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From July 17 to August 2, 1945, Allied leaders met outside of Berlin. The Potsdam Conference set up a competition between capitalist Western powers (the United States and Great Britain) and the communist-controlled Soviet Union. This rivalry grew into the Cold War.
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The NATO was established in 1949, as a defense against the Soviet Union and its eastern European Allies. On April 4, 1949, 12 countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C. In 1949, the original members of NATO were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom (Great Britain), and the United States.
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On May 14, 1955, (Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance), was signed by the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, etc…. The Soviet Union wanted to establish a strong defense alliance against any potential military or economic threats from the West, especially with a rearmed West Germany as a member of NATO. In November 1990 Warsaw Pact and NATO Leaders declared that they were “no longer adversaries,” ending the Cold War.
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North Korea and South Korea fought the Korean War from June 1950 to July 1953. Japan controlled Korea until the end of World War II (1939-45). On June 25, 1950, the North Koreans attacked southward across the 38th parallel, beginning the start of the Korean War.
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The Vietnam War began in 1954, after Vietnam was split into two parts, one part as North Vietnam and the other part as South Vietnam.
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In 1975, North Vietnam won the war.
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In February of 1968, the Communist attacked about 30 cities in South Vietnam.
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Ten Israeli brigades invaded Egypt and advances toward the canal, on October 29, 1956.
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On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the earth’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik-1.
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On January 31, 1958, the United States succeeded in launching its first satellite, the Explorer.
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In October of 1962, there was “a 13-day political and military standoff over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba. On October 22, 1962, “President John F. Kennedy notified Americans of the missiles.”
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“Glasnost was the Soviet policy of open discussion of political and social issues.” “Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev instituted this policy in the late 1980’s.”
