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Period: to
Korean Conflct
Korea is divided at the 38th parallel into a Soviet occupied North and an American occupied South. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. The U.S and Southern forces are pushed back to Pusan. In the fall of 1950, UN forces land at Inch'on, break of the Pusan Perimeter and advance toward the Yalu River. In the late winter of 1951, Chinese and North Korean forces push the South back to the 37th parallel. 1951 to 1953, UN forces push up towards back to the 38th parallel in January. (cont) -
Nato
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Members of the NATO pledged to help one another if any one of them were attacked. -
Nuclear Arms Race
At first, the United States was the only country to have nuclear weapons. Then the Soviet Union had their own. By 1953, both countries had created hydrogen bombs, which were much worse and destructive than the atomic bombs. The countries competed to match up each of their inventions. -
Chinese Civil War
Communist forces led by Mao Zedong fought a civil war against Nationalists headed by Jiang Jieshi. Battles raged until the communists forces swept into victory and set up the Peoples Republic of China. China was finally under Communist control. -
Korean Conflict part 2
A ceasefire in 1953 ended a long stale-mate. -
Warsaw Pact
An alliance that included the Soviet Union and seven satellites in Europe. The Warsaw Pact was often invoked by the Soviets to keep its satellites in order. It cemented the division in Europe to "eastern" and "western" blocs. -
Communist Cuba
Castro had led is guerrilla army to victory and set about transforming the country. He looked into the Soviet Union for support. He nationalized businesses and put most land under government control. Castro severely restricted Cubans' political freedom. -
Berlin Wall
The city of Berlin was split into East and West Berlin. East Berlin was communist and West Berlin was Democratic. East Germans who were unhappy with the low pay and communist government fled to West Berlin. East Berlin then built a wall in 1961 that sealed off West Berlin. When it was complete, it was a massive concrete wall, topped with barbed wire and guards standing by. It showed the workers that they hd to be forcibly kept from fleeing. -
Missile Crisis
In 1962, the Soviet Union sent nuclear missiles to Cuba. President Kennedy responded by imposing a naval blockade that prevented further Soviet shipments. He demanded that the Sovet Union remove the missiles from Cuba. For a few days, the world faced a risk of a nuclear war over the issue. Finally, Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev agreed to remove the missiles. -
Vietnam Conflict
Ho Chi Minh was determined to unite Vietnam under a communist government. South Vietnamese commandos conducted raids on North Vietnamese islands in the Gulf of Tonkin. The following day, the North Vietnamese attacked a nearby U.S Navu destroyer, the Maddox, which they mistakenly believed to assist South Vietnamese. -
Eastern European Independence
When Czechoslovakia defiance of Soviet control led to a Soviet invasion, Hungary quietly introduced modest economic reforms. Unlike Poland or Hungary, Germany resisted Gorbachev's calls for change. In 1988, the ridgidly communist East German government banned Soviet publications. In 1992, the Slovaks and Czechs peacefully agreed to divide Czechoslovakia into the new nations of Slovakia and the Czechs Rupublic. -
Detente
American and Soviet arms control agreement led to Detente, or relaxation of tensions, during the 1970s. The era of Detente ended in 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. -
Soviets in Afghanistan
The Soviet Union became involved in a long war in Afghanistan, an Islamic country just south of the Soviet Union. Battling mujahedin was just as difficult as fighting the guerrillas in Vietnam. The American government began to smuggle weaponry to the mujahedin. The Soviets had many years of casualties, high costs, and successes. The war in Afghanistan provoked a crisis in Moral for the Soviets at home just as the Vietnam war had done with the Americans back home.