The Iron Curtain
The iron curtain happened after world war II and split Germany into 2 countries. One side was ruled by Germany and the other side was ruled by the USSR. It was significant to the USSR because it gave them a small amount of power in Germany, and also they were closer to the German troops. It happened because there was unresolved tension after the war, and USSR and Germany couldn't come to an agreement, and that's why the Iron Curtain happened to split the two sides apart.
The Iron Curtain Speech
Winston Churchill made the Iron Curtain speech to go against the USSR, it was talking about that the USSR should leave the communist side of Germany, and sort of leave them alone and let them become one country again. The speech was liked by a lot of people, and supported by the U.S. president, who completely agreed with Churchill and what he said.
The Long Telegram/Containment - 1946
The point of the Containment Policy was for the United States during the Cold War to keep Communism from spreading. Also if they failed then the domino effect would occur and eventually, more and more countries would fall to Communism. This is the reason the US fought in the Vietnam War and the Korean War.The Long Telegram was a message sent by George Kennan Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow outlining his opinions and views of the Soviets. This telegram lead to the Clifford-Elsey Report and the telegram and report were combined into a report called Sources of Soviet Conduct. This report was published as what was called the X Article and it became the public face of the American foreign policy in the Cold War, even though Kennan himself has noted that he felt that he was misunderstood.
The Truman Doctrine - 1947
the Truman Doctrine (1947) was designed to support anti-communists and resist the spread of communism. Initially, it stated that the United States would support both Turkey and Greece with economic and military aid, preventing them falling into the Soviet sphere. It offered support to all countries that declined communism, attempting to contain it, and ultimately end it. The Truman Doctrine also included Marshall Aid, which was money that was offered to all European countries for rebuilding. The Soviet-controlled countries of the Warsaw Pact had to decline this "capitalist" money. In an address to Congress, President Truman said, "I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure.
The Marshall Plan - 1947
On April 3, 1948, President Truman signed the Economic Recovery Act of 1948. It became known as the Marshall Plan, named for Secretary of State George Marshall, who in 1947 proposed that the United States provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe. When World War II ended in 1945, Europe lay in ruins: its cities were shattered; its economies were devastated; its people faced famine. In the two years after the war, the Soviet Union’s control of Eastern Europe and the vulnerability of Western European countries to Soviet expansionism heightened the sense of crisis.
The Berlin Airlift/Blockade - 1948 - 49
The airlift was the supply of Berlin by air. On 24 June 1948 Russia blocked all land access to the city. This lasted until 11 May 1949. At the end of WWII Germany was occupied with each allied nation getting a section. Berlin. then the capital was also shared out among the allies though it was deep in the Soviet occupation zone. The Soviets made a number of attempts to gain control of the city. They tempted people with ration cards and similar favors. When that didn't work they started limiting access into and out of the allied sections of the city. The blockade of the city left the allies with few options. They didn't want to fight their way into Berlin but also didn't want the blockade to continue. The city would then be dependent on the Russians and would effectively be under their control.
Soviet get the A-Bomb - 1949
At a remote test site at Semi palatinsk in Kazakhstan, the USSR successfully detonates its first atomic bomb, code name "First Lightning." In order to measure the effects of the blast, the Soviet scientists constructed buildings, bridges, and other civilian structures in the vicinity of the bomb. They also placed animals in cages nearby so that they could test the effects of nuclear radiation on human-like mammals. The atomic explosion, which at 20 kilotons was roughly equal to "Trinity," the first U.S. atomic explosion, destroyed those structures and incinerated the animals. According to legend, the Soviet physicists who worked on the bomb were honored for the achievement based on the penalties they would have suffered had the test failed. Those who would have been executed by the Soviet government if the bomb had failed to detonate were honored as "Heroes of Socialist Labor," and those who would have been merely imprisoned were given "The Order of Lenin," a slightly less prestigious award.
Creation of NATO - 1949
Truman made it clear that the US did not want war over Berlin, but neither would we back down to attempted Soviet expansion. Stalin ended the blockade. This was just one of the causes of the reasons for the creation of NATO. The Cold War was entering a new phase in the late 40's. In April, Canada, the United States, and nine European nations signed a treaty that created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was the first peacetime military alliance in US history. The NATO nations promised to consider an attack against any one of them as grounds for going to war together to stop the aggressor nation. It was a warning to Soviet Russia that the free nations of the West were willing to fight to prevent any further communist expansion. In reply, the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact, an alliance of the nations of Eastern Europe that the Soviets controlled.
China Becomes Communist - 1949
China became communist because it wanted its own values, and differences. And it didn’t want to be seen as owned. In 1949 China became a communist country.People's Republic of China became a communist nation because of its previous weak democratic government. Chinese government wanted to control the country by itself without having others to interfere. The communist government wanted China to become a strong nation and not to become under control by other countries(Ex: Great Britain and japan used to control China). The communists were came from Soviet Union, they might believed that Soviet Union became a strong nation because of its communism policy.
No comments:
Post a Comment