| A | B |
|---|
| Deep ideological divisions between the USSR and U.S. | Made the Cold War almost inevitable when the Bolsheviks took over Russia in 1917 |
| Soviet "liberation" of Eastern Europe from Nazi control | An "Iron Curtain" descended across Europe and the U.S. was unable to do anything about it |
| The Yalta Conference | Germany and Berlin was divided into four zones of Allied occupation, the United Nations was created, and free elections were to occur in Poland |
| The Soviets using Eastern Europe as a buffer zone | The Soviets reneged on their promise for free elections in Poland and established satellite communist regimes in nations such as East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia |
| The U.S. learning the lessons of the World War I and the need for an ally against the Soviet Union | The U.S. hardly punished West Germany besides the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials |
| The Berlin Airlift | The U.S. showed it would not appease the USSR and Truman was barely to win the Election of 1948 |
| Berlin's location within the Soviet zone of Germany | West Berlin was vulnerable and the Soviets blockaded the land routes to West Berlin |
| George Kennan's theory of containment and communist threats to Greece and Turkey | The Truman Doctrine is adopted committing the U.S. assisting "freedom-loving" peoples of the world from communist aggression |
| The Truman Doctrine | The U.S. will fight communist aggression in various places around the world such as Korea and Vietnam |
| Fears communism will spread into devastated areas of Western Europe and the need to stimulate trade | The U.S. issued the Marshall Plan |
| The Marshall Plan | Western Europe was quickly rebuilt and the economy revitalized |
| The need to reorganize the U.S. military establishment to meet the challenges of the Cold War | The National Security Act (1947) was passed |
| The creation of the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) | A collective security organization to deter Soviet aggression and the first time the U.S. was involved in such an organization |
| The existence of NATO and the Warsaw Pact | Two armed alliances led by the U.S. and USSR squared off in Europe- each nation having member nations' backs |
| China goes communist and the Alger Hiss Case | The State Department was blamed and gave credence to McCarthy's search for communists in the State Department |
| The Soviets explode their first atomic bomb | The United States' nuclear monopoly ended, NSC-68 was passed, and the search for spies in U.S. nuclear programs |
| The Second Red Scare after World War II | Loyalty oaths, blacklisting in Hollywood, House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) |
| China falls to the Communists | The People's Republic of China is created and the Nationalists flee to Formosa (Taiwan) |
| The Red Army drives Japanese forces half-way down the Korean peninsula during World War II | North and South Korea were established and separated along the 38th parallel |
| The Army-McCarthy televised hearings | The Senate censured McCarthy because he went too far and he was clearly suffering from the effects of alcoholism |
| Removal of State Department experts on East Asia | A dearth of experts on Vietnam |
| North Korea invaded South Korea | The U.S. became involved in an undeclared war in Korea |
| U.S. forces cross the 39th parallel, invade North Korea, and approach the Chinese border | China informally enters the Korean War and the conflict escalates |
| General Douglas MacArthur's insubordination and calls to bomb China | Truman's popularity takes a major hit when he relieved MacArthur of command |
| Stalemate and Eisenhower's readiness to end the Korean War | Status quo ante bellum- 38th parallel continues to be the border between North and South Korea |
| John Foster Dulles' policy of massive retaliation | Policy of "brinksmanship" and an increased reliance on nuclear weapons over conventional forces |
| The Hungarian Revolt | Crushed by Soviet forces entering Budapest and the U.S. was unable to do anything |
| Fears of communist expansion into the Middle East | The Eisenhower Doctrine is issued |
| Eisenhower's Farwell Address | Warned of the growing power of the "military-industrial complex" |
| Communist threats in Guatemala, Iran, and Cuba | The CIA increases its covert operations in the third world |
| The Soviets launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957 | Major psychological blow to the U.S., NASA is created, and the National Defense and Education Act is passed |
| Development of ICBMs and H-bombs | Increases the likelihood of mutually assured destruction (MAD)and the odds of nuclear war |
| The New Look policy and the need to gain quality intelligence on the Soviet Union | U-2 flights over the USSR |
| Francis Gary Powers' U-2 is shot down over the Soviet Union | The 1960 Paris Summit ended when Nikita Khrushchev walked out |
| Cuba goes communist- led by Fidel Castro | Operation MONGOOSE and the Bay of Pigs Invasion |
| U-2s detect missile launching pads in Cuba | The Cuban Missile Crisis |
| JFK's decision to impose a "quarantine" on Cuba | A better alternative than options such as invasion, air strikes; and forced the Soviets to back down |
| A brain drain of East Germans to West Berlin | The Soviets erect the Berlin Wall |
