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Key Events and Policies of the Cold War

May 26, 2025

Origins of the Cold War

End of WWII

  • Axis Powers (Germany and allies) initially occupied much of Europe.
  • Allied forces (USA, Britain, USSR) pushed back Germany leading to its defeat.
  • Race to Berlin indicated early Cold War tensions.

Yalta Conference - February 1945

  • Allied leaders met to discuss postwar reorganization of Europe.
  • Agreements:
    • Germany divided into 4 occupation zones (UK, French, US, Soviet).
    • Free elections in previously occupied countries.
    • USSR to aid USA against Japan.
    • Nazi war criminals tried (Nuremberg Trials).
  • Disagreements:
    • Poland's borders.
  • Key Figures: Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin.
  • Cooperative atmosphere initially.

Potsdam Conference - July-August 1945

  • Changes since Yalta:
    • New British Prime Minister: Clement Attlee.
    • New US President: Harry Truman (anti-communist).
    • US tested atomic bomb.
    • Stalin set up puppet communist government in Poland.
  • Discussions on Germany's division continued.
  • Key Figures: Clement Attlee, Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin.
  • Truman informed Stalin about atomic bomb; Stalin was already aware due to espionage.

Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - August 6 & 9, 1945

  • Ended the war in the Pacific.
  • Highlighted atomic bomb's power and destruction.
  • Long-term effects: radiation exposure, cancer, birth defects.

Division of Germany

  • Treated as an economic unit with potential political reunification.
  • Became a Cold War symbol of East-West tensions.

Spheres of Influence

  • Superpowers (USSR in East, USA in West) maintained control over Europe.
  • Satellite States: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, East Germany with Soviet-friendly governments.
  • 1948: Communist coup in Czechoslovakia confirmed USSR’s expansion intentions.

Iron Curtain

  • Term by Winston Churchill describing division in Europe.
  • Communist parties gained totalitarian power in Eastern Europe.

NATO - 1949

  • Military alliance between US and Western Europe.
  • Seen by USSR as Western aggression.

Warsaw Pact - 1955

  • USSR and satellite state alliance.
  • Soviet troops in satellite states: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania.

Truman Doctrine

  • US policy to counteract Communist threats with aid.
  • Policy of Containment: Prevent spread of communism.

Marshall Plan

  • $17 billion aid to rebuild Europe and deter communism.
  • Seen by USSR as "Dollar Diplomacy," increasing tensions.
  • Stalin set up Comecon and Cominform in response.

Berlin Crises - 1948-61

  • Berlin's division highlighted Cold War tensions.
  • Western zones thrived economically; Soviet zone became a dictatorship.
  • Berlin Blockade and Airlift 1948-49:
    • Stalin's blockade aimed to isolate West Berlin.
    • Western airlift maintained supplies, leading to Stalin lifting the blockade in 1949.

Berlin Wall - 1961

  • Over 3 million fled East Germany by 1961, seeking better life in the West.
  • East Germany and Soviet authorities constructed the Berlin Wall to halt emigration.