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NATO and Warsaw Pact
NATO and Warsaw pactIn 1949, a military alliance called the North Altantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was set up. It included the United States, Canada, and most of the countries in Western Europe. They all agreed to fight together if attacked by the Soviet Union.Then in 1955, The Soviet Union organized the Warsaw Pact to go against NATO. The Warsaw Pact included the Soviet Union and many European countries around it. -
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Nuclear Arms Race and Detente 2
this agreement signed, the 1970's were a time of detente (relaxation of tension). The United States wanted to restrain the Soviet Union with diplomatic agreements, not military. The detente ended in 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. -
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Nuclear Arms Race and Detente
Nuclear MissileBy 1949, the Soviet Union had developed their own nuclear weapons and in 1953, both side had hydrogen bombs. They were both racing to develop weapons that were better than the other. It turned into a "balance of terror"; they realized that they would be destroyed if either launched its weapon. In 1969, the United States and the Soviet Union began the Strategic Arms LimitationTalks (SALT), This limited the number of nuclear weapons each side could have; both sides signed in 1972 and 1979. With -
Korean Conflict
Korean ConflictKorea had been temporarily devided after WWII by the Soviet Union and America. The north was communist and led by Kim II Sung while the South, which was backed by the United States, was dictorial and led by Syngman Rhee; both sides wanted to rule the entire country. Kim II Sung called for "heroic struggle" to unite Korea. North Korea soon ran over South Korea though but the United Nations condemned the invasion. The United States organized United Nation forces to help South Korea. North Korea -
Korean Conflict 2
kept advancing until they were stopped along the Pusan Perimeter by the United Nations. United Nation troops landed on the beaches around the port of Inch'on soon after. They quickly captured rail lines and cut off food and ammo suppl for the North; North Korea surrended. The United Nations moved North along China.Troops were sent in to help North Korea. Chinese and North Korea troops pushed United Nation troops south. It wasn't until 1953 that an armistice was signed. There are still two Koreas -
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Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil WarChina was finally under Communist control after decades of struggle; they hoped communism would help build a new China with no foreign domination. Forces led by Mao Zedong captured rail lines and surrounded Nationalist-held cities. The surrounded cities would soon fall apart and by 1950, the communist forces had conquered Tibet. A communist one-party totalitarian state was built in People's Republic of China, Anyone that put down communism were either beaten, sent to labor camps, or killed. Mao -
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Chinese Civil War 2
demanded that they begin pulling peasant land and labor in order to increase productivity. The period of time from 1958 to 1960 was known as the Great Leap Forward (superhuman effort to increase farm and industrial output) but it ended up being a complete failure; the outcome was low-quality, useless good. The farmland was neglected and there were man food shortages. Mao launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to try to get rid of the bourgeois and teenagers formed Red Guards to -
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Chinese Civil War 3
attack them as well. The economy slowed and the threat of a civil war emerged so Mao had the army restored. The number of communists more than tripled. In 1960, The Soviet Union withdrew all aid and advisors from China. The United States then saw advantages in improving relationships with China. In 1979, the United States set up formal diplomatic relations with China. -
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Vietnam Conflict
Vietnam ConflictIn 1954, Vietnam was temporarily divided. Ho Chi Mihn controlled North Vietnam but the south was supported by the United States. An election was called to reunite Vietnam but it never happened because we didn't want communist to win. According to the domino theory, if communist one all the other surrounding countries would turn into communists. In 1960, communist guerillas appeared in South Vietnam to try to free Vietnam from foreign domination. Ho, who still wanted Vietnam united, aided the -
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Vietnam Conflict 2
communist rebels. South Vietnamese commandos conducted raids on North Vietnamese islands on August 1, 1964. North Vietnam mistakenly attack a U.S Navy destroyer. When the attack was reported to congress by President Johnson, the president was given the authority to do anything to prevent any further aggression in Southeat Asia. The United States began bombing North Vietnam; there were more than 50,000 American troops in war. Soviet Union and China sent aids, but no troops, to North Korea. South -
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Vietnam Conflict 3
Vietnam and the American troops could not defeat communist guerillas when they came out of the jungles unexpectedly of Tet (New Year). The number of deaths and casualties made people in the U.S not like the war at all. As war continued, the nation divided even further. American leaders decided they had to get out. In 1973, Nixon negotiated the Paris Peace Accord. Fire cesed and U.S, troops withdrew. North Vietnam agreed not to send anymore troops. However, two years later, North conquered South. -
Berlin Wall
Berlin was split into democratic West Berlin and communist East Berlin. The communist were unhappy with how they were being treated and fled into West Berlin. In order to stop the fighting between the two sides, Germany built a wall in 1961 that kept the people of West Berlin from going over. It started out as just a barbed wire but eventually became a massive concrete barrier with barbed wire on top and guards surrounding it. The communists could no longer flee; they were forced to stay. -
Communist Cuba and Missile Crisis
Fidel Castro had organized an armed rebellion against the dictator of Cuba and then led his guerilla army to victory when he was trying to transform the country. During the fighting, Castro had gotten help from the Soviet Union and the United States tried to stop that. President John F. Kennedy sent U.S. trained Cuban exile to attempt to invade Cuba, which is know as The Bay of Pigs Invasion. This ended quickly when Castro's forces captured the invaders. The United States then imposed a trade -
Communist Cuba and Missile Crisis 2
embargo that is still in effect today. The Soviet Union still managed to send nuclear missiles to cuba. After that, Kennedy set up a naval blockade so they could not get anymore shipments to help them; he demanded that the missiles be removed from Cuba. For the next for days, the world faced the possibility of nuclear war. The Soviet Union then removed the missile; there was no war. -
Soviets in Afghanistan
The Soviet Union had become involved in a long war with Afghanistan. Afghan landlords commanded armed men as warlords and they took up arms against the government. Mujahedin, Muslim religious warrors, in the mountains proved to be as difficult to fight as the guerillas. The American government began secretly giving modern weapons the mujahedin. The Soviets, who had years of heavy casualties, high costs, and few sucesses, had to pull out. -
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Eastern European Independence 2
interfere with Eastern European reforms. It wasn't until 1989 that Poland legalized Solidarity. Overall, it was a peaceful transition.The communist government fell and the gates of the Berlin Wall were opened. Finally, in 1991, the Warsaw pact dissolved and the Soviet Union collapsed. -
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Eastern European Independence
Eastern EuropeThe revolts that had occurred in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in the 1950s and 1960s happened again in the 1980s. In Hungary, modern economic reforms were introduced and in 1988, the communist government allowed greater freedom. In Poland,
Solidarity (an independent labor union) was organized. They demanded both political and economical changes; the Polish government outlawed the union. In 1988, East Germany government banned Soviet publications and Gorbachev said he would not -
Soviet Union Falls 2
remain open and eventually closed; unemployment levels went up by a lot. In 1989, European countries broke away from the Soviet Union and the Soviets tried to overthrow Gorbachev. Although they failed, they still weakened him. After 69 years, there is no more Soviet Union. -
Soviet Union Falls
Mikhail Gorbachev became the new leader of the Soviet Union in 1985 and made many changes that you would think would help the country out. These changes soon went out of control. Arms control treaties were set up with the United States and the Soviet troops were pulled out of Afghanistan. Gorbachev called for glasnost, or openness, and ended censorship. Restructure of the government and economy began; free market was opened as well. Shortages grew worse and prices soared. Factories could not
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