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The Red Scare
Beginning in 1947 ,the HUAC brought the cold war home in another way . The committee began a series of hearing designed to show that communist subversion in the U.S was alive and well . -
Yalta Conference .
Meeting between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin to decide what would happen at the end of the war. Topics discussed included –
Partitioning of Germany
Fate of Poland
The United Nations
German reparations -
Marshall Plan .
This was a program of economic aid offered by the United States to any European country. The plan was rejected outright by Stalin and any Eastern Bloc country considering accepting aid was reprimanded severely. Consequently the aid was only given to Western European Countries. -
Berlin Aircraft .
In June 1948 the U.S. and Britain announced a proposal for establishing a new currency, the Deutschmark, into West Berlin. This immediately caused economic chaos in the Soviet Union as people frantically struggled to adjust to the new system of currency. The Soviets responded on June 24 by cutting off all road, rail and canal links between West Germany and West Berlin. -
Korean War .
Korea was occupied by Japan until the end of WWII. After the end of WWII, Korea was divided by the U.S. to the south and Russia/China to the North similar to what happened in Germany. The two countries were divided at the 38th parallel. This was to ensure a buffer zone between the two super powers. On June 25, 1950, the North invaded the south pushing all the way to the tip of the peninsula in a matter of months. -
Vietnam War
It is believed the US president didn’t wish to offend France by normalizing relations with Ho, so he began a campaign of terrorism against the south. It had always been his dream to reunite Vietnam into one country. -
Sputnik Crisis .
The Sputnik crisis was the American reaction to the success of the Sputnik program. It was a key Cold War event that began on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite. The launch of Sputnik I rattled the American public. President Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to it as the “Sputnik Crisis”. -
U-2 Incident .
The Soviet Union shot down a U.S. U-2 reconnaissance plane and called the flight an aggressive act. The U.S. denied Soviet claims that the pilot, F. Gary Powers, had stated that his mission was to collect Soviet intelligence data. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A U-2 spy plane flying over Cuba discovered nuclear missile sites under construction. These missiles would have been capable of quickly reaching the United States. President Kennedy convened a small group of senior officials to debate the crisis. -
Soviet Afghan War .
he Soviet war in Afghanistan lasted nine years from December 1979 to February 1989. It was fought between Soviet-led Afghan forces against multi-national rebel groups called the mujahideens. The Soviets led the Afghans because they were communist and had good resources. -
Perestroika and Glasnost .
When Mikhail S. Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, he launched his nation on a dramatic new course. His dual program of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) introduced huge changes in economic practice, internal affairs and international relations. -
Velvet Revolution .
The Velvet Revolution, also known as the Gentle Revolution, was a series of peaceful protests in Czechoslovakia that led to the overthrow of the Communist government. -
Tianamen Square .
Anti Communist protests in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China were crushed by the government. The death count is unknown. -
Gorbachev resigned .
Mikhail Gorbachev resigned. The hammer and sickle flag on the Kremlin was lowered -
End of the Soviet Union .
Russia formally recognised the end of the Soviet Union -
Non-Proliferation Treaty .
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.