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The Greek civil war was the result of a polarized struggle between left and right ideologies that started in 1943, the struggle eventually becoming the first proxy war of the Cold War. The final victory of the western-allied government forces led to Greece's membership in NATO, helping define the balance of power in the Aegean Sea for the entire Cold War. The war left Greece with a strongly anti-communist security arrangement. -
After World War II, four powers divided Germany into four occupation zones under the three Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) and the Soviet Union. The Americans occupied the South, the British the West and North, France the South-West, and the Soviets Central Germany. Berlin was divided into four sectors. -
The Chinese Communist Revolution, a period of social and political revolution, culminated with the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949) as the People's Liberation Army decisively defeated the Republic of China Army, bringing an end to over two decades of intermittent warfare between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang. On October 1, 1949, the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was declared, completing the process of governmental upheaval begun by the Chinese Revolution of 1911. -
The Eastern Bloc was formed during the Second World War near the closing of the war and then into the Cold War. The Soviet Union created the Eastern Bloc by invading and annexing what would then become Communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The Eastern Bloc was used to create a buffer state for the Soviet Union. This included East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania. -
The Cold War was named for the reluctance on both sides to fight one another directly. In a "hot war," nuclear weapons would be used, likely resulting in worldwide destruction. Therefore, neither the Soviet Union nor the United States officially declared war on each other.
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The European Recovery Program, aka the Marshall Plan, was a U.S. program which aimed to provide aid to Western Europe post-World War II. The plan sought to adapt and maintain stable economies with stable leaders among European countries that had been heavily affected, as opposed to those countries becoming Communist. Through this process of foreign aid, the United States transferred over $13 billion in economic recovery programs to Western Europe. -
The Soviet Union, after a battle for dominance through the establishing of a separate currency, made the decision to block all road, railway, and canal-access to Allied-occupied zones of Berlin. Because of this, citizens were cut off from essentials such as electricity, food, and coal, until, two days after, US and British planes carried in supplies for relief. Nearly 700 aircraft were used during the Berlin Airlift over the course of 11 months. -
On 25 June 1950 when North Korea, supported by China and the Soviet Union, invaded South Korea, which was supported by the United Nations, principally the United States. After WW2, the two new Korean states, which had been divided up under a socialist state and a capitalist state, claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither accepted the border as permanent, leading to fights along it. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953 when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. -
The Cuban Revolution was a revolt beginning in July of 1953 led by Fidel Castro and revolutionaries of the 26th of July Movement against the military dictatorship of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. Castro had resolved to launch an armed revolution, founding a paramilitary organization, stockpiling weapons and recruiting around 1,200 followers. After, Castro's government transformed Cuba's economy and civil society, and the revolution itself transformed Cuba–United States relations. -
The 1953 Iranian coup d'état was the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh with the intention of strengthening the monarchical rule of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The coup was orchestrated by the US and the United Kingdom, under Operation Ajax and Operation Boot respectively. After, a government under General Fazlollah Zahedi was formed which allowed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran to rule more firmly as monarch, with the support of the United States. -
North Vietnam, supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies, and South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies, was a war that lasted almost 20 years. Phnom Penh, the capital of the Khmer Republic, fell to the Khmer Rouge on April 17th, 1975, while the 1975 Spring Offensive saw the Fall of Saigon to the PAVN (the North Vietnamese Army) on 30 April, marking the end of the war, with North and South Vietnam being reunified the following year. -
On August 13th, 1961, the military and police of East Germany closed the border between the divided East and West Berlin and began the construction of the Berlin Wall, with the goal of preventing the migration of East Germans to the West. The first concrete elements and large blocks were put in place on 17 August. Chain fences, walls, minefields and other obstacles were installed along the length of East Germany's western border. A second “hinterland” wall was built 100 meters farther in. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union that is often considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev had agreed to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles on the island to deter a future invasion. When reported to President Kennedy, he ordered a naval quarantine to prevent further missiles from reaching Cuba. -
The Palestine Liberation Organization is an organization founded in 1964 opposing the State of Israel, with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and statehood over the territory of former Mandatory Palestine. At its first summit meeting in Cairo in 1964, the Arab League initiated the creation of an organization representing the Palestinian people. Following this and subsequent meetings, the PLO was founded. -
The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was the overthrowing of the Popular Unity government of President Salvador Allende. A group of military officers led by General Augusto Pinochet seized power in a coup, ending civilian rule. After, a a junta was established that suspended all political activity in Chile and repressed left-wing movements. The Nixon administration recognized and supported the junta government as it had worked to create the conditions for its creation. -
The Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989) was a nine-year guerrilla war between insurgent groups known collectively as the Mujahideen, as well as smaller Marxist–Leninist–Maoist groups and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) and the Soviet Army. The Mujahideen were backed by the US, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, and the UK. In 1988 the Soviet Union signed an accord with the US, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and agreed to withdraw its troops. Afghanistan returned to nonaligned status. -
Solidarity was an anti-authoritarian social movement in the 80s that used civil resistance to advance workers' rights and social change. Attempts by the government in the 80s to destroy the union through martial law in Poland and political repression failed. With support from the Vatican and the US, the union survived and entered negotiations with the government. By the end of August, a Solidarity-led coalition government was formed. In December 1990, Wałęsa was elected President of Poland. -
The Tiananmen Square protests were student-led demonstrations held in Beijing in 1989. The protests followed the death of pro-reform Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Hu Yaobang in April and were forcibly suppressed on 4 June when the government declared martial law. In the Tiananmen Square Massacre troops armed with assault rifles and accompanied by tanks fired at the demonstrators as well as people who were trying to block the military's advance into the square. -
The Berlin Wall dividing communist East Germany from West Germany crumbled in 1989, marking the start of the fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe. The fall was caused by political reforms inside the Soviet bloc, an escalating pressure from the people and eventually, confusion over an East German directive to open the border. The spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party had announced that starting at midnight that day, citizens of the GDR were free to cross the borders. -
On December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union, leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the newly independent Russian state. After, the Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered for the last time over the Kremlin, replaced by the Russian tricolor. The Soviet Union had fallen largely due to inner reforms, especially radical ones Gorbachev had enacted. -
On September 9, 2001, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks were launched, resulting in the destruction of the World Trade Center. Designated by the militant Islamic extremist network al-Qaeda, four planes were hijacked with the intention of destroying prominent American Buildings, including the Pentagon, as well as a federal building in Pennsylvania, which ultimately failed. After, many countries increased their anti-terrorism policies.