The Cold War

This event led to the “Big 3” deciding that the nations formerly controlled by Germany will be able to choose their own fate through the vote. These countries will vote to determine whether they become communist or democratic.

• Yalta Conference

• Trumane Doctrine

America decides to take action - twice - in order to end the war in the Pacific as fast as possible. Part of the reason for this action was so that the Soviet Union was not able to ‘assist’ America in defeating Japan; ensuring that America, alone, would have the right to determine Japan’s post-WWII fate

• Marshall Plan

• US Drops Atomic Bomb on Japan

After World War II, (this Eastern European country) had a communist political party. (this Eastern European country) will later have communism forced upon them by the Soviet Union and will become an important Satellite State for the Soviet Union.

• Communists represented in Czechoslovakia’s government (Soviet Union seizes control of Czech in 1948)

• Yalta Conference

In Fulton, Missouri, this democratic leader verbally warns the people (especially the university students who he was speaking to) about a divide that was occurring in World politics. This divide was splitting Europe and the World into two - Communist nations and Democratic nations - and this split was a concern for this democratic leader because he feared that communism would spread.

• Churchill delivers “Iron Curtain” Speech

• Marshall Plan

This financial aid plan, from America, provided $400 million to Greece and Turkey. The reason Greece and Turkey was provided this money was because America wanted Greece and Turkey to maintain its democratic principles (and to avoid becoming communist)

• Yalta Conference

• Truman Doctrine

This financial aid plan, from America, provided ~$14 billion to Europe so that they could rebuild their economy after WWII. European nations were entitled to this money as long as they were Democratic nations

• Marshall plan

• Atomic Bomb

When Germany split into 4 zones (America, France, and Britain’s zones being democratic … while the Soviet zone was Communist), the city of Berlin fell into the Soviet sphere. Berlin, too was divided the same way. As a result, in 1948, the Soviet Union cut off the ability for the democratic nations to send supplies into their democratic sectors of Berlin, making the US, Britain, and France get creative in how they were to aid their Democratic friend

• Berlin Blockade and Berlin Airlift

• NATO Airlift

12 democratic nations joined an organization to protect themselves from Soviet aggression and expansion. Member nations agreed that, “an armed attack against one or more of them … shall be considered an attack against all of them.”

• Yalta Conference

• NATO Formation

In 1949, this non-European nation was the first to fall to communism. Not only is it very close to the Soviet Union, it’s also massive. In this civil war, the United States supported non-communist forces (and failed) while the Soviet Union supported the communist leader (who won).

• Mao Zedong turns China communist

• Korean War begins

The Soviet Union officially made it known that they hold the same deadly weapons as the US in 1949 after this event. This created a massive scare as it became apparent that the Soviets could flatten an American city quite easily with this technology.

• Berlin Blockade

• Soviets test Atomic Bomb