Anyone know some things on these off hand?

I'll buy the Potsdam Conference being a prelude to the Cold War, but the Berlin Airlift was one of the first major events of the Cold War (not prelude to), and the Korean War was just one of many interludes where it got hot by proxy.

here is a tid bit of our American history...
Link

Yeah in the Korean we were fighting the Chinese as much as the North Koreans. That is why that war was never won. That is also why the DMZ (Demiliterized Zone) between North and South Korea is the most heavily guarded border in the world. It is also the location of on of the biggest minefields in the world and defended by almost the entire US Army 2nd Infantry Division. Also Vietnam was a similar situation except the Russians were supporting the North Vietmanese instead of China.

The military history I was forced to view on AFN (Armed Forces Network) cited the Berlin Airlift as the biggest logistical feat in military history. Another interesting fact about was directly after WWII Germany was forbidden to have an army. The cold war forced the US to help create the Bundeswehr (German Army) to help defend Allied territory enabling US forces to advance. Until recently the German Army has not been allowed to leave the country. Bosnia brought them to the former Yugoslavia purely as logistical support. At the time of the cold war Germany had almost 3 full US Army Divisions and 2 US Air Force Bases. While I was in Germany all that was left was 1 Air Base, the 2nd Armored Division and the 3rd Infantry Division. Now it is down to 1 Air Base and the 2 AD.

Soviet rule was very hard on the people of Eastern Europe. Secret Police were everywhere, people were encouraged to inform the government of Anti-Soviet feelings of family and friends. The Russians knew they were hated by the entire Eastern Block, so they kept the people under control by taking advantage of ethnic hatred. They would station Slovak soldiers in Czech and Czech soldiers in Slovakia, Hungarian soldiers in Romania and Romanians in Hungary. By doing this they kept thier satalite nations under control. After the fall of the Soviet Union everyone divided back into thier ethnic groups. That is why what was known at one time as Russia is now Russia, Ukraine and Belorus. Czechoslovakia is now Czeh and Slovakia, and Yugoslavia is now Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Macedonia. If you ask our Bulgarian friend Psycho he might also try to tell you Macedonia is really part of Bulgaria.

I am not really sure that China and the Soviet Union were allied during the Korean War. The North Korean leader played them against eachother, making sure both viied for the influence of the North Korean leadership. I don't think either was very interested in North Korea, as the Soviets were consolidating their hold of the Union and Eastern Europe, while the Chinese were consolidating their hold of mainland China, after having driven the nationalists off to Taiwan in 1949. It was just not about losing face towards the other... or towards the West...

TIP

Heh... what am I learning in history...

Right now some intensive stuff on the War of 1812... and about the formation of the American republic. (I'm a history major - taking the last two electives to finish up my degree)

Previously: Medieval European History, Chinese History (overview), World War I (thesis topic, focused on the American homefront attitudes prior to the war... though we did look at the entire thing), West African History, United States Civil War, United States post Civil War (overview), Salem Witchcraft Trials, Jacksonian Era, Nuremburg Trials, Galileo, the trial of Socrates, first century Israel (Jesus), and other things...

The reason China and the Soviets were at best very very careful partners and at worst enemies comes from significant ideological differences. The Soviet Union was Leninist and China Maoist, the two ideas although both "communist" were ideologically quite different in focus. The most basic way to look at it was that Lenin's version focused on industrialization, while Mao's focused on agriculture.

The only reason the Soviet Union and China were even on polite terms was because they shared a common threat, The United States. That was the whole point of the Korean and Vietnam wars. The US wanted to stop the spread of Socialism and China and Russia wanted to keep a buffer between us and them because they were concerned they would be next on our American agenda.

Actually Americans themselves are normally targetted.

LOOK! I HAVE TEH LIST OF TEH NAMEZZ0RS OF COMMUNISTS!11!1! PWN TEHM ALLL!1!

Ladies and gentlemen, communists don't want to eat your children. Well, I believe in the communist ideals, and frankly babies are usually a bit smelley to me. Give me a raw bear anytime, because we communists are all animals, right?

A little simplistic. It's not exactly that the Soviets and Chinese were innocent and just wanted a little space between them and us (never mind the people in between). It was a stated goal to bring the Socialist vision to the world as a whole.

I was being sarcastic on the point. I don't think of China or Russia as "true" socialist states, since they failed and became horribly corrupt. However, the war America reacted to the Red Scare is amusing at best, and downright terrifying at worst.

Besides, at the time Stalin was busy securing the Motherland with his evil lies and purges.