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Marshall Plan
The Marshal Plan(AKA the European Recovery Program) helped to boost Europe’s economy between 1948 and 1951. It was named after the United States Secretary of State, George C. Marshall. He talked about this plan on June 5, 1947 in a speech at Harvard University. The Marshall Plan was an overall success because it did spark Europe’s economy and did meet its objective, which was 'restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole.' -
Creation of NATO
NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was created when ministers from 12 different countries came together in Washington D.C. to sign the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. NATO originally consisted of Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States. NATO was very important because of the time era. The Cold War was brewing and NATO could stand as a backbone against the USSR. -
Korean War
The Korean War was fought because of the separation of the two Koreas and the threat that Communism could spread to the south. The United States backed South Korea in hope to stop the spread of Communism. The Korean War was the first actual military action of the Cold War. Americans fought in Korea on South Korea’s behalf. There are still two separate Koreas today. -
The Rosenberg Spy Case
The Rosenberg spy case is considered one of the most controversial cases in United States history. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of “conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets” in 1953. There was not a lot of evidence and the Rosenberg’s maintained their innocence up to their executions. They were the first U.S. citizens to be executed for espionage. They were executed in New York in the electric chair. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was established by a treaty that was signed by the USSR along with seven of its satellite nations. It enabled a mutual defense organization. It also put the Soviets in charge of the armed forces of its satellite nations. The pact was in a way a response to the creation of NATO. It was very similar to NATO because it too was created to help protect against enemy attacks. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was again fought because of Communism. It was a very long and very expensive war. It was fought between North Vietnam (along with its southern allies) and South Vietnam (along with its allies, mostly consisting of the United States). The United States once again entered this war to help prevent the spread of Communism and helped to fight on South Vietnam’s behalf. -
USSR launches Sputnik
A huge part of the Cold War was the Space Race. America and the USSR competed against each other in almost everything and neither of them wanted to seem like the inferior country. On October 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object into Earth’s orbit. America did not expect the launch and were not happy about it. When Americans heard about it they knew they had to do something bigger and better. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion was a disaster almost immediately after it started. The CIA tried to keep the invasion top secret for as long as they could. They picked out almost all radio stations and prevented them from broadcasting the event. In the effort to not broadcast the event they missed one radio station and the station broadcasted every detail of the invasion to all of the listeners in Cuba. The Bay of Pigs invasion was ultimately a failure because the details of the operation got out. -
Berlin Wall goes up
The Berlin Wall was a huge symbol during the war. Its purpose was to keep the people in the Western part of Germany out of the Eastern part. It was put up to keep the “fascists” out of the East. The Berlin Wall separated many families that lived or even worked on opposite sides of the wall. It is one of the most powerful symbols from the Cold War, -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile crisis was the closest the world has ever come to being in a full throttle nuclear war. Many people were terrified of the outcomes if this issue wasn’t avoided. Luckily, the United States and the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba as long and U.S. missiles were removed from Turkey. The U.S. also had to promise not to invade Cuba. -
America Lands a Man on the Moon
The Space Race was an essential part to the Cold War. When the Soviets launched Sputnik the U.S. made it a priority to beat them in space travel. On July 20, America landed the Apollo 11 on the Moon with a crew consisting of 3 men, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins. Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon and he said the famous words "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." -
Olympic Basketball Controversy
Since the Olympics started the American team won in basketball every Olympic competition. They had a record of 55-0 in Olympic play. At this game the competitors were the United States and the USSR. It was one of most controversial games in Olympic history. When the Americans lost the game due to many bad calls they took it as a loss within the Cold War. It was horrific. -
USA Hockey Team's "Miracle on Ice"
In the 1980 Winter Olympics the USSR and the United States were to play in the medal-round for men’s ice hockey. The U.S. team was made up of many amateur and collegiate players so their chances were not as high. The Soviet team won almost every world championship/Olympic tournament since 1954. When they defeated the Soviet team it felt like a bigger victory because of the Cold War. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall stood for decades and, to many, it seemed indestructible. In 1989, the East German Communist Party said that citizens could freely cross the border whenever they wanted to. The citizens were so happy that literally took down the wall. Many people came with hammers and picks to break the wall. The Berlin Wall is still, to this day, one of the most powerful symbols of the Cold War. -
Collapse of the USSR
The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Their economy was on the downfall and eventually it just collapsed. After the collapse they tried to reconstruct the USSR but it was ready for change. The world would no longer contain the USSR.
