-
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was a two stage conflict where a group of Greek Communists attempted to take control of Greece and failed. The first stage began soon before the Nazi occupation of Greece ended. This second communist rebellion lasted until 1949, when the U.S. supplied and backed Greek army managed to clear the rebels from the Greek interior. -
Postwar occupation and the division of Germany
The division of Germany was caused by the Potsdam Agreement. Postwar, it was decided that Germany was to be split into occupation zones. Great Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union each controlled a portion of Germany. -
Enactment of Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was originally known as the Economic Recovery Act. It was a U.S. program designed to rehabilitate the economies of 17 western and southern European countries in order to create conditions where democratic institutions could survive after World War II. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt b the Soviet Union to block the U.S, G.B, and France from traveling to parts of Berlin. The Soviets blocked all rail, road, and canal access to the western zones of Berlin. Suddenly, some 2.5 million civilians had no access to food, health support, fuel, electricity, and other basic needs. In response, G.B. and the U.S. sent supplies by air. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
When Mao Zedong declared the PRC, it sparked a civil war between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a war fought between South and North Korea. The war began when the North Korean army passed the boundary between the Soviet supported Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. It was the first military action of the Cold War. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was a revolt led by Fidel Castro. He overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista. Castro went on to rule Cuba from 1959 to 2008. -
Overthrow of the Mossadegh Government
This event was the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh for the reason of strengthening the rule of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who was a monarch. -
Overthrow of the Guatemalan Government
The Guatemalan government was overthrown by the United States C.I.A. that took down the government under Jacobo Arbenz. -
Formation of the Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc was a title for the Communist countries in Eastern and Central Europe. Most of the countries were under the Warsaw Pact. These countries were overseen by the Soviet Union. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a war fought between North and South Vietnam with South Vietnam being backed heavily by the United States. In the U.S., the whole country was heavily divided on the war. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba carried out by Cuban exiles who opposed the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro, indirectly financed and directed by the United States government. -
Building of the Berlin Wall
In 1961, the Communist side of Germany began to build a wall of barbed wire between the East and West side of Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day long confrontation over the placement of missiles from the Soviet Union in Cuba. -
Rise of Palestine Liberation Organization
The PLO is a political organization claiming to represent the world’s Palestinians and their descendants, who lived in mandated Palestine before the creation of the state of Israel. It was formed in 1964 to centralize the leadership of various Palestinian groups that previously had operated as clandestine resistance movements. -
Solidarity Movement in Poland
Solidarity was as anti-authoritarian social movement, using civil resistance to advance the causes of workers' rights. Government attempts to destroy the union through implementing martial law in Poland and political repression failed. Operating underground, with the help of the Vatican and the U.S. the union survived. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
In Beijing, China, a massive protest arose over the lack of political freedoms people had. When the protests grew, Beijing declared martial law. The Chinese army went to Tiananmen Square where near a million protesters gathered and opened fire. Throughout China, the entire event was being censored. To this day, the Chinese government still does not recognize the massacre. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
In 1989, East Germans gathered at the Berlin Wall and effectively tore down the Berlin Wall. Not only did it physically tear down a border, but it symbolically tore down the Iron Curtain which symbolized the political boundary dividing Europe. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
When the Soviet Flag was lowered and the Russian tri-colored flag was raised it marked the end of the Soviet Union and the beginning of Russia being an independent state under Boris Yeltsin. -
9/11 Terrorist Attacks
The 9/11 terrorist attacks were a series of suicide attacks carried out by extremists in the United States. The attacks were carried out in planes which were flown into both the World Trade Center buildings in NYC and the Pentagon. A fourth plane crash landed in western Pennsylvania when heroic flight passengers overtook the hijackers.