Cold War

The conflicts between Russia and the US that I believe added on to the bitterness and lead to the breaking point.
The timeline goes from 1945 to 1991.

Transcript

1. WAFA
2. Stalin  occupied  a  totalitarian,  collectivist,     communist  leadership  in  Russia  AKA  USSR     AKA  the  Soviet  Union,  while  the  United     States  led  a  democratic,  capitalist,  liberal     government.  These  differences  in  ideologies     made  it  hard  to  come  to  an  agreement.     Stalin  felt  his  voice  was  ignored  into  Berlin’s     decisions  since  the  Potsdam  meeting  in     July  1945.   His  aim  was  to  supply  Berlin     with  food,  fuel,  and  aid,  (instead  of  the     western  powers)  thereby  giving  the  Soviets     practical  control  over  the  entire  city.     It  was  clear  that  when  there  is  no     longer  a  common  enemy  in  existence,   then  there  will  be  conflict  between  two.  
3. What  did  Stalin  do  to  achieve  his  aim?   Stalin  blocked  all  railway,  road,  and  canal  access  to  the     sectors  of  Berlin  to  the  Western  Allies.   Therefore  leading  to  the  Berlin  Airlift  by  the  US  and  some     of  its  allies.  This  went  on  till  Stalin  ended  the  blockade  in     May  1949.     This  event  is  believed  to  be  a  major  crisis  that  started     the  tensions  between  US  and  USSR.  
4. The  first  nuclear  weapon  made  was  the     atomic  bomb  by  the  US.  It  was  used  on     Hiroshima  and  Nagasaki,  Japan  in  1945.   It  was  kept  secret  from  the  Soviet  for  a  while     but  Stalin  already  knew  about  it  through  his     Spies,  when  it  was  in  the  process  of  being  made.     Then  we  come  to  use  the  following  term:   Mutually  assured  destruction  (M.A.D.)  is  a     doctrine  of  military  strategy  and  national  security  policy  in  which  a  full-­‐scale  use  of     nuclear  weapons  by  two  opposing  sides  would  effectively  result  in  the  destruction  of     both  the  attacker  and  the  defender.       This  was  the  main  cause  of  the  Cold  War  and  it’s  consistent  advancements  in     technologies  and  weapons  but  later  ended  as  a  result  of  economic  turmoil  in     Russia  (1991).    
5. As  tensions  are  still  growing  between  the  two   superpowers,  in  1949,  the  US  had  placed  nuclear   missiles  in  Turkey  aiming  at  Moscow.     In  1962,  they  were  to  be  removed  in  agreement   for  the  USSR  to  remove  its  missiles  from  Cuba.     Many  agree  that  the  US  missiles  in  Turkey  was   the  main  cause  for  Cuban  Missile  Crises.    
6. The  US  became  aware  of  the     USSR’s  espionage  tactics,  therefore     President  John  McCarthy  brought     forward  the  McCarthyism  practice,  in     which  it  allows  unfair  accusations  of     being  Communist  or  disloyal  to  the  US,   followed  by  harsh  investigations.  Many     of  those  accused  but  are  innocent  were   detained.     This  was  in  practice  to  contain     communism  and  to  capture  any  USSR     spies  within  US.       In  today’s  US,  some  aspects  of  this  practice  still  lives…   McCarthyism  making     sure  free  speech  is     limited  and  privacy  not     guaranteed.       TRUE  MEANING  OF     HYPOCRACY.    
7. US  sent  a  U2  spy  plane  in  the  airspace  of  the  USSR  to  gather     information  and  evidence  through  pictures  on  the  USSR’s     activities.     •  This  plane  was  then  shot  down  by  the  USSR  and  captured  its     pilot,  Francis  Gary  Powers  whom  they  sentenced  to  prison  for  ten  years.   •  US  denied  the  planes  purpose  but  was  then  forced  to  admit  after  being  confronted     with  evidence  by  the  USSR.     •  2  years  later,  US  caught  a  USSR  spy  and  exchanged  for  their  pilot,  Powers.   This  incident  soured  the  US  and  USSR  relations  even  more.   The  U2  helped     gather  pictures     of  missiles  being     setup  up  by  the     USSR  in  Cuba.     that  is  how  President     Kennedy  was  able  to     respond  quickly   in  1962.  
8. From  1958-­‐59  Fidel  Castro  overthrew  Fulgencio  Batista  and   sealed  himself  to  rule  a  communist  government.  US  being   about  100  miles  away  from  Cuba,  felt  that  communism  is   spreading  near  to  their  nation.     Early  in  1960,  President  Eisenhower  authorized  the  CIA  to   recruit  1,400  Cuban  exiles  living  in  Miami  and  begin  training   them  to  overthrow  Castro.   In  1961,  they  invaded  and  failed,  90  exiles  died  and  the  rest   jailed.   Leader  Fidel  Castro  feared  that  it  was  US  attempting  to  strike   him  out  of  power,  so  he  calls  upon  Khrushchev  for  back  up.     This  event  led  to     The  Cuban  Missile     Crises.  
9. This  event  was  believed  to  be  the  climax  of  the  Cold  War.  A  situation  left  in  the     Hands  of  two  men  that  could  have  ended  the  world  in  a  nuclear  war.     While  the  USSR  was  setting  up  nuclear  missiles     in  Cuba,  the  United  States  U-­‐2  spy  plane  catches     the  event.   In  response,  US  placed  a  naval  blockade  around     Cuba  and  demanded  the  removal  of  the  missiles.   The  USSR  then,  would  do  so  only  if    US     dismantles  their  missiles  from  Turkey  and  to  not     again  attempt  to  invade  Cuba.     And  so  both  sides  came  to  an  agreement.  
10. This  was  a  failed  invasion   by  the  USSR  in     support  of  the  afghan     rebels  against  the   Mujahedeen  which  are     allied/financed  by  the  US,     Saudi  Arabia,  UK  and     many  other  countries.     This  has  a  lasting  impact  because  the  Mujahedeen  still  lives  as  well  as  their  ties,     although  the  USSR  had  fallen  from  power  in  1991.      
11. •  The  Berlin  Wall  had  been  built  to  keep  the  East  Germans   from     fleeing  to  West,  in  1961.   In  1989,  the  East  German  Government  announced   •  Removal  of  all  travel  restrictions  between  the  East     And  West  of  Berlin  and  Germany   •  This  event  lead  to  the  reunification  of     Germany  in  Oct.  3,  1990.   •  The  fall  of  the  Berlin  Wall  is  celebrated  annually.