This is a detailed project of the intensity of the Cold War
The Atlantic Charter was a declaration by the U.S. and England that reiterated their goals to win World War II, as well as a vision for post-war Europe. Among other ideas, the Charter stated the need for self-determination, free trade and security between nations.
At this conference, Britain, America and the Soviet Union expressed their support for free elections in Poland. Also, the Declaration of Liberated Europe was signed which, along with the Atlantic Charter, supported the right of all nations to possess self determination. The primary question in this conference was to decide what would happen to Germany, assuming the Allies would win World War II. They decided to split up Germany into four spheres of influence (French, British, American, Soviet) after the Allies won the War. The French, British and American zones would later be united to form West Germany and the Soviet zone would later become known as East Germany.
The Japanese surrendered on this day to the Allied Powers signifying the end of World War II. However, a great war was beginning to emerge here without the Axis powers.
Winston Churchill gave his famous "Iron Curtain" speech, in which he spoke of a great divide within Europe between the powers of democracy/capitalism vs. the powers of communism.
This marks the point in time when President Truman announced his new foreign policy of containment, which promised to contain communism where it was and not allow it to spread anywhere else. This policy was followed and only slightly modified by Truman's successors, to the U.S. Presidency, throughout the rest of the Cold War.
After being offered U.S. aid as part of the Marshall Plan,Vyascheslav Molotov angrily refused and stormed out of a meeting with the U.S., French and British leaders. Molotov stated many issues that he had with the Marshall Plan, including that it gave aid to Germany (former enemy in World War II) and that he wanted to control the amount of funding that went to Germany. However, no other leader shared in Molotov's objections and Molotov stormed out of the meeting and refused to accept all U.S. aid. Molotov also prevented the Soviet satellites from receiving U.S. aid either.
The Berlin Airlift was an act of intense pressure from the Soviet Union against the United States in the Cold War. The goal of the Soviet Union was to force the Western powers entirely out of Berlin so that the Soviet Union could acquire all of Berlin and make it completely communist.
In response to the Berlin Blockade, America quickly began supplying the besieged sector with many airlifts in and out of West Berlin for weeks on end.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a collection of non-communist blocked states that joined together to contribute to the containment of communism and unify against the Soviet Union.
After over a year and realizing the futile efforts of the Blockade, the Soviet Union gave up and ended their blockade on Berlin.
Intended to combat NATO, the Warsaw Pact was a collection of communist nations, most forcibly under the power of the Soviet Union, led by the Soviet Union in an attempt to fight capitalism/democracy and promote communism.
The Geneva Summit was a meeting between the "Big 4" (France, England, U.S., Soviet Union) and was a failure for nuclear disarmament, especially between the Soviet Union and the United States. Eisenhower is remembered here for his "Open Skies" Proposal, in which the Soviet Union and America would be allowed to fly one plane at a time over each other's territory so that they could relax and not be afraid of a nuclear sneak attack. The Soviet Union rejected this proposal. While no arms agreements were reached, the Summit showed the willingness of the nations to cooperate and work together.
This effectively began the Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This successful launch gave the Soviet Union an initial scientific advantage and gave the Soviet Union a better chance to make it to the moon first. In addition, this launching concerned some Americans, because it meant that the Soviet Union might soon gain a military advantage over America by using some of Sputnik's technology to launch the first ICBM. In reality, America still created the first ICBM, but this launching raised concerns.
Francis Gary Powers, on an aerial reconnaissance mission, was shot out of the sky by Soviet missiles. The Soviet Union quickly realized that Powers was part of a U.S. spy mission and clearly announced America's motives and actions at the UN. The Soviet Union called for President Eisenhower to apologize for his actions. Eisenhower refused, citing an instance in which the Soviet Union spied on America with a hidden microphone inside the Soviet embassy in Washington D.C.
Under the presidency of John F. Kennedy (JFK), America launched an invasion of Cuba, using mostly Cuban rebels in an attempt to overthrow Castro's communist regime. The invasion was an utter failure, mostly due to some last-minute adjustments to the plan by JFK. The failed invasion further split America and the Soviet Union and created a stronger bond between the Soviet Union and Cuba.
Supported by the Soviet Union, the East German government built the Berlin Wall to prevent the massive immigration of people to the West from East Germany. The wall soon became infamous and caused a great division between East and West Germany.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was thirteen days of complete and total chaos between the US and the Soviet Union. It is without a doubt one of the most nerve racking and extreme moments of the Cold War. It occurred after an American U-2 flight discovered nuclear weapons in Cuba that had been provided by the Soviet Union. When confronted, the Soviet Union denied their involvement, before eventually admitting guilt, and refused to remove the weapons. Eventually, America and the Soviet Union reached an agreement in which the Soviet Union would remove its nuclear weapons from Cuba, America would promise not to invade Cuba and, in six months if the Soviet Union remained silent, America would remove its Jupiter nuclear missiles from Turkey.
After being signed in Moscow on August 5, 1963 and ratified by the U.S. Senate on September 24, 1963, the Limited Test Ban Treaty went into effect on October 10, 1963. The Treaty helped preserve the environment and prohibited all nuclear testing in the Earth's atmosphere, space and underwater.
The Interim (SALT I) Agreement and the ABM Treaty were signed in Moscow on this day. The Interim Agreement allowed a maximum of 2,328 missiles for the Soviet Union (max 1,618 ICBM’s, and max 710 SLBM’s) and a maximum of 1,710 missiles for the U.S. (max 1,054 ICBM’s and max 656 SLBM’s). While America was far outnumbered when only the missile count was compared, the deal was actually much more even, if not in America's favor, because America possessed MIRV technology and also had many more bombers than the Soviet Union (which were not restricted in the Treaty). The ABM Treaty allowed each nation 2 ABM missile sites and 100 ABM’s at each site. In a later treaty, this was later reduced to 1 ABM site in June 1974.
The Vladivostock Accord removed loopholes in the SALT I Agreement and allowed a maximum of 2,400 delivery vehicles for each superpower (included bombers), as well as a maximum of 1,320 MIRV's for each nation.
The Helsinki Final Act was an agreement between the Soviet Union, the United States and a multitude of other nations in which they agreed to settle disputes peacefully, work together toward common goals and refrain from military action. The agreement also required all nations to support human rights.
U.S. President Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed an agreement to lower nuclear destruction. Although this was never ratified by the US Senate, both leaders informally agreed to follow the terms and conditions of the treaty. The Agreement allowed a maximum of 2,400 nuclear launchers (which would decrease to 2,250 by 1981), and 1,320 MIRVs for each nation.
This marks the point in time when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in an attempt to prop-up a more likable communist government. As a result, the United States was furious and pulled out of the 1980 Moscow Olympics and cut grain sales to the Soviet Union. This invasion also greatly reduced support for the SALT II Agreement and the U.S. Senate refused to ratify it. In addition, the US began a major military build up.
President Reagan called the Soviet Union an “Evil Empire” in a speech to the Natinoal Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida on March 8, 1983. This is one of the most remembered phrases of the Cold War. Reagan's harsh rhetoric showed his distaste for the Soviet Union and the high tensions between the two superpowers.
On March 23, 1983, Reagan spoke of his intentions to implement the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to repel nuclear attacks. The weapon system was commonly called "Star Wars." When America began to build the SDI, the Soviet Union became very nervous. because they did not have the funds or the knowledge needed to build SDI for themselves. The Soviet Union correctly realized that SDI gave America a major advantage in the case of a nuclear war and were very nervous. Tensions were high between the two superpowers.
This tragic event happened when the Soviets shot down the Korean Air Lines Flight 007, which was a passenger liner. Unfortunately, all 269 passengers/crew were killed. As a result, Reagan quickly denounced the Soviet Union for its aggressive actions and called the Soviets “barbarians.”
Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev quickly installed new policies such as "Glasnost" (openness to Soviet people about problems so they all could work together and find a good solution) and “Perestroika” (restructuring of Soviet society and allowing more freedom to the people).
This Summit showed that both superpowers were interested in reducing their amounts of nuclear weapons. However, the Summit was unfruitful. An agreement was unable to be reached, because Reagan was adamant about pursuing the development of SDI and Gorbachev would only sign a START agreement if the agreement restricted America's ability to develop SDI. After the Summit, Reagan abrogated the SALT II Agreement and, eventually, Gorbachev caved and signed what would become the INF Treaty.
The INF Treaty marked the beginning of reduced tensions between the Soviet Union and America during Reagan's presidency. The Treaty eliminated all of the intermediate-range (500-5,000 kilometers) nuclear weapons on both sides, allowed on-site inspections, and did not restrict America's pursuit in the production of SDI. In addition, the Treaty was only between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which meant that no British or French nuclear weapons were included. Shortly thereafter, both superpowers also agreed to drastically cut short-range nuclear weapons.
Gorbachev announced the unilateral cutting of the Soviet military. Gorbachev cut 500,000 troops as well as 10,000 tanks
After about thirty years of dividing the German people, the Berlin Wall was torn down and people wept tears of joy as many finally reunited with their loved ones and tasted a hint of freedom. Many people left East Germany and fled to the West in order to gain more freedom.
After about 45 years of division, East and West Germany were reunited under a democratic government with free elections
Finally, the Soviet Union crumbled under enormous economic and domestic pressure and split apart into multiple, different, sovereign states.
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