The Most Significant Events of the Cold War BY: Micaela, Kayla, Lauren, Micaela.

The Most Significant Events of the Cold War

BY: Micaela, Kayla, Lauren, Micaela

The Cuban Missile Crisis• The Cuban Missile Crisis was the first and only threat

of open direct conflict between Russia and the USA. • this event was a reaction to US putting missiles in

Turkey.• This event is significant in the Cold War because it

was the closest the two sides came to full on war. This reality check of the Brinksmanship between the two sides caused them to step back from the situation. This de-escelated things and re-established some calm between the warring ideologies.

Berlin Wall

• It was a symbolic boundary between democracy and communism during the cold war.

• Was the first physical boundary between the two sides which cut off all ties from the Allied side of Berlin from the Communist controlled side. There was little communication and very little, if any, goods/services exchanged across the wall.

• West Berlin became an island of democracy within communist east Germany

• West Berlin set up a capitalist society and experienced such a rapid growth of their economy that it became known as the economic miracle.

• In east Germany the economy dragged individual freedoms were severely restricted

Moon Landing• A moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the

Moon. This includes both manned and unmanned (robotic) missions. The first human-made object to reach the surface of the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2 mission, on 13 September 1959.

• The United States' Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon, on 20 July 1969. There have been six manned U.S. landings (between 1969 and 1972) and numerous unmanned landings, though no soft landings have occurred since 1976.

• Because of the competition brought about by the “space race” many new technological breakthroughs came about such as satellite TV, Smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, and telemedicine (programmable pacemakers)

Arms Race & MAD

• The nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the US and soviet union

• Mutually Assured Destruction refers to the basic principle that is if one power were to attack the other the other power would respond in the same way. Example nuclear warfare.

• Because of the threat of nuclear war new developments came in the field of defense and security such a s nuclear bunkers and national protection plans.

Korean War• it was one of two, possibly three, major "proxy wars" fought between the

United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War. While the majority of the Cold War was based on posturing, the Korean War and later the Vietnam War were actually armed conflicts. The other war which fits this description is the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

• The invasion of South Korea was an armed attack by communist forces on a democratic country. The North Korean had the objective of bringing their southern brothers and sisters into the peace-loving embrace of Kim Il Sung's Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The spread of communism in Asia was not something the United States could allow in the early stages of the Cold War.

• The Korean war was the first armed conflict of the cold war!

Creation of Nato

• To stop Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

• Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States

• They agreed to consider an armed attack against any one of them as an attack against all.

• Nato is still an alliance today that was made in the Cold War.• Because of the Cold war Nato is no longer an offensive

organization but is instead a preventative organiztion.

Vietnam War

• causes of the Vietnam War revolve around the simple belief held by America that communism was threatening to expand all over south-east Asia.

• to support the Communist cause, the Soviet Union armed its fellow Communist state, China, who would, in turn, arm and equip the North Vietnamese who fought the Americans.

Russian Invasion of Afghanistan

• The Russians invaded Afghanistan because they saw their government as weak and in need of a reinforcement. The Americans saw this invasion as a threat to allied security.

• President Carter withdrew the SALT 2 treaty which caused embargoes on shipments of grain and technology to the USSR. This depleted resources needed by the USSR to continue the war effort. They withdrew all forces by the end of 1989.

• Because of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and their defeat against the Americans, Russia’s forces were significantly lowered and lead to their eventual withdraw from the cold war.

Creation of Warsaw Pact

• The Warsaw pact was created by the soviets to combat and deter the NATO nations and any plans they may have against the soviets.

• With the contending treaties of both NATO and the Warsaw pact it created balance between the soviet union and the allies which deterred nuclear war.

Collapse of the Berlin Wall

• The Berlin wall was put in place to separate the Soviets Berlin from the allied Berlin (France, Britain, and the US)

• The collapse of the Berlin wall was the first shown international defeat of the Soviets in the Cold War. This defeat eventually lead to the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

Insignificant EventTruman Doctrine

• Was a international relations policy that supported Turkey and Greece with economic military aid.

• Truman argued that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid they needed they would fall into the Soviets sphere.

• This is insignificant because did not help or harm the Cold War.