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Potsdam Conference
Conference at the end of the war in Europe between the U.S., Russia and the UK. Discussion of post-war Germany. Stalin promises free elections in E. Europe. -
Atomic Bomb(Hiroshima)
The first of two atomic bombs dropped on Japan. First nuclear weapons used. Can use to destroy the entire world with this. Not only did these bombs end ww2(Japanese surrender) but it also started the cold war. But now the United States and the Soviet Union became engaged in a nuclear arms race. -
Long Telegram
George F. Kennan's telegram that helped our government against the Soviet Union and become the basis for the US containment strategy. Provided a summary of what the Soviets were up to and their intentions in Europe. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Winston Churchill made a speech saying it is necessary for the US and Britain to be the peace makers against the Soviet communism. They "lowered" the "iron curtain" which was a barrier separating us from the Soviet Union -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine is an American foreign policy that came from the goal of containing Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. Declared immediate economic and military aid to the governments of Greece and Turkey. -
Marshall Plan
Foreign aid plan: wanted to prevent the spread of communism in Western Europe and pledged $13 billion of aid to Europe. -
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan was a system created by the Soviet Union in order to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union. Originally called the "Brother Plan" -
Hollywood 10
Hollywood 10 were 10 motion-picture producers, directors, and screenwriters who appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee in October 1947. They refused to answer questions regarding their possible communist affiliations. -
Berlin Blockade
The Soviet Union blocked off the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. Limit the ability to the US. -
Berlin Airlift
In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the United States begins a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens of the besieged city. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
A conflict led by the Chinese Communist Party(Chairman Mao Zedong) that resulted in the proclamation of the People's Republic of China. -
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization:
Guaranteeing the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. Intergovernmental military alliance -
First Soviet bomb test
The Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb, known in the West as Joe-1 -
Alger Hiss case
Alger Hiss was an American government official that was accused of having spied for the Soviet Union. Convicted of perjury. -
Rosenberg trial
Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg were tried and executed for being spies for the Soviet Union and passing atomic secrets to them. -
Korean War & Korean Armistice
North Korea, and South Korea agree to an armistice, bringing the fighting of the Korean War to an end. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The battle of Dien Bien Phu was the first Indochina War fought between the French Union's colonial Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries -
Army–McCarthy hearings
The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee to investigate conflicting accusations between the US Army and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. -
Geneva Conference
The Geneva conference was a conference on international issues in which the PRC participated with the status and in the capacity of the Big Five. The French agreed to withdraw their troops from northern Vietnam. Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, pending elections within two years to choose a president and reunite the country. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics of Central and Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact was established as a balance of power to NATO. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution was a countrywide revolution against the Stalinist government of the Hungarian People's Republic and the Hungarian domestic policies imposed by the USSR. -
U2 Incident
The United States U-2 spy plane was shot down by the Soviet Air Defense Forces while performing photographic aerial reconnaissance deep inside Soviet territory. This caused the collapse of a summit conference in Paris between the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion was an abortive invasion of Cuba at the Bahía de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) on the southwestern coast by some 1,500 Cuban exiles opposed to Fidel Castro. The invasion was financed and directed by the U.S. government. Cuban planes strafed the invaders, sank two escort ships, and destroyed half of the exile's air support. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. The Wall cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany, including East Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day political and military standoff over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba. -
Assassination of JFK
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas. He was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald(apparently) but there are many conspiracies. Lee Harvey Oswald was also an insider with the Soviet Union. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, meaning President Johnson could take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. An attempt to foment rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the US to go back to its involvement in the Vietnam War. -
Riots of Democratic convention
The 1968 Chicago riots were sparked in part by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Rioting and looting followed, with people flooding out onto the streets of major cities -
Kent State
The killings took place during a peace rally opposing the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into neutral Cambodia by United States military forces as well as protesting the National Guard presence on campus. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
All parties to the conflict, including South Vietnam, signed the final agreement. Saigon controlled about 75 percent of South Vietnam's territory and 85 percent of the population. The South Vietnamese Army was well equipped via last-minute deliveries of U.S. weapons and continued to receive U.S. aid after the cease-fire. -
Fall of Saigon
The US was forced to abandon its embassy and evacuate more than 7,000 US citizens and South Vietnamese by helicopter. The takeover forced the South Vietnamese to surrender and end the war. -
Reagan elected
In the 49th presidential election Republican Ronald Reagan defeated Democratic president Jimmy Carter. -
SDI announced
Strategic Defense Initiative: an anti-ballistic missile program that was designed to shoot down nuclear missiles in space. President Reagan announced his intention to embark upon research into a national defense system that could make nuclear weapons obsolete. -
'Tear down this wall’ speech
President Reagan gave a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin declaring, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
They wanted to take the Berlin wall down after an erroneous East German announcement that travel restrictions to West Germany would be lifted.