Cold War Origins and Key Conflicts
Cold War Origins
If at the Yalta Conference, Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill agreed on how to solve problems involving the termination of the war, the Potsdam Conference made it clear there was distrust and suspicion among the victors: Stalin, Truman, and Attlee.
Key Tensions and Conflicts
The Question of Iran
Iran was occupied during the war by the Soviet and British armies. American intervention forced the withdrawal of the Soviets.
Soviet Expansionism in Eastern Europe
After the war, Stalin did not keep his promise to hold free elections in Eastern European territories liberated by the Soviet advance.
The Question of Greece
In 1946, Greece was in civil war between communist guerrillas and the democratic government. The UK, alarmed by the Soviet Union's influence on the people's democracies, petitioned to prevent the imposition of a communist regime in Greece.
The Truman Doctrine
Truman renounced an isolationist policy and assumed the leadership of the free and democratic world order to contain the spread of communism.
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan had immediate effects on both the European and U.S. economies by opening new markets for their products. However, it was vetoed by Stalin, who considered it an instrument of U.S. imperialism, preventing Eastern European countries from participating.
The Soviet Response: The Zhdanov Doctrine
The Soviet response to these North American initiatives crystallized in the Zhdanov Doctrine: a denunciation of supposed U.S. imperialistic and undemocratic policies.
Major Cold War Events
The Korean War (1950-1953)
At the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel. North Korea, occupied by the Soviet Union, installed a communist regime. South Korea established an anti-communist, pro-American regime. After several alternatives, and fearing the conflict might spread into a world war, the UN imposed the start of peace negotiations. After the Korean War, tensions decreased, and the intermediate stage (1953-1975), known as the 'thaw,' began.
Cuban Missile Crisis
After the revolutionary victory over dictator Batista in 1959, Fidel Castro increasingly aligned with the Soviet Union. U.S. President Kennedy, while not approving an invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro forces, consented to operations involving the CIA. The world was on the brink of nuclear war.
Vietnam War
After World War II, the Geneva Conference of 1954 ended the conflict and agreed to Vietnam's independence, divided into two zones by the 17th parallel: North Vietnam, a communist regime supported by the Soviet Union and China, and South Vietnam, with an authoritarian regime supported by France and America. The support given by the U.S. to South Vietnam fit within the domino theory.