Cold War Review
What was the Cold War? A state of political and military tension after WWII between the US and
USSR.
Events that led to the Cold War:
1. Yalta Conference: Planned to divide Germany and the capital city of Berlin into 4 parts, formation
of the United nations
2. The Marshall Plan: Plan proposed by Sec. of State
George C. Marshall to send $17 billion to European
countries to help them rebuild after WWII. Why
would the US do this?
3. Iron Curtain speech: Churchill’s famous words
identifying the split between Western and Eastern
Europe.
4. Truman Doctrine: Truman’s plan to send $400
million to provide military and economic
assistance to nations resisting Communist
takeovers. The first nations to receive money
were Greece and Turkey.
5. Containment/Domino Theory: The policy of stopping the spread of communism. If one nation
becomes Communist, others will. Therefore, it is America’s job to contain it
Events of the Cold War:
1. Berlin Blockade: Following WWII, the US and the USSR agreed to jointly occupy Berlin. For fear of
an American dominated Germany, the USSR closed off all road and rail access to western occupied
Berlin.
2. Berlin Airlift: In response to the Soviet blocking all surface traffic in and out of West Berlin,
American and British pilots flew food and other supplies in for 11 months.
3. NATO: Military and economic alliance of Western European countries in response to the USSR
overseeing the installation of pro-Soviet governments in many of the areas it had taken from the
Nazis during the war.
4. Warsaw Pact: An alliance of the Soviet Union and seven of its satellite nations in response to the
creation of NATO.
5. Soviet invasion of Hungary: In response to riots that broke out in Budapest in which people were
demanding more freedoms, the new Soviet Leader, Nikita Khrushchev, sent Soviet tanks to brutally
crush the rebellions.
6. Berlin Wall: a wall the Soviets put up around West Berlin to stop East Berliners and East Germans
from going into West Berlin.
7. Cuban Missile Crisis: a tense 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the
installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores.
Nationalists
Political Party
Communists
Chiang Kai-Shek
Leader
Mao Zedong
Southern China
Area Ruled
Northern China
USA
Foreign
Support
USSR
Dictator
Capitalist Economy
Domestic
Policy
Communist
Abolishes classes
Weak due to failing
economy
Public
Support
Strong among peasants due to
land reforms
Military
Organization
Experienced, motivated by
guerilla army
Ineffective and
corrupt
Chinese Civil War:
Results of the Chinese Civil War:
1. Mao and the Communists win and China becomes Communist.
2. Chiang Kai-Shek and his followers flee to Taiwan.
3. Mao signs a treaty with the USSR.
Korean Conflict:
1. Korea was controlled by Japan but after Japan lost WWII, it was taken over and divided into North
and South Korea.
2. North backed by the USSR, South backed by the US.
3. Dividing line is the 38th parallel.
4. Sept. 1950 North Korea invades South Korea and gets all the way to the bottom of South Korea.
5. UN troops come in and push the North Koreans all the way back to China. China enters the war on
behalf of the North Koreans.
6. Tradition warfare.
7. South Koreans and UN troops pushed back to the 38th parallel. War ends up in a stalemate.
8. Cease fire agreed on in July 1953.
9. Today Korea is still split. The North remains communist.
10. Did anyone win the war? The reason for fighting was containment. Communism was contained.
Vietnam War:
1. Vietnam used to be a French colony. It was then taken over by Japan. Vietnam was divided into
North Vietnam and South Vietnam before the Japanese lost.
2. After WWII, Vietnam was given back to the French.
3. Ho Chi Minh was a communist leader who wanted control of Vietnam.
4. Ngo Dinh Diem was backed by the US
5. Guerrilla fighting
6. Viet Cong (VC) – fighters for Ho Chi Minh
7. Ho Chi Minh wins and Vietnam becomes Communist
Détente: the easing of tensions between countries
Glastnost: Soviet reform that brought political openness
Perestroika: Soviet economic restructuring plan
Fall of the Berlin Wall: the end of the Cold War
People (look at chart):
1. Indira Gandhi – Prime Minister of India
2. Mikhail Gorbachev – Premier of USSR
3. Margaret Thatcher – Prime Minister of Britain
4. Den Xiaoping – Leader of China