Major Cold War Events/Topics Generously provided by Mr. Gnass

Failure of Yalta Feb 1945 / Soviet Union didn’t honor its commitments to allow free elections in Poland and other border nations, after war.
“Iron Curtain” speech—Winston Churchill March 1946 / Proclaimed that Europe was divided into two parts: free (west) and Soviet dominated non-democratic, communist (east)
Containment Policy—1947 George F. Kennan / Idea that Soviet Union was expansionist and should be contained.
Truman Doctrine—1947 / Truman gives millions to Greece and Turkey as they battle communist insurgencies. U.S. will help countries battling internal and external foes. Anti-communist.
Marshall Plan—1947 Sec. Of state George C. Marshall / US gives over 12 billion to western European (non-Soviet influenced) countries for redevelopment.
Berlin Blockade and Airlift—1948 / Soviet Union occupied eastern Germany, where Berlin is located. Stalin cut off supply routes from western Germany to Berlin. U.S., Britain and France (really the US) responded by airlifting in supplies until Soviets relented.
NATO--1949 / Formed by U.S., Canada, and 10 European countries. Military alliance against Soviet bloc.

Second Red Scare

Loyalty Review Board—1947 / 3 million federal employees were investigated due to fear of communist influence. 3,000 lost their jobs one way or the other.
House Un-American Activities Committee—1940s and 1950s / Through numerous public hearings, thousands were investigated for communist activities.
Alger Hiss investigation—1948 / Alger Hiss, a federal employee (diplomat, etc) was accused of disloyalty. Though not proved guilty he was convicted for perjury in 1950.
Sen. Joseph McCarthy—1950s / Accused various government institutions of being infiltrated by communist spies. Began with State Department and moved on in a belligerent manner, ruining the lives and reputations of many he accused, even if they were innocent. Recent research indicates that he was correct in his accusations in some accounts. By 1954 he went so far as to accuse the Army of communist infiltration and was subsequently censured by the Senate. He died of alcoholism three years later.
McCarran Internal Security Act—1950 / Communist and communist influenced organizations had to register with State Department. Membership lists and financial statements were required to be submitted. President could arrest “suspicious” people during a crisis. Passed over Truman’s veto.
Ethel and Julian Rosenberg Trial—1951 / Tried and executed (1953) for leaking atomic secrets to the Soviets.

More Events

Korean War—1950-1953 / Following the Containment Doctrine the US (and UN) supported South Korea in its fight against the communist North. The fighting ended with an armistice.
NSC-68—1950 / National Security Council document that stated that US military spending should quadruple. Shaped the massive arms build-up that occurred during the Cold War.
Strategic Air Command and Massive Retaliation doctrine—1954 / In order to save money, Eisenhower (under the advice of Sec.of Sate Dulles) built up the air force so that at any time the US could respond to Soviet aggression via a massive atomic bomb attack.
SEATO—1954 / Same as NATO, but in South East Asia. Used to help the government of South Vietnam
Vietnam Conflict 1954-1973 (American role) / The US sent over a million troops to Vietnam to defend the South from the communist North, following the policy of containment and the domino theory. See additional notes.
Eisenhower Doctrine—1957 / The US pledged military and economic aid to Middle Eastern countries that resisted communism. (The US sent troops to Lebanon in 1958 under this doctrine.)
Space and Education race / Began in 1957 with the Russian launching of Sputnik. The US responded with the National Defense and Education Act 1958.
U-2 Incident—1960 / After a relaxation in tensions between the US and the USSR (agreed suspension of nuclear test bombs and Soviet openness to Berlin access) a US spy plane (U-2) what shot down over the Soviet Union. Krushev, the Soviet premier, was furious.
Latin America 1950s and 1960s / The US propped up anti-communist regimes, even though they abused their own people. A perfect example is the CIA led ouster of an elected, socialist –leaning president in Guatemala in 1954. The US supported Fulgencio Bautista of Cuba also.
Cuba and Castro—1959 to the present / Castro (a communist) took over Cuba with the blessings of the Soviet Union. The US was very concerned as Cuba is only 90 miles from Florida. Castro seized and nationalized many American businesses in Cuba, enraging America’s business community. The US started the Organization of American States in its attempt to block the spread of communism in Latin America. A mini-Marshall plan of Latin America was developed
Berlin Wall—1961 / After Kennedy’s election in 1961, Krushchev became increasingly belligerent, having a wall built around the entire section of East Berlin, ostensibly to keep westerners and Americans from infiltrating. In truth, it was designed to prevent the embarrassing exodus of people from the East.
Flexible response-1962 / Created by Kennedy’s Secretary of Defense McNamara, this replaced the doctrine of massive retaliation. It provided the US with more options other than nuclear annihilation and nothing. The US would use more conventional means to respond to crises militarily around the globe. Its weakness was that it easily allowed for a military solution to just about any problem.
Alliance for Progress / Kennedy’s pathetic attempt at creating another mini-Marshall plan in Latin America
Bay of Pigs Invasion-1961 / Failed attempt of US backed Cuban exiles to take over Cuba from Castro. Thus humiliated Kennedy.
Cuban Missile Crisis--1962 / The Soviet Union began placing nuclear missile sites in Cuba, putting it within striking distance of any city on the East Coast (including Washington). Kennedy blockaded the Soviet supply line and threatened retaliation toward the Soviets if Cuba fired a missile (and Castro really wanted to). Krushchev blinked and he and Kennedy made a secret deal, ending the crisis: the Soviets would remove nuclear missiles from Cuba and the US would remove missiles from Turkey. Krushcev was sent to Siberia, and a hot-line was set up between the US and the Soviets by 1963. The US and the Soviets also reached another agreement to stop nuclear test explosions.
Ping pong diplomacy and the détente with China and the Soviet Union--1972 / After friendly matches of ping pong between American and Chinese players, Nixon accepted an invitation to visit Beijing, the first American president to do so. He traveled to Moscow the same year, relaxing tensions with the Soviets, as well.
SALT and ABM treaty-1972 / Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and Anti Ballistic Missiles. Froze the numbers of missiles (long range) that each country made for five years. This was rendered useless when the US and the Soviets began to make MIRVs (missiles with many bombs/warheads).
Secret Bombing of Cambodia—1973 / Really happened from 1969-1970, but America didn’t find out until later. Congress was so upset that it passed the War Powers Act—the President had to report to Congress with 48 hours of any military engagement.
Middle East War—1973 / The US supported Israel after it was attacked by Soviet backed Syria and Egypt. Israel triumphed but the Arab countries retaliated against the US with an oil embargo, prices skyrocket and the US scrambled to connect Alaska’s northern oil fields to the southern part of the state (Alaska pipeline).
Carter’s Happy Days of Foreign Diplomacy
Camp David Accords—1978
Renewed relations with China--1979 / Ever the humanitarian, President Carter persuaded Egypt and Israel call a truce and sign a peace agreement.
The US resumed official diplomatic relations with China. He didn’t do so well with the Soviets
Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the Hostage Crisis / Muslim Fundamentalists overthrew CIA backed shah of Iran (Mohammed Reza Pahllevi). Chaos ensued. Militants attacked the American embassy in Teheran, kidnapping. Carter eventually sent in a rescue team of commandoes, but the attempt failed. He never resolved the crisis
Failure of SALT II and the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan--1979 / Carter tried to negotiate a new arms limitation with the USSR, but the US senate distrusted the Russians and consequently refused to ratify the treaty. Then the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, confirming the worst suspicions of many. Carter placed a food and technology embargo on the USSR. The invasion proved a humiliating failure in the end.
Reagan’s strategy of massive buildup / Reagan’s strategy was to negotiate with the Soviets (whom he openly distrusted) while simultaneously strengthening America’s military might. SDI or Star Wars was his plan to protect America from Soviet missiles.
Cooling of Relations with the Soviets in the 1980s—Poland and the Olympics of 1984 / The Soviet backed Polish government quashed a movement for greater democracy, Reagan responded with a renewed embargo of grain; the Soviets reciprocated by not showing up in L.A. for the 1984 Olympics.
Fighting “communists” in Central America and the Caribbean / In the 1980s Reagan supported rebels (Contras) who fought against the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua. The US also supported the conservative government of El Salvador in its effort to stifle communist insurgents (remember Romero from last year?). He sent American troops into the Caribbean island nation of Granada in 1983, a la Teddy Roosevelt, in order to overthrow a recently established communist government.
Iran-Contra Scandal—1985-1986 / Reagan wanted to free American hostages held by Middle Eastern terrorists in Lebanon while also supporting the Contras against the Sandinistas. However, Congress banned any aid to the Contras, so Reagan’s administration secretly arranged to sell weapons to the government of Iran, which then persuaded Lebanese militants to release the hostages. The money from the arms sale was then sent to the Contras. The truth leaked out and Reagan was embarrassed, though he escaped untarnished claiming he wasn’t aware of the program. Several administration officials were convicted of criminal activities but their convictions were overturned. The scandal tainted America’s image of the President.
Warming relations with the Soviets—1985-1988 / Reagan and Soviet chairman Mikhail Gorbachev (who wanted to thaw the Cold War relations between the US and the USSR under the ideas of Glasnost and Perestroika) worked a treaty to ban Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) based in Europe. At a summit in 1988 the two praised each other and expressed a desire to end the Cold War.
The End of the Cold War? / George Bush Sr. watched as governments in Poland and East Germany succumbed to democracy and relaxed away from autocratic “communism” in 1989. In 1991 the USSR dissolved into 15 independent republics, with Russia being one. Bush secured a commitment to continue SALT II from Russia’s new president Boris Yeltsin. The Cold War was over, or was it not? China remained communist, and in 1989 student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square Beijing were brutally quashed after demanding democratic reforms. Our relationship with China is still somewhat…cold today.

\

‘