Cold war

The Cold War

Period of tension between the 2 world superpowers; the Soviet Union and the United States. Each had nuclear weapons, and the world feared that aggression by either would lead to a nuclear war that could end in a nuclear holocaust. Neither country ever directly confronted the other on the battlefield

Yalta Conference

February 1945 Roosevelt met with Churchill and Stalin at Yalta, USSR.

Yalta Agreement

Temporary division of Germany into 4 zones. (American, British, Soviet and French)

The United Nations

Established in April 1945 by 50 countries with hopes of world peace

President Harry Truman

President upon death of Roosevelt; April 12, 1945, dropped two A-bombs on japan

Potsdam Conference

July 1945 The Big Three meet in Potsdam, Germany

Potsdam Conference The US Wanted

democratic governments, free trade with European

nations, reunited Germany

Potsdam Conference The Soviet Union wanted

to promote Communism, an iron curtain, Control of Eastern Europe, weak Germany

Communism

A political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs

Satellite Nations

Nations where a country uses its political influence to shape other countries into “independent” countries still controlled by the main nation with the Soviet Union it controlled Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Poland

Containment

U.S.’s attempt to control and prevent the spread of communism

Iron Curtain

A myriad of satellite states blocking the Soviet Union from direct invasion from Europe

The Truman doctrine

Declared that America will help any country that the Soviet Union is trying to take over and convert to communism

Marshall plan

Provided aid to Western Europe to help them rebuild

NATO

defensive alliance that pledged military support if one was threatened. Founded April 1949 in Washington DC

Warsaw pact

Alliance of the Soviet Union and 7 Eastern European nations. Created in 1955 after Western Germany joined NATO

The Cold War

Period of tension between the 2 world superpowers; the Soviet Union and the United States. Each had nuclear weapons, and the world feared that aggression by either would lead to a nuclear war that could end in a nuclear holocaust. Neither country ever directly confronted the other on the battlefield

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union, initiated by the American discovery of Soviet ballistic missile deployments in Cuba.