The+Cold+War

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1945-1989 By: Mike Holland, Luke Morman & Devon Wagenman
 * "An iron curtain has descended across the continent." - Winston Churchill**

=The Cold War Explained =

The Cold War was the continuing tension between the powers of the Western world. This was led by the United States and its allies, the NATO, and its rivals the communism of the USSR. This began after the victory against Nazi Germany, which left the USSR and US as two superpowers with many differences. The post-war recovery of Western Europe was given to the United States Marshall Plan, while the Soviet Union set up the COMECON with its allies. This made the United States create NATO, a military alliance using containment of communism as a main strategy through the Truman Doctrine, in 1949. As the US did this the Soviet Union formed the Warsaw Pact in 1955. Some countries sided with either of the two powers while others stayed neutral with the Non-Aligned Movement. The cold war was named because it never had direct military action, due to the possession of nuclear weapons. The possession of nuclear weapons guaranteed the destruction of the opposing forces. Each side would face calm moments just as sure as they would face moments of panic. This panic could lead the opposing forces to a deadly war. A few of the tensest moments were the Berlin Blockade (1948-1949), the Yon Kippur War (1973), and the Korean War (1950-1953). These tense moments were settled through military action instead of full out nuclear war. But there weren’t just military races, there were also technological races. One of these races was the Space Race. This was the race to see who could get the first satellite into space. This race was so important because they thought that they could use the satellites to spy on the opposing forces. The USSR was the first to bring a satellite called Sputnik I and also the first to send a man into space. One very important man was the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. He introduced the liberalizing reforms of perestroika and glasnost. This opened the country and its satellite states to mostly peaceful time era. He pointed out some of the flaws of communism and wanted to correct these flaws. This would eventually lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, leaving the United States as the dominant military power. The Cold War left an imprint in history and will never be forgotten.



= = =Key Terms =

1. __**Yalta Conference**__ - This date marked the beginning of the Cold War, and settled the dispute over WWII. At this conference the big 3 discussed Germany's fate. 2. __**Domino Theory**__ - The idea that if North Vietnam took control of South Vietnam, other countries around this area would fall like dominos to communism. 3. __**Warsaw Pac**__t - The Soviet Union created a military alliance with Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania in 1955 known as the Warsaw Pact. This was one act of powering the Soviet Union. 4. __**De-Stalinization**__ - The act of removing Stalin's more cruel policies of communism led by Nikita Khrushchev in order to purify and fix the many problems communism had. 5. __**Welfare State**__ - A state by which the government must take full responsibility to provide service and care to allow everyone to have a minimal standard of living. 6. __**Bloc**__ - A group of countries that share a common purpose. The US tried to stop the spread of communism and get rid of all Communist Bloc countries. 7. __**Truman Doctrine**__ - In 1957 the Truman Doctrine was created under President Truman and said that if any countries were threatened by communism, the US would provide support to that threatened country, especially by funds. 8. __**Marshall Plan**__ - The US recognized a major weakness in Europe. The economies after WWII were weak and threatened by Communism. The Marshall Plan supplied these countries with funds to rebuild and defend themselves from the spread. 9. "__**Iron Curtain**__" - The Iron Curtain was a term given to the communist nations of Europe by Winston Churchill when he gave a speech to mainly college kids. This meant that these communist countries were hiding what they were doing, and trust had been lost. 10. __**Berlin Airlift**__ - The Sover Union created a blockade to Western Germany, and to avoid war the Berlin Airlift was created. The US would supply Western Germany by dropping goods by air and this helped to avoid war.



=Map =



=Important Leaders =


 * 1) Franklin Delano Roosevelt- He was the President during the beginning of the Cold War and was a part of the Big Three.
 * 2) Joseph Stalin- He was the leader of the Soviet Union during the beginning of the Cold War and was part of the Big Three.
 * 3) Winston Churchill- served as the prime minister of Great Britain from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. He was also a Big Three member.
 * 4) Harry Truman- he was President after the death of FDR and demanded that the Soviet Union leave Iran.
 * 5) Chiang Kai-shek- He moved to Formosa and created a Nationalist government.
 * 6) Joe McCarthy- He was a Soviet radical that began a communist witch hunt and loyalty test.
 * 7) Nikita Khrushchev- He demanded the withdrawal of troops from Berlin. He also visited the United States and took place in the Kitchen Debate.
 * 8) John F. Kennedy- He was elected President of the USA in November after the death of Harry Truman.
 * 9) Robert McNamara- he was the US Secretary of Defense who admits that the US bombing raids had failed to meet their objective.
 * 10) Mikhail Gorbachev- he was the Soviet President that was named Man of the Year by Times magazine.



=Videos & Widgets =

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media type="youtube" key="jznAJySwkmM" width="425" height="350" =For More Information =

1. [|The Cold War]- this website gives links to separate pages (on the site) of events during the cold war, and on the pages it describes the events in deep detail. 2. [|Yalta Conference]- this website talks about who was at the conference, what happened, and it even has direct quotes of the conversation between the Big 3. 3. [|United Nations]- this website talks about the United Nation's ideals, news on the UN, who is in it, and what it's made up of. 4. [|NATO]- this website is NATO's website and it talks about what it is for, what it does, and why it does those things. 5. [|Arms Race] - this website talks about the arms race between the USA & the USSR by providing videos and links to things involved in it. 6. [|Space Race]- this website briefly explains the space race and gives a few quotes from important people about the Cold War (to say generally). 7. [|Korean War] - this website explains the Korean War, gives links to other pages on the Korean War, and also has photos of the war. 8. [|The Cuban Revolution]- this website divides the revolution into seperate events and explains each one thoroughly. 9. [|Cuban Missile Crisis]- this website explains the Cuban Missile Crisis, highlights key things from the crisis, and also allows you to go to a different page on the key things. 10. [|Vietnam War]- this website seperates the war into events (in the order they occured) and explains each event.