1. The Cold War

2. Origins of the Conflict
Grand Alliance between the Anglo-American powers and the Soviet Union had always been a marriage of convenience
They had a common enemy – the Nazis

3. Reasons for strained relationship
Allies sent assistance to the White Army during the Russian Civil War
US did not recognize the USSR until 1933
Western democracies excluded the USSR from interwar diplomacy
Stalin and Hitler joined in dividing Poland

4. In 1945, leaders met at Yalta to discuss the layout of postwar Europe
Agreed to the Declaration on Liberated Europe
Agreed that Germany must be disarmed and de-Nazified
Created the United Nations
Became clear that the Anglo-Americans and Soviets interpreted the decisions differently

5. Met again at Potsdam in 1946
Harry Truman was more suspicious of Stalin’s intentions
Clement Atlee replaced Churchill
Allies agreed to hold war crimes trials at Nuremberg and divide Germany into 4 occupation zones
Disagreements occurred over Poland and other Eastern European states

6. Nature of the Conflict Political
Vied to spread their respective political influence throughout the world
Democracy and free markets – First World
Soviet system of planned economies and one party rule – Second World
Non aligned countries – Third World

7. Both sides make alliances to maintain collective security
US becomes part of NATO
USSR becomes part of the Warsaw Pact
President Truman issues the policy of containment to halt the spread of communism around the world
Passes the National Security Act, National Security Council and CIA

8. Military
Nuclear technology led to an arms race
USSR explodes first atomic weapon in 1949
By countries develop the hydrogen bomb in
USSR launches first satellite
US develops ICBMs

9. Each side developed nuclear submarines
Doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction – neither side had an incentive to launch a first strike because it was sure to incur unacceptable casualties from their opponent

10. Economic
The US dominated the world economy at the end of WWII
80% of the world’s trade passed through American hands
50% of the world productive capacity was American
The US was key in helping rebuild the world economy
They wished to promote free markets

11. The USSR organized the Eastern bloc around the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON)
There was an effort to create specialization of production among the satellites

12. Ideological
A battle of rival views of the world
Winston Churchill coined the phrase “Iron Curtain” which divides the free peoples of the West from those living under Communism in the East

13. Chronological events of the Cold War
Beginnings

14. 1945 Germany is divided into 4 zones
Berlin becomes the epicenter of the emerging Cold War
Soviet troops occupy all of the nations of Eastern Europe except Albania and Yugoslavia

15. 1946
Churchill delivers his Iron Curtain speech
1947
The US extends the Marshall Plan
Money funneled through the Office of European Cooperation
Truman Doctrine is issued
In most Eastern nations, Western-back parties are pushed out of power

16. 1948
The US, GB and France merge their three occupied German zones
Introduce a new currency
The USSR imposes the Berlin Blockade
Truman begins the Berlin Airlift
Noncommunists are kicked out of Czechoslovakian government

17. 1949
Stalin ends Berlin Blockade
Division of Germany becomes formal
Western Europe develops NATO
Communists take over China
USSR explodes its first atomic bomb

18. 1950
Communist North Korea invades Western backed south Korea
President Truman builds a UN coalition to combat the invasion
1953
Joseph Stalin’s death opens a new era in Cold War diplomacy

19. Coexistence and Confrontation

20. 1955
NATO agrees to rearm West Germany
USSR creates the Warsaw Pact
A summit between Eisenhower and Khrushchev leads to the evacuation of forces from Austria and its neutralization

21. 1956
Nikita Khrushchev signals his goal of de-Stalinization
Suggests the possibility of a peaceful coexistence between the capitalist West and communism
Leadership of the Polish and Hungarian communist parties begin to liberalize economic and political life which is stopped by the USSR

22. 1957
Sputnik is launched
US creates NASA
1959
Government in Cuba is overthrown and makes ties with the USSR
1960
USSR forces shoot down a U-2 spy plane over Russian territory

23. 1961
US backed invasion of Cuba ends disastrously
Berlin Wall is built
1962
Cuban Missile Crisis takes place
1963
Hot line is established
Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

24. 1964
American commitment in Vietnam deepens
1967
Six Day War (US backs Israel, USSR backs Arabs)
1968
Prague Spring is crushed
Brezhnev Doctrine announced

25. Détente

26. 1970
Treaty of Moscow between West Germany and the USSR establishes diplomatic relations
East and West Germany are admitted into the UN
1972
SALT I Treaty
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Nixon visits China

27. 1973
US removes last troops from Vietnam
1975
Helsinki Accords bring a formal end to WWII by acknowledging existing national boundaries

28. Revival and End

29. 1979
USSR invades Afghanistan
US Senate refuses to ratify the SALT II agreement
US boycotts Olympics
US provides aid to Afghans

30. 1983
President Reagan denounces the USSR as the evil empire
1985
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the new Soviet leader
Works toward an international reform of the Soviet system

31. 1987
Reagan and Gorbachev agree to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Treaty
1988
Gorbachev withdraws troops from Afghanistan
Reagan and Gorbachev sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty

32. 1989
Communist governments in Eastern Europe collapse
Gorbachev refuses to employ Soviet troops to defeat the peoples revolution

33. 1991
USSR collapses into its member nationalist republics
President Gorbachev resigns
Official end of the USSR