the cold war 1940s

• Yalta Conference


  1945
• Yalta Conference details


  *Meeting of the Big 3 to talk about post-WWII plans

  *Roosevelt, Truman, Stalin

  *Germany was to be divided into American, British, French, and Soviet zones

  *Poland's boundaries would be revised and free elections would be established

  *Russia would help by attacking Japan three months after Germany's collapse in exchange for the Sakhalin and Kurile Islands

  *Agreement was made to hold a conference in San Francisco to from a peacekeeping organization (UN)
• Potsdam Conference


  1945
• Potsdam Conference details


  *Another meeting of the to discuss post-WWII plans

  *Truman, Attlee, Stalin

  *Tensions start to rise as Truman is more against communism
• Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki


  1945
• Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki details


  *USA bombed Japan after keeping atomic bombs secret

  *Beforehand USA dropped leaflets over Japan warning them of something, not specific though

  *Hiroshima's bomb killed 80000 people

  *Nagasaki's bomb was dropped 3 days later, one week later Japan surrendered
• Soviet expansion into Europe


  1945 - 1948
• Soviet expansion into Europe details

  *USSR took over Albania. Bulgaria, East Germany, Romania. Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia
• Iron Curtain speech


  1946
• Iron Curtain speech details


  *Given by the former Prime Minister of Britain, Winston Churchill

  *Talks about the dangers of communism engulfing Europe
• Truman Doctrine


  1947
• Truman Doctrine details


  *President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology
• Berlin Blockade


  1948 - 1949
• Berlin Blockade details


  *The blockade was a Soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy.

  *High point in the Cold War

  *Led to the Berlin Airlift

  *Here Stalin used Brinkmanship (meaning he pushed the situation far but not far enough to start a war)
• Marshall Plan


  1948
• Marshall Plan details


  *The plan that the US came up with to revive war-torn economies of Europe.

  *Offered $13 billion in aid to Europe.

  *Most of this money went to Britain, despite not much reason
• NATO


  1949 - Today
• NATO details


  *North Atlantic Treaty Organization

  *An alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country

  *US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries
• Communist takeover in China


  1949
• Communist takeover in China details


  *The success of communism in China had persuaded the USA that their domino theory was correct

  *Report by the American National Security Council recommended that the policy of containment was not enough, and that what was needed was roll back
• Arms Race


  1949 - 1990
• Arms Race details

  *Competition between USA and USSR to have the most powerful armaments

  *Started after USSR successfully tested their own atomic bomb

  *End of American nuclear monopoly

  *Started the principle that each side of the Cold War had enough power to destroy each other (MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction)
• Cominform

  1947
• Cominform details

  *Soviet-led alliance of European communist parties formed in 1947

  *Its primary goal was to strengthen Soviet control over Eastern Europe, promote a network of communist trade, and build heavy industry in those countries

  *It aimed to ensure European communist parties aligned with Soviet policies and to spread communist ideology

  *Cominform's effectiveness was limited, as seen when Yugoslavia was expelled in 1948
• Comecon

  1949
• Comecon details

  *A Soviet-led economic organisation created in 1949 to promote economic cooperation among communist countries

  *It served as a counterpart to the Western-backed Marshall Plan, providing financial aid and promoting trade within the Eastern Bloc