THE COLD WAR

WHO?

OTHER KEY FIGURES.

General Douglas MacArthur
Senator Joseph McCarthy

PRESIDENTS.
Harry S. Truman (1945-53)
Dwight Eisenhower (1953-61)
John F. Kennedy (1961-63)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69)
Richard Nixon (1969-74)
Gerald Ford (1974-77)
Jimmy Carter (1977-81)
Ronald Reagan (1981-89)
George Bush (1989-93)

WHO?
LEADERS.
Joseph Stalin (1924-53)
Georgy Malenkov (1953-55)
Nikita Khrushchev (1955-64)
Leonid Brezhnev (1964-82)
Yuri Andropov (1982-84)
Konstantin Chernenko (1984-85)
Mikhail Gorbachev ( 1985-91)

WHEN?
The exact dates for the Cold War are contested between
historians.
Some believe it to have started while World War II was still
underway.
Others say it began with the policy of Containment as
underlined in the Truman Doctrine.

To be safe, the best dates to go with are 1947 (the year

of the Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (the collapse of the
Soviet Union).

WHAT?
The Cold War was an ideological war between the United
States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR).

WHY?
Tensions arose between Joseph Stalin & Harry Truman
towards the end of World War II due to their conflicting
political and economic ideologies.
USA Capitalist & Democratic
USSR Communist (but also kind of a dictatorship)

WHERE?
While it may have been ideological between the two superpowers,
the Cold War lead to very real conflicts in countries such as
Vietnam, Korea, Cuba and Afghanistan.
Effects of the Cold War such as fear,
suspicion and resentment were felt
all over the globe thanks to popular
culture and the media.
Propaganda such as news, film,
TV, comic books, etc.

KEY EVENTS
Truman Doctrine (1947)
Enforced the policy of containment
$400m allocated to supporting anti-communist governments.

Marshall Plan (June 1947).

Economic assistance for all countries of Europe (even those under the USSR
influence).

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation [NATO] (April 1949)

UK, France, USA, Canada & 8 other allies.

KEY EVENTS.
Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948-12 May 1949)
USSR blocks roads/rails into Berlin
USA & UK forced to undertake airlifts in order to get supplies to West Berlin

NSC-68 (April 14 1950)

Secret policy on USA militarisation.
Expansion of the military budget, development of a hydrogen bomb,
increased military aid to the allies, containment a high priority.

Warsaw Pact (14 May 1955).

USSR, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania,
Albania.

KEY EVENTS.
Space Race (1955-)
Competition between the USA and USSR.
Origins in the Arms Race and the technological advancements from that
field.

Arms Race (1945-)

From the end of WWII in the Pacific, the US and USSR were constantly
attempting to one-up each other on the weaponry front.

KEY EVENTS.
Korean War (25 June 1950 - 27July 1953)
Vietnam War (1 November 1955 - 30 April 1975)
Suez Crisis (29 October 7 November 1956)
Bay of Pigs (17-19 April 1961)
Berlin Crisis (4 June 9 November 1961)
Cuban Missile Crisis (6-28 October 1962)
Afghan War (24 December 1979 15 February 1989)