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By: Alexander Cho
Yalta conference
The Cuban missile crisis
NATO
SALT I/SALT II
Berlin Blockade
Truman Doctrine
Vietnam War
Perestroika
Glasnost
Korean War
Warsaw pact
Potsdam conference
Berlin Wall
Soviet War in Afghanistan
The Marshall Plan
The Yalta conference or Crimea conference was a meeting held in Crimea between the three major powers of the allies during WWll. The three countries were, the USA represented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Britain represented by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the Soviet Union Represented by General Secretary Joseph Stalin. The conference lasted from February 4th, 1945 to February 11th, 1945, and plans were made for the reorganization of post-war Europe. This meeting was positive for the relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union because this meeting caused the two leaders to cooperate and work together to separate and rebuild Europe. Cooperation was key in developing the relationship between the two countries.
The Potsdam conference was a meeting held in Soviet-controlled Potsdam from July 17th, 1945 to August 2nd, 1945. The meeting was held between the USA with President Harry S. Truman (different President due to the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt) as its representative, Britain with Prime Minister Winston Churchill as its representative, and the Soviet Union with General Secretary Joseph Stalin as its representative. The three leaders met to finalize the plans made at the Yalta conference and discuss how to divide and administrate post-war Germany. This meeting was more negative for the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union because the two argued over how Germany should be managed, through communism or liberalism. Stalin was also angry over how Germany was to be divided with parts of Berlin, deep in Soviet-controlled Germany, being divided further between the US, France, Britain, and the Soviets. Stalin saw it as an island of democracy in a sea of communist power.
The Truman Doctrine was a pronouncement made by President Harry S. Truman to the United States Congress on March 12th, 1947. It declared immediate aid, both economic and military, to be sent to the governments of Greece, and Turkey which were both, at the time, under Soviet pressure and the growth of communist groups/movements. The Truman Doctrine was also a starting ground for preventing the further spread of Soviet communism across Europe. This event negatively impacted the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union because this was the first try from the US the try and loosen the Soviet's grip on central Europe which the Soviet Union did not like. In the eyes of the Soviets, the Truman Doctrine was the start of a potentially massive threat to their sphere of influence in Europe.
The Marshall Plan, or European Recovery Program, was a U.S sponsored program that was signed by President Truman on April 3rd, 1948. This program was designed by a man who was both the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defence under the Truman administration, George C. Marshall. The Marshall Plan was an effort to rehabilitate 17 countries' economies because the US feared that these countries would fall to communism after a long period of war and invasion. In all, the US provided over $13 Billions dollars worth of aid to these 17 countries. This negatively affected the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union because this was an attempt by the US to stop more countries from falling to communism and Soviet control. Trying to keep these countries under liberal ideals well also help spread US influence in Europe definitely would have damaged US-Soviet relations.
NATO, otherwise known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 countries. Founded on April 4th, 1949, NATO initially had 12 member countries when it was founded. NATO’s main purpose is to protect each other in case of any attack, especially at the time, one from the Soviet Union or any of its allies. The formation of NATO turned the scales of power so drastically and threatened Soviet power so much, that the relationship between the US and the Soviets was severely affected. It was impacted in such a negative way that it led the Soviets to respond by creating their own military alliance.
The Warsaw pact was founded on May 14th, 1955, dissolved on July 1st, 1991, and was an international military alliance between communist states that generally had close proximity to the Soviet Union. There were 8 countries that were a part of the Warsaw Pact and were heavily under the Soviet sphere of influence. This pact ensured that all members involved were protected militarily and gave the Soviet Union further protection from Western Europe and the US. The Warsaw pact negatively affected the Soviet's relationship with the US because now both of these massive superpowers had more countries under their spheres of influence and were both better protected from each other. The warsaw pact was a response to the formation of NATO and pushed the world closer to another war.
The Berlin Blockade was a blockade of resources and supplies from West Germany into West Berlin by the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation forces in eastern Germany began a blockade of all rail, road, and water leading into West Berlin. This was an attempt by the Soviets to drive Britain, the US, and France out of Berlin. On June 26, 1948, these same three countries (with support from other allies) began to supply the city with food and other vital supplies by air. This was known as the Berlin airlift. The Berlin Blockade increased the tensions between the west and the Soviets and further harmed the Soviet's relationship with the US. The world saw the blockade as an attempt to drive out the little island of democracy in a sea of Soviet communism. It failed and the blockade ended on May 12th, 1949, and only created additional hostility between the world's two superpowers.
On August 13th, 1961, East German soldiers began constructing a wall that would eventually separate West Berlin from East Berlin and East Germany, and close off any access that once existed. This wall was put up to stop East Germans from leaving for West Germany through West Berlin. Anyone caught trying to escape from East Germany through the Berlin Wall, was to be shot on sight. Still, many tried and some succeeded too. This Wall would remain a symbol of oppression and Soviet control, until the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, 1989. This wall undoubtedly caused harm to Soviet-US relations because the Soviets were involved in the creation of the Berlin Wall and this made the US even more fearful of a potential war. This wall was a symbol of communism and was nicknamed the iron curtain because it acted like one, keeping in communism and keeping out the rest of the world.
The Cuban missile crisis was a 35-day period from October 16th, 1962 to November 20th, 1962 where the US and Soviet Union negotiated through back channels over Soviet Nuclear weapons found in Cuba. These nuclear weapons were capable of hitting anywhere in the continental US. This led to the “quarantine” of the island of Cuba to prevent any further deliveries of nuclear weapons from the Soviets. The Cuban missile crisis was one of the closest times that the US and Soviets almost went to war and it was feared across the world that a nuclear war would begin. Luckily, President John F. Kennedy and First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev were able to negotiate their way out of war. The US removed its ballistic missile from Turkey and Italy in exchange for the removal of Soviet ballistic missiles from Cuba. The Cuban missile crisis harmed US-Soviet relations in a massive way. The leaders and people of the US and Soviet Union were increasingly suspicious of each other and this event only made it worse. The two superpowers did manage to stop an all-out war but tensions and suspicion of one another were still high and the Cuban missile crisis only confirmed many fears about the outbreak of war.
The Korean War was a war fought between North Korea, backed by the allied Soviet Union, and China, against South Korea which was supported by the USA and its allies. The Korean War began on June 25th, 1950 with an invasion by North Korea against South Korea in an attempt to reunify Korea. The US and the UN came to the aid of South Korea (Republic of Korea) well China and the Soviets helped the North Koreans (Democratic Peoples's Republic of Korea). The war would lead to the deaths of over 2.5 million people and would end on July 27th, 1953 when an armistice agreement was signed by North Korea, China, and the US, and a demilitarized zone (DMZ) was created along the 38th parallel. However, South Korea never formally signed the agreement so peace was fragile but it was achieved. The Korean war was also hurtful to US-Soviet relations because this war represented their respective ideologies fighting each other. This war was a proxy war and was a battle of ideologies, with a UN and US-established democratic government in the south against a Soviet-created communist government in the north. Neither wanted to lose so both supported their own sides, so much so that their relationship with one another was harmed.
The Vietnam War was fought between communist North Vietnam and its allies in the South (Viet Cong) against South Vietnam and its ally, the United States of America which actually deployed troops to fight in Vietnam. North Vietnam was also supported by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China through means of supplies and weapons. The Vietnam war started on November 1st, 1955, and saw the deaths of over 3.5 million deaths on both sides. The Vietnam War started because of political unrest in South Vietnam where the communist supporters were being suppressed and backed by North Vietnam, the Viet Cong began fighting against the South Vietnam government. As this progressed, both North Vietnam and the US began sending forces over to fight each other. The Viet Cong would use Guerilla Warfare to fight against South Vietnamese and US forces. The fighting would be costly and on March 29, 1973, facing pressure at home and from the international community, the US withdrew from Vietnam. On April 30th, 1975, the Vietnamese War would end with the fall of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. This war would have very harmful impacts on the US’s relationship with the Soviet Union because this was considered a US defeat and a major hit to democracy. During the Vietnamese war, fear was spreading even more over the growth of Soviet influence and the spread of communism. This loss further angered US politicians as the Cold War dragged on.
The Soviet War in Afghanistan began on December 24th, 1979 with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviets were supporting the Afgan communist government, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, and were fighting the Mujahedin who were an Islamic rebel group that was supplied by the US. The Mujahedin was able to fight the Soviet Union and in the end, over 3 million people died on all sides. The Soviet Union began its withdrawal from Afghanistan and left by Feb 15th, 1989. This, like all of the proxy wars above, had a negative impact on the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union. This was a major blow to the Soviet Union because it was the first major loss for the Soviets. They lost a war and therefore their ideology also took a loss. This only weakened their relationship with the US.
SALT l and SALT ll or the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty, were two rounds of military arms agreements between the US and the Soviet Union. SALT l negotiations began in 1969 and limited the number of nuclear weapons each superpower could have. SALT l was signed by President Richard Nixon and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev on May 26th, 1972. SALT ll was the second round of talks and limited multi-warhead missiles and the creation of new launch stations. It was signed in June of 1979 by President Jimmy Carter and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. SALT l and ll were huge for the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union because they significantly reduced the worry of nuclear war and brought both superpowers to the table. These negotiations were extremely beneficial by easing tensions and helping to mend the US-Soviet relationship.
Glasnost was an official Soviet policy of open discussion of political and social issues, openness in the activities of state institutions, and freedom of information. This policy was introduced in the mid-1980s by General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and implemented fundamental changes to the political structure of the Soviet Union. In addition to allowing criticism of government officials, Glasnost made access to news and information more open to the media. This really helped the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union because glasnost started the democratization of the Soviet Union. Coupled with the allowed openness of the media, the US was more willing to work with the evolving Soviet Union. This eased tensions and allowed the two to work together more easily.
Perestroika was a program created by the Soviet Union in the mid to late 1980s that focused on the reconstruction of the communist party's economic workings. Created by General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, perestroika decentralized economic control and promoted privatization and a more capitalist type of economy. This shift by Gorbachev was to try and make the Soviet Union on par with countries such as the US, Japan, and other capitalist-based economies. Perestroika helped to strengthen the relationship between the Soviet Union and the US because the Soviet Union was trying to develop and relinquish some of its control. This opened the Soviets to working more with the US especially if their economies were starting to look similar.