Potsdam conference plan for Germany
demilitarization, denazification, democratization, decentralization, and decartelization.
Demilitarization
no military
Denazification
nazis were made illegal in Germany
Democratization
allow free elections
Decentralization
no central government; multiple parts
Decartelization
introducing an economy that was not connected to the government
Nuremberg Trials
Germans were tried for crimes against humanity from 1945-46. 22 leaders tried- 12 sentenced to death.
The United Nations
Created by the United States in an effort to stop wars and discuss matters in a civil way
General Assembly
every member state sends a representative
The Security Council
5 permanent members who can veto ANYTHING from the assembly, U.S., Soviet Union, Britain, France, China
UN conflict in Korea
UN forces invade North Korea in Oct 1950 and continued to be pushed back and forth to eventually cause a stalemate between the north and south
Iron Curtain
the idea that Eastern Europe is under an “iron curtain” because we don’t know what’s happening over there
Nuclear diplomacy
the more nukes a country has the more power they have, always threatening with nukes
Decolonization
some countries that were freed from colonization turned to communism in response to colonies
The Marshall Plan
George Marshall comes up with the idea after WWII to rebuild Germany instead of forcing them down (Versailles) as a different approach to avoiding another war
Truman Doctrine
1947- promises u.s. aid to anyone fighting communism but the result was many countries taking advantage of the U.S.
Containment
concept to contain the spread of communism
CIA (central inteligence agency)
26 July 1947, spies with plausible deniability
MAD (mutually assured destruction)
no victory can be achieved because of nuclear powers that would result in the annihilation of both sides, led to deterrence- if you have more weapons others will be too scared to fight you
NATO (north atlantic treaty organization)
49, includes western Europe and others to fight communism
OAS (organization of American States)
48, fight communism in the Americas
Warsaw Pact
55, response to being denied entry to NATO, included eastern Europe countries
SEATO
54/55 south east Asia treaty organization
Berlin Airlift
America giving supplies to the people within the iron curtain (Germany)
The Berlin Wall
the separation between West and East Berlin that forbid crossing because people kept trying to leave
The Chinese Revolution
china going communist with the support of the USSR
Mao Zedong
leader of the Chinese communist party
Chaing Kai-Shek
leader of the Chinese nationalist party
Taiwan involvement in china
the Nationalists fled to Taiwan where they remain today
38th parallel, Korean war
where north and south Korea are split
Stalemate
north and South Korea are unmoving with their troops
Cuban revolution
Cuba going communist, dangerous because could lead to the D
Bay of pigs
the US plan to infiltrate Cuba with exile who lived in Florida to overthrow Castro so in the middle of the night they send a ship with these people but were arrested by Castro when they arrived in Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis
closest US and USSR came to a nuclear war, one-week standoff where the Soviet Union was trying to set up a nuclear base aimed at the US from Cuba
Fidel Castro
leader of the communist party in Cuba who the CIA failled to kill many many times
Fulgencio Batista
the person who Castro overthrew when he came into power
Defcon
the different stages of nuclear threat?
Sputnik
first satellite shaped like a basketball launched by Russia to prove something could be launched into space
Sputnik 2
Russia’s second spaceship was sent into space this time with dog Laika, to prove that a human would soon follow, burned up on reentry
The Domino Theory
when a country falls to communism the surrounding countries are likely to also fall
Vietnam War
fought from Nov 1 1955 to August 30 1975, America lost which was very hard to accept, ended with Vietnam being communist even though they weren’t really connected to USSR
Indochina
the French colony including Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh
leader of North Vietnam who was a communist
Dien Bien Phu
the battle that ended the colonization of Vietnam
Mikail Gorbachev
leader of the Soviet Union from 1985-1991 who was hated by the military and truly elected to be the president in 1990, disbanded the USSR eventually
Perestroika
the opening of the economy because it was dying and he believed that more capitalism would be useful
Glasnost
the opening of society people in the USSR were given more rights and were allowed free speech
January proposal
1986- agreement with Regan to get ride of nukes
Sinatra doctrine
1988- his response to the protests in the Eastern bloc was that they could have it their way (frank sinatra)
Revolutions of 1998 and fall of the Soviet Union
many countries started protesting and by Dec 25, 1991, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved, this ended the cold war and 15 new countries were created from the former soviet union