COLD WARAccording to Adam Richards (1965) Cold War was a period of economic, political and military tension between the United States and Soviet Union from 1945 to 1991. Following the end of theSecond World War, complications arose centering on the shifting of international power. The Soviet Union wanted to acquire additional territory while the United States attempted to limit thegains desired by the Soviets. This battle of ideologies resulted in increased national security, diplomatic tension and proxy wars between the two powerful nations.Cold war is defined by Peter Hennessy (2010) as the the Truman Doctrine issued in an attemptto combat the Soviet menace. The policy which called for money to be transferred to third worldnations, such as Greece and Turkey, in an attempt to prevent communist expansion and gain allies in the battle against communism. John F Kennedy defined cold war as a war whereby the United States and its allies, and the Soviet Union and its satellite states began a decades-long struggle for supremacy. According to him soldiers of the Soviet Union and the United States did not do battle directly during the Cold War. But the two superpowers continually antagonized each other through political maneuvering,military coalitions, espionage, propaganda, arms buildups, economic aid, and proxy wars between other nations. Kort, Michael (2001) refers to cold war as a renewed state of political and military tension between opposing geopolitical power-blocs, with one bloc typically reported as being led by Russia and the other led by the United States.According to Mikhail Gorbachev’s (1988) cold war was a conflict after World war 11 between theU.S. and Soviet Union. The super-powers never fought each other,but backed opposite sides in “hotwars,” offered aid to influence neutral countries, and competed in a dangerous nuclear arms race.it lasted 45 years, but ended surprisingly fast.EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE DURING THE COLD WARFebruary 4th – 11th 1945Yalta ConferencePartitioning of GermanyFate of PolandThe United NationsGerman reparations May 8th 1945 V E Day Victory in Europe as Germany surrenders to the Russian army.July 17th – August 2nd 1945Potsdam ConferenceThe Potsdam Conference formally divided Germany and Austria into four zones. It was also agreed that the German capital Berlinwould be divided into four zones. The Russian Polish border wasdetermined and Korea was to be divided into Soviet and American zones.August 6th 1945Hiroshima The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on HiroshimaAugust 8th 1945Nagasaki The United States dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki.August 14th 1945V J Day The Japanese surrendered bringing World War Two to an end.September 2nd1945Vietnam IndependenceHo Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnam an independent republic.March 5th 1946Churchill’s Iron Curtain SpeechChurchill delivers his ‘Sinews of Peace’ speech which contain the famous phrase “..an iron curtain has descended on Europe”March 12th 1947Truman DoctrinePresident Truman promised to help any country facing a Communist takeoverJune 5th 1947 Marshall Plan This was a programme of economic aid offered by the United States to any European country. The plan was rejected outrightby Stalin and any Eastern Bloc country considering accepting aidwas reprimanded severely. Consequently the aid was only given to Western European Countries.September 1947CominformThe USSR set up Cominform (Communist Information Bureau) which was the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers’ Parties responsible for the creation of the Eastern bloc.June 1948Formation of West GermanyThe French, USA and UK partitions of Germany were merged to form West GermanyJune 24th 1948 Berlin BlockadeRussia’s response to the merger of the French, USA and UK partitions of Berlin was to cut all road and rail links to that sector.This meant that those living in Western Berlin had no access to food supplies and faced starvation. Food was brought to Western Berliners by US and UK airplanes, an exercise known as the Berlin Airlift.May 1949End of Berlin BlockadeRussia ended the blockade of Berlin.April 4th 1949 NATO formedThe North Atlantic Treaty Organisation formed with member states Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United StatesJune 25th 1950 Korean War The Korean war began when North Korea invaded South Korea.March 5th 1953Death of StalinJoseph Stalin died at the age of 74. He was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev.July 27th 1953 Korean WarThe Korean war ended. North Korea remained affiliated with Russia while South Korea was affiliated with the USA.Summer 1954 Geneva AccordsThis set of documents ended the French war with the Vietminh and divided Vietnam into North and South states. The communistleader of North Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh while the US friendly south was led by Ngo Dinh Diem.May 14th 1955 Warsaw PactThe Warsaw Pact was formed with member states East Germany,Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union.October 23rd Hungarian This began as a Hungarian protest against Communist rule in1956 RevolutionBudapest. It quickly gathered momentum and on 24th October Soviet tanks entered Budapest. The tanks withdrew on 28th October and a new government was formed which quickly moved to introduce democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. The Soviet tanks returned on 4th November encircling Budapest. The Prime Minister Imre Nagy made a World broadcast that Hungary was under attack from the Soviet Union and calling for aid. Hungary fell to Russia on 10th November 1956.October 30th 1956Suez CrisisFollowing military bombardment by Israeli forces, a joint Britishand French force invaded Egypt to regain control of the Suez Canal which had been nationalised by the Egyptian leader Nasser. The attack was heavily criticised by World leaders, especially America because Russia had offered support to Egypt. The British and French were forced to withdraw and a UN peace keeping force was sent to establish order.November 1st 1957Space RaceUSSR Sputnik II carried Laika the dog, the first living creature togo into space.1960Paris East/West talksTalks between Nikita Khrushchev and Dwight Eisenhower concerning the fate of Germany broke down when a USA U2 spyplane was shot down over Russian airspace.April 12th 1961Space RaceRussian cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyvich Gagarin became the first