold War.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

A tense 13-day standoff between the US and USSR over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles in Cuba.

Détente

A period in the 1970s characterized by the easing of Cold War tensions, leading to agreements like SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks).

Glasnost and Perestroika

Policies introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s: Glasnost (openness) allowed more political freedom, while Perestroika (restructuring) aimed to reform the economy.

Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)

The symbolic end of the Cold War where East and West Berliners tore down the wall, leading shortly to the reunification of Germany.