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1939 to 1945. The USSR was took down Poland in WWII along with Germany. In 1941 Operation Barbarossa went into effect, so the USSR fought back. In May of 1945 the USSR took over Berlin. They had a lot of people which overwhelmed the Nazi forces.

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The Yalta Conference in 1945 was at the end of WWII. It was between the USSR (Stalin), America (FDR), and Britan (Churchill). Germany was doomed to fall, and Japan was the final outpost. This conference was the plans to divide Europe. While the USSR got a lot of land compared to the Allies, it was now sure that Russia would help fight Japan, and finish off Nazi Germany.

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The USSR and America were feuding due to how much the USSR was taking from Europe, as well as spreading communism too much in the eastern countries. The US had given up on the idea of the USSR helping in Japan, because they didn't want the USSR to spread communism further. There were US Bombs at Potsdam, but Truman didn't tell anyone.

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4. An Iron Curtain Descends Across Europe (1945)

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4. An Iron Curtain Descends Across Europe (1945)

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Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had said "an Iron Curtain had descended across the continent" referring to The Soviet Union treatment of the countries it took over and forced to be Communist. The "Iron Curtain" separated Europe between Non-Communist and freedom of movement and Communist countries with little to no freedom of movement.

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5. Stalin’s Death and De-Stalinization (beginning in 1953)

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5. Stalin’s Death and De-Stalinization (beginning in 1953)

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After Stalin died everyone was hoping that things would be better in the USSR and everyone would have more freedoms. In 1955 Nikita Khrushchev would take over the USSR and start moving the country away from Stalin and his policies. He renamed Stalingrad and other things that idolized him.

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6. Khrushchev Leading the USSR Through the Height of the Cold War (1958-1961)

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6. Khrushchev Leading the USSR Through the Height of the Cold War (1958-1961)

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Khrushchev was the face of the USSR through the big scary times of the Cold War. First off, he crushed the Hungarians in 1956. Then in 1961, he negotiated peace from the US after the Missile Crisis, but also caused it. Also heightening tensions, he approved the construction of the Berlin wall. He de-stalinized the USSR, trying to change the USSR's image on the world stage. He was seen as weak and incompetent, so he was removed from office in 1961.

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7. Brezhnev Cools Down the Cold War (1964-1982)

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7. Brezhnev Cools Down the Cold War (1964-1982)

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Brezhnev Doctrine: Brezhnev said that it was okay to invade countries where non-socialists were too plentiful. So in 1968 he invaded Czechoslovakia during the "Prague Spring" to crush the non-socialists. Cooled down the Cold War with the Detente, but also invaded Afghanistan, which was a massive failure.

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8. Gorbachev, The Final Leader of the USSR (1985-1991)

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8. Gorbachev, The Final Leader of the USSR (1985-1991)

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He had the goal of ending the Cold War as soon as he got in. He pulled troops out of Afghanistan, as well as helped democracized the USSR. He got foreign countries's companies to come into the USSR for good diplomacy. New policies Gorbachev got in: Perestroika: got new people into the higher levels of the communism party. Glasnost: helped ease social tension.

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Nov. 9th, 1989 the wall came down after 500k people protested for 5 days. The guards lifted the divided, and the people could cross freely. It wasn't a big thing on its own, but it was a sign that the Germany's would reunite and that the Eastern Bloc would soon fall.

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Re-elected for another 6 years in 2024. He has ruled Russia for a long time already. He is making peace with Transnistria. He distrusts NATO and is looking to ally with the US with President Trump in office. He is cracking down on Pro-LGBTQ movements