Cold War - A 40+ year conflict between the Soviet Union and the US where neither side declared war on each other.
By emmabronson
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Greek Civil War
The war took place over a series of 3 phases. It was mainly fought between the Kingdom of Greece, the democratic side supported by the Us, and the Communist Party of Greece, the communist side supported by the Soviet Union. The conflict is an example of another proxy war, where the democratic side eventually won, but not before turning into a full scale civil war. -
Postwar Occupation/Division of Germany
After the fall of Nazi Germany, the country was divided into sections: one for the US, one for the British, one for the French, and one for the Soviet Union. The British were given the northwest, the French were given the southwest, the US was given the south and the Soviet Union was given the east. The same divisions were done in the capitol city of Berlin, where the western half was democratic and the eastern half was communist. -
Enactment of Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan, Economic Recovery Act of 1948, was a program sponsored by the US. This program was designed so the US could lend economic assistance to 17 countries in western/southern Europe in hopes of creating stable democratic countries. This program helped bring European industrialization to this region. -
Berlin Blockade/Airlift
The western democratic half of Berlin was surrounded by the communist Soviet Union controlled eastern Germany. The Soviet Union blocked all western allies railways, roads, and canals access to the city creating the first major crisis of the Cold War. In response the allies began an airlift delivering needed food, water and medicine to the people of western Berlin and this lasted for over a year. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
During a period of social and political unrest in China the communist party was first formed. The party organized through the working class and wanted political radicalization and land reforms, but they were forced into the countryside until Mao Zedong took over. Following the Chinese Civil War the People's Liberation Army won, and communist China was formed. -
Korean War
Communist North Korea invaded democratic South Korea. This was a battle between the communist north supported by the Soviet Union and the Chinese and then democratic south supported by the US. Neither side won the war, a peace treaty was signed in 1953 to end the conflict. Nearly 5 million people died as a result of this war. -
Cuban Revolution
Fidel Castro led a revolt against the military dictatorship in Cuba lasting for years until the communist party finally won. Because of this US-Cuban relations have been severely strained, and the new policies in Cuba have caused a severe change in Cuba’s economy and civil society. This change has also resulted in Cuba becoming close allies with the Soviet Union. -
Overthrow of Mossadegh Government in Iran
The IS orchestrated an overthrowing of the elected prime minister of Iran. A military general was appointed to be the new prime minister of Iran and the monarchy’s power increased. This new Iranian leadership also was pro-Western ideals, pro-democracy. -
Formation of Eastern Bloc
The Soviet Union created the "Eastern Bloc", a group of communist countries in Central/Eastern Europe at the beginning of the cold war. They created this by invading/annexing countries in this area. Most of the countries attained by the Soviet Union during this time were due to the Warsaw Pact. -
Vietnam War
This conflict was fought by the communist North Vietnam who was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the democratic US. This was the second of the proxy wars fought during this time period between communism and democracy. The US never officially declared war, so the conflict was never a true war. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
A landing operation of Cuban exiles who opposed Castro’s revolution directed by the US government. This caused strained relations between the US and Cuba. The US founded the CIA to plan the invasion and carry out this plan to counteract communism in Cuba and other countries. -
Building the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barbed wire and concrete fence created to keep east Berliner’s from escaping to the west. The wall was constructed to completely surround West Berlin and kept the people of east Berlin and eastern Germany from leaving the communist section for the democratic parts of the country. The wall stood for nearly 30 years and stretched around 27 miles. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A conflict between the Soviet Union and the US over nuclear missiles. The Soviet Union placed ballistic missiles in Cuba, which is only 90 miles from the US and would cause drastic damage to the US. The conflict escalated to an international crisis when the Soviet Union matched US missiles in Turkey and Italy with their missiles in Cuba. This was the closest the two superpowers ever came to nuclear war during the conflict. -
Overthrow of Allende government in Chile
A military coup led by military officers seized control of the government in Chile taking it from the people of the country. During this time the country went into a junta where all political activity was suspended specifically the socialist/communist activities. The coup was supported by the US government and they supported the new form of government by getting rid of the socialist leader. -
Solidarity Movement in Poland
The first Polish Trade Union, and the first trade Union to be recognized in the Warsaw Pact by the state. At its peak the Union represented nearly 10 million people snout 1/3 of the countries working population. The solidarities leader, Lech Walesa, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize as being recognized for playing a significant role in ending communist rule in Poland. -
Rise of Palestine Liberation Organization
The PLO is a political and militant organization founded initially with the purpose of establishing Arab Unity over the territory of Palestine in opposition to Israel. The PLO is recognized as the sole representative of the Palestinian people by over the 100 countries it has relations with. It is the official government of the State of Palestine and has received observer status in the UN. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Student-led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in China left anywhere from hundreds-thousands killed/wounded. The Chinese government responded by sending armed troops and tanks firing at the demonstrators. The conflict ended on July 4th when the country declared martial law and sent the army to occupy parts of Beijing. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall coming down marks the end of the iron curtain on the rest of Europe. People from Berlin were taking part in taking the wall down and picked at it with different tools to do so. East German troops officially took the wall down in 1990 -
Fall of the Soviet Union
Yeltsin met with the leaders of Ukraine and Belarus to form the Commonwealth of Independent States. Gorbachev then resigned leaving Yeltsin in charge of the newly dissolved country of Russia. This left the former states of the Soviet Union as free countries as the US’s main goal became making sure all of the new countries could survive economically as democracy’s. -
9/11 Attacks
The 9/11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks carried out by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The planes were all hijacked, and the plan was cause as much chaos in the US as possible. Two of the planes crashed into the North and South world trade centers, a third crashed into a section of the pentagon, and the fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, PA after a passenger revolt. Nearly 3,000 people died as a result of this attack.