Start of Cold War

Tehran Conference

1943 meeting of Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill.

Yalta Conference

1945 meeting reaffirming unconditional surrender terms.

Potsdam Conference

1945 meeting where Stalin refused free elections.

United States

Only nation with atomic bomb post-WWII.

Great Britain

Major cities devastated by WWII bombing.

Germany

Divided into zones occupied by allies.

Soviet Union

Lost 25 million people during WWII.

Rivalry Develops

Mutual suspicion between Stalin and the West.

Self-Determination

U.S. belief in free elections for liberated nations.

The Truman Doctrine

U.S. aid to countries threatened by communism.

The Marshall Plan

$13 billion aid to rebuild Europe post-WWII.

Containment Policy

U.S. strategy to prevent communism's spread.

Berlin Airlift

U.S. supplied West Berlin for 11 months.

Division of Germany

Split into West and East Germany.

NATO

Military alliance for mutual defense.

Berlin Wall

Built in 1961 to prevent East German escape.

Domino Theory

If one country falls to communism, others will follow.

Poland (1956)

Communist reforms pressured by Soviet influence.

Hungary (1956)

Soviet army crushed Hungarian independence movement.

Alexander Dubcek

Czechoslovak leader promoting 'socialism with a human face'.

Czechoslovakia (1968)

Soviet invasion ended the Prague Spring reforms.

Nikita Khrushchev

Sought peaceful coexistence with the U.S.

Sputnik (1957)

Initiated the space race and U.S. fears.

Cuban Missile Crisis

1962 standoff over Soviet missiles in Cuba.

Death of Détente

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan ended improved relations.