Week 2

Korean War:
The Korean War was a war between North and South Korea, which was however greatly aided by the United States and USSR. Looking to continue their plans of power, both US and USSR looked to win the Korean War along both sides of Korea. The US fought with South Korea while the USSR fought with North Korea propelling Korea into an unexpected war due to the cold war tensions. This showed the true intentions between the USSR and US.

Hydrogen Bomb is created/Arms Race:
After the U.S. unveiled a new weapon, the atomic bomb, and used it to end the World War, the Soviets saw this as a need to improve their own weapons. Each of these large nations would continue to produce stronger and stronger weapons; the Soviets were eventually able to produce an atomic bomb as well. Eventually both developed a stronger version of the atomic bomb, the hydrogen bomb, as both wanted the most power for themselves so that if they went into war they would win. This was a major part of the Cold War, as it mainly consisted of the Arms Race in which the U.S. and the Soviet Union increased their power, threatening to attack the other nation which would result in millions of deaths.

Warsaw Pact:
The Warsaw Pact was a treaty between the Soviet Union and seven European countries such as Romania and East Germany set up in early 1950's. Due to American influence on West Germany, allowing West Germany to remilitarize, this Warsaw Pact was a response by the Soviet Union to diminish any threat of the U.S. or Germany. This is a prime example between the acts that the Soviet Union and U.S. did during the Cold War to counteract each other, which kept each other in a balance of power.

De-Stalinization:
De-Stalinization was a political reform launched in 1956 by Nikita Khrushchev which stated that the Soviet Union should forget Stalin's image and focus back on the positive outcomes of Lenin's rule as well as ideas. This was done due to Stalin brutally murdering millions of people as well as sending many to Gulags, an ideal that the Soviet Union wanted to avoid. For a cold war this also served as a purpose of regaining power after the death of Stalin so that they wouldn't give in to the pressure built up by the U.S.

Sputnik:
The Sputnik, produced by Russia, was the first satellite sent up to space which was done on October 4, 1957. This was a result due to the competitive actions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Not only were both nations anxious about the Arms Race, they were fighting to see who could win the "Space Race". Launching the first satellite gave Russia an upper hand in the Space Race at the current time and therefore they were also winning the Cold War at that time.

U-2 Incident:
Also known as the U-2 spy incident, this was a case in which the Soviet Union shot down a U.S. spy plane, also finding out that the U.S. had been spying on them for the past 10 years. However, shortly after the same happened to one of their spies resulting in both nations making a "spy swap", which was bound to happen knowing how desperately both nations wanted to find new information about the other in terms of the Space Race or Arms Race. This was a vital point of the Cold War and displayed the real significance of the Cold War as spies were essential for finding hidden information which might give one nation the upper hand in the war.

Berlin Wall:
After World War 2, Germany was split into two areas: West Germany and East Germany, respectively controlled by the Soviet Union and the U.S. Due to East Germany being the area more sought after due to better education, housing, environment, lifestyle, etc. many West Germans looked to move over to the East side. As a response the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, separating the West German side from the East side until 1989. The Berlin Wall can be thought of as a very important Cold War symbol as it not only shows the separation between East and West Germany, but also the U.S. and the Soviet Union.