Cold War temp

This is an attempt at an outline for a tighter single-article version of Cold War. Feel free to discuss on the talk page.

Lead paragraphs

conclude with distinction between objective facts and interpretations of motive and cause/effect - link to Cold War historiography for the schools and trends

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Background and origins, to 1953

Although there had been simmering differences between the US and Russia since the 19th century, after World War II they developed into an open rivalry polarizing much of the world into two camps, each publicly committed to bringing an end to the other by any means available.

deep origins, into 19th century

Britain and the expansion of Tsarist Russia
The U.S., Russia, and the development of Manchuria
The Bolshevik Revolution and Allied intervention
The First Red Scare in the U.S.
Soviet-U.S. trade in the interwar years
The Munich Conference and the Non-Aggression Pact

Use US-Soviet relations, 1917 to 1941 for interwar details

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Distrustful Allies

political maneuvering up to the end of WWII, economic spheres, atomic bomb

wartime trade?

Yalta conference, Potsdam conference, United Nations formation

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"Declarations of war"

1945 to 1947

US, UK, and SU declarations of Cold War - Iron Curtain speech, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Molotov Plan, Partition of Germany

postwar reconstruction of Europe

international control of atomic technology (does article exist?)

Iranian crisis of 1946, Turkish crisis of 1946

Greek crisis of 1947?

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Opening maneuvers

1948 to 1950

George F. Kennan, Long Telegram, containment, NSC-68

China

Berlin airlift

Soviet atomic bomb

McCarthyism

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Korean War

how Korean War developed out of jockeying for position, rely on war article for operational narrative

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Intensification, 1953-1962

The period from 1953 to 1962 saw an intensification of the Cold War, made more acute by growing amounts of nuclear weaponry and the ability to launch first strikes, culminating in the Cuban missile crisis, the closest-ever approach to general war.

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New rulers, new strategies

Khrushchev replaces Stalin, changes in style and strategy

Eisenhower and Dulles set new US direction

Operation Solarium, brinksmanship, H-bomb

New look

decolonization, defense pacts, and program of covert actions around the world, summarize briefly and link to articles for details

Indochina episode

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1954 to 1957

Suez crisis, Nasser

ballistic missile development

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1957 to 1962

Francis Gary Powers, Paris Summit

Sputnik, Space Race, ICBM

John F. Kennedy

Cuban revolution, Bay of Pigs

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Cuban missile crisis

identify Cuban missile crisis as turning point - post-crisis agreement to tone down confrontations

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Accommodation and ending, 1962-1991

After Cuba, the powers sought to stand down from risky direct confrontation and instead continued with various proxies and political maneuvers, a seemingly perpetual situation until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, much to the surprise of the US.

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