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The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was a way to raise money to rebuild Europe and get it's economy going again. The Americans looked at this in a good way while the USSR looked at it as interfering with other countries problems. They wanted nothing to do with the Marshall Plan. People say that the Marshall Plan allowed the United States to remake the European economy in the way we want it to be. -
Creation of NATO
The threat of communism spreading caused the US and many other countries to for NATO. The communists also formed an alliance. NATO stands for the "North Atlantic Treaty Organization". This is why 12 Western nations total formed a treaty to become allies. -
Korean War
Many soldiers of North Korea crossed the 38th parallel. This became the first act of action of military force in the Cold War. America allied with South Korea. The American Government tried to get North Korea to agree to a cease fire, but this made people wonder what would happen if they got upset. In July, 1953, the Korean war finally ended. The total causualties in the war were 5 million. Both Koreas are still divided. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War Started after Ho Chi Minh took over in North Vietnam. He was a communist. The US fought against communism. Around 3 million people were killed in the vietnam war. About 58,000 Americans were killed. Since it wasnt really our war to be fighting, President Nixon withdrew the US troops. This took place in 1973. -
Creation of the Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact put the Soviet Union in charge of any countries military that signed the pact. It was named the Warsaw Pact because it was signed in Warsaw. The countries included in the Warsaw Pact were the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. Anytime one of these countries were attacked other countries that signed the pact had to go aid the country being attacked. 1991 is when the Warsaw Pact ended. -
The Soviets Launch Sputnik
The Soviets succesfully launched Sputnik into space without a man inside. This scared many Americans. America feared that the Soviet Union had the advantage in the arms race. They blamed Eisenhower for letting our space program fall so far behind. Eisenhower sped up the United States space program. -
Bay of Pigs
Fidel Castro, a native of Cuba, took a guerilla army into Havana and overthrew a leader who the U.S supported. For two years, the CIA tried to get Castro out of power. Finally, the CIA launched a "final attack". 1400 Cubans that were trained by Americans went to take Cuba back invaded. In less then one day, they surrendered. They were very outnumbered. -
The Berlin Wall Goes Up
While most people in Berlin were sleeping, construction workers and soldiers dug holes, cut wires connecting East and West Berlin, and put barbed wire up to use as a border for the two parts of Berlin. When people in Berlin woke up they didnt know what to think. People would go from East to West berlin for well-paying jobs could no longer make the drive. The wall divided the West and the East once again. Wherever you slept on August 12th is where you would be for decades. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
After the Bay of Pigs, the Soviet Union supported Fidel Castro alot more. In the summer of 1962, the leader of the Soviet Union installed missiles in Cuba. The US said that if Cuba launched a missile that they would attack the Soviet Union. They turned the ships around that were taking the missiles to Cuba. The "standoff" ended very quickly.The US also had to take the missiles they had in Turkey out. -
1980 Olympic Hockey Game
The USSR had the best hockey team in the world. They had experienced and new but very talented players on their team. On the other hand, the US Olympic team was made up of college players. The players on the US's team were mostly rivals. They had to get along and play as a team. On a game before the tournament, the US got beaten badly by the Soviets. Then tied a game and won the next. The US then beat the Soviet Union and won the entire tournament. This was known as the "Miricale on Ice". -
US Invades Grenada
The United States had many students in Grenada for Medical School. The US was worried about the Grenadan Government doing harm to the United States citizens.Because of this, Reagan had Marines go in and make sure that the students would be protected. The United States overthrew the government and started one similar to ours. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
On August 13th, 1961, Eastern Germany began to build a wall that seperated East Germany and West Germany. The communists had the cover story by saying that they wanted to keep fascists out of their country but in reality they wanted to keep people from leaving their country. In 1989, Eastern Germany tore down the wall claiming that anyone can cross the border whenever they would like to. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
A few days earlier then Christmas day, in 1991, 11 soviet republics said that they were going to break off from the Soviet Union and become independent states. After this happened, the Soviet Union only had one republic left. The main cause of this was the things the Soviet President had done to the Soviet Union. The President then resigned from his "job" on Christmas Day, 1991.
