The Cold War . It was called the cold war because neither the United States or the Soviet Union declared war on each other.

By bradleybouck

  • Formation of the Eastern Bloc

    The Soviet Union began forming the Eastern Bloc around the beginning of WWII. It was a group of communist states created by invading and then annexing several countries as Soviet Republics. These included Eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Eastern Finland, and Eastern Romania.

  • The Greek Civil War

    Devastation shattered Greece and reshaped Europe. In Athens Greece, bloody events erupted into a civil war. British forces worked to help keep it under control but they were very weak. 12 were dead and more were wounded in the event. This ended up resulting in 3 years of suffering and 100,000 people died of starvation.

  • Postwar Occupation and Division of Germany

    After WWII, Germany was split up into four occupation zones. These zones were split between France, Great Britain, The United States, and The Soviet Union. An Allied Control Council was to have overall joint authority over Germany.

  • Berlin Blockade and Airlift

    The Berlin Blockade was an attempt to limit the ability of the United States, Britain ,and France to travel to their sectors of Berlin. The Soviets blocked all rail, road, and canal access to Western Germany. 2.5 million civilians had no access to food, medicine, fuel, and other basic goods. Allied Western powers reacted to this by instituting an airlift. This delivered vital supplies and relief to Western Germany.

  • Enactment of the Marshal Plan

    The Marshall plan was a program designed to provide aid to Western Europe after the devastation caused by WWII. It provided more than $15 billion in aid to help finance rebuilding efforts in Europe. One main goal of the Marshall Plan was to stop the spread of Communism in Europe. The Marshall Plan is seen as the beginning of the Cold War.

  • Chinese Communist Revolution

    This was a civil war between communists and nationalists in China. The nationalists retreated to Taiwan and the Chinese communist party took over China. This war was decades long and the Chinese communist party is still strong in china today.

  • Korean War

    Also known as the "forgotten war" The Korean was a deadly war in Korea when the North invaded the South. President Truman ordered forces to south Korea to help stop the invasion. The United States got involved to stop the spread of communism. Nearly 5 million peole died in this conflict with a large number being civillians.

  • Vietnam War

    The Vietnam War was a long and costly conflict that was fought to stop the spread of communism. 3 million death in total were recorded and 58,000 of them were Americans. President Richard Nixon signed the Paris Peace Accords and ordered a withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1973. Communist forces then took control of South Vietnam not long after.

  • Hungarian Uprising

    A countrywide revolution against the government of Hungary. A rising tide of unrest and discontent in Hungary broke out in active fighting. The rebels won the first phase of the revolution but the Soviet Union put a stop to the revolution.

  • Cuban Revolution

    The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt lead by Fidel Castro. Cuban rebels were able to overthrow the government and they became a communist nation. Batista who was the leader before the revolution cut down on sugar exports and the support for him collapsed.

  • Bay of Pigs Invasion

    The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed attack launched by the CIA. The purpose was to throw Fidel Castro out of power. 1,400 American trained Cubans who fled their homes were sent to invade. They were extremely outnumbered and surrendered to Cuba in less than 24 hours of fighting.

  • Building of the Berlin Wall

    The communist controlled East Germany built a barbed wire and concrete wall. This wall was designed to keep Western "fascists" from entering East Germany. This wall stood until November 9, 1989. The Soviets did not like that there was a capitalistic community within their occupied zone of Germany and they hoped this would drive them out. The night of reopening, hoards of people brought chisels to break down the wall.

  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were engaged in a 13 day long standoff. Nuclear weapons were being transported into Cuba and President John F. Kennedy enacted a naval blockade around Cuba to neutralize the threat. At this time, the whole world was fearing global nuclear devastation but the disaster was avoided when Nikita Khrushchev decided to withdrawal from Cuba.

  • Prague Spring

    Brief Period of liberalization in Czechoslovakia. The Czechs were calling for rapid progress toward real democracy. The Soviet Union viewed the development tantamount to counterrevolution.

  • Soviet War in Afghanistan

    This was a 9 year guerilla war fought in against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Afghanistan was overthrown by the left wing military officers led by Nur Mohammed Taraki.

  • Solidarity movement in Poland

    Became the first independent labor union in a country belonging to the soviet bloc. Solidarity was forcibly suppressed by the polish government in 1981 but reemerged in 1989.

  • Tiananmen Square Massacre

    Social changes in china led to thousands of protesters taking to the streets in Beijing. Martial Law was ordered and troops with assault riles and tanks fired upon the protestors. Thousands were wounded and the death toll ranges from a couple hundred to a couple thousand.

  • Fall of the Berlin Wall

    Pivotal event in the world which marked the falling of the Iron Curtain. This event marked the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. The end of the Cold War took place three weeks later.

  • The fall of the Soviet Union

    The fall of the Soviet Union was an internal disintegration which resulted in the country's end. 11 countries had announced their withdrawal from the soviet union which ultimately just left one standing which was Russia. The once mighty force in eastern Russia was no more and they were no longer a global superpower.

  • 9/11 attacks

    On 9/11/2001, 19 terrorists attacked the United States seizing 4 commercial airplanes. 3 of the planes were successful in deliberately crashing into their targets. the 4th plane was brought down by the passengers aboard the plane. This plane was headed for the White House but was brought down in a field. The World Trade Centers were destroyed and the pentagon was damaged. in total, there were 2,996 deaths and thousands more were injured.