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united nations
The U.N. was officially established in 1945 following the horrific events of World War II, when international leaders proposed creating a new global organization to maintain peace and avoid the abuses of war. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a bold move by President Harry Truman in 1947 to contain communism and support democracy in Europe and beyond. -
Marshall Plan
U.S.-sponsored program designed to rehabilitate the economies of 17 western and southern European countries in order to create stable conditions in which democratic institutions could survive. -
Nato formed
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization , also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance of 32 member states 30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. -
Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs invasion, (April 17, 1961), abortive invasion of Cuba at the Bahía de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs), or Playa Girón (Girón Beach) to Cubans, 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. -
Berlin Wall goes up
Just after midnight on the night of August 12–13, 1961, trucks with soldiers and construction workers rumbled through East Berlin. While most Berliners were sleeping, these crews began tearing up streets that entered into West Berlin. They dug holes to put up concrete posts and strung barbed wire all across the border between East and West Berlin. -
Soviets invade Afghanistan
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, invasion of Afghanistan in late December 1979 by troops from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union intervened in support of the Afghan communist government in its conflict with anti-communist Muslim guerrillas during the Afghan War (1978–92) and remained in Afghanistan until mid-February 1989. -
Berlin Wall comes down
The Berlin Wall came down on the evening of November 9, 1989, during a hastily arranged international press conference in East Berlin.