Cold War and Beyond: The cold war was named the cold war because there was never any direct conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, it was all threats and the idea of mutually assured destruction.
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Postwar Occupation and Division of Germany
The whole country was divided into 4 zones after the Potsdam Conference. Great Britain occupies the northwest, France the southwest, the United States in the south, and the Soviet Union in the east. The capital city of Berlin was also divided into 4 zones even though it was located in the Soviet eastern zone. -
Greek Civil War
It began as a conflict between the communist-dominated left wing resistance organization, and the loosely allied anti-communist resistance. The war killed about 160,000 people. The war led to the establishment of the Truman Doctrine because Truman believed that the communist victory would endanger political stability in Turkey, and undermine the political stability of the Middle East. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese Communist revolution was a civil war within china between the CCP, or communists, and the KMT, or nationalists. The Qing dynasty was in rule during this time, and some revolutionaries wanted to over throw their government. This resulted in the end of the imperialist system in China. A new Republic was formed. -
Enactment of Marshall Plan
President Truman signed a postwar treaty to assist those European countries after WWII. It was known as the Economic Recovery Act, however was renamed the Marshall plan because it was Secretary of State George Marshall's idea. It was a 4 year long plan that aimed to remove trade barriers, modernize industry, re-build war torn countries, and improve European prosperity. It was also, however, aimed at preventing the spread of communism from the Soviet Union throughout Europe as well. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
Due to the division of the capital city of Berlin in Germany, the individuals in the eastern zone, which was the soviet zone, wanted to be in the more free western zone, which was the democratic American zone. So, in response the soviet union built the Berlin wall to keep their citizens from leaving, and Americans from reaching the east through the railway. The United States then began dropping supplies into the eastern zone via plane for the people there because conditions were so harsh. -
Korean War
The cause of the start of this brutal battle was the invasion South Korea by North Korea. The northern area of Korea was a communist state, and the southern area was striving to be democratic or a republic. Stalin supported the north, and the US supported the south. This caused tensions between the two rivaling countries during the cold war worse. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt led by Fidel Castro to overthrow the Cuban government. It was known as a guerrilla war. Fulgencio Batista was the ruler at the time, and the revolt began with the assult on the Moncada barracks, and ended with Batista fleeing Cuba. Fidel Castro then took over as Prime Minister, and was in control of the government. -
Overthrow of the Guatemalan Government
A democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacob Arbenz was deposed in a CIA coup. The operation carried out by the US was a success. It did it's purpose of stopping the spread of communism while still protecting the profits of companies such as the United Fruit Company. It also ended the revolution. -
Formation of the Eastern Bloc
The eastern bloc was the group of communist "states" that occupied the east. It formed during the beginning of world war II. It was formed under the Warsaw Pact, which a military and political agreement that gave the Soviet Union control over the participating countries and states. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam war was a conflict between North and South Vietnam. The north was communist and the south was trying to become a republic or democratic. The US supported the south, and fought over seas for 8 years. US involvement ended when president Nixon signed the Paris Peace Accords. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
It was a failed landing operation in Cuba. The US directly financed the exiles made by Fidel Castro who opposed is Revolution. The goal was to overthrow the communist government led by Castro, and establish a non-communist government for the people. However, last minute President Kennedy cancelled the US airstrikes that would've won them the war because he didn't want Castro to know the US was involved. -
Building the Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was more of a zone than a wall. It was composed of multiples layers of deadly weaponry. It's purpose was the keep the east Berliners from escaping to West Berlin. West Berlin was the democratic US side, and east Berlin was the communist soviet side. The democratic side was more free for the people, so the individuals on the east side wanted to leave. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union had missiles in Cuba, which was right off the US shore, so we wouldn't have had enough time to respond to a threat. It lasted 13 days, and was a political as well as a military confrontation. This escalated tensions between the US and Soviet Union. -
Rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization
It was a nationalist political and militant founded with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity. This included liberating Palestine, achieving Palestine self-determination, and securing the return of refugees. It was led by Yasser Arafat who was appointed leader in the meeting of the Palestine national council. He ruled for 35 years until his death. -
Prague Spring
It was a period of political liberation, and mass protest in the Czechslovak Socialist Republic. This event had proved that the Soviet Union was not willing to even contemplate any member of the Warsaw Pact leaving. This reaffirmed to the west that the people of Eastern Europe were oppressed and denied the democracy that existed in Western Europe. -
Soviet War in Afghanistan
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978. The Soviets organized a military airlift into Kabul. It was estimated to have about 280 transport aircrafts. However, by the end of the war Gorbachev realized it was hurting the Soviet economy, so he signed a peace treaty to end the war. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
It was a student led protest to try and stop military troops from advancing into Tiananmen Square. The troops began shooting the students, and anywhere from several hundred to several thousand had died. The Chinese decaled martial law, and sent troops in to protect the students, and stop the fighting. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
East Berliner's began tearing down the wall because of the escalated tensions in east berlin. There was a changed in leadership, and there was confusions on whether the government was going to open the wall. When the wall came down it was a shock to the world as it had been up for 30 years. -
The Fall of the Soviet Union
The fall of the Soviet Union was due to a cause of both intercanal and governmental affairs. The current communist leader Mikhil Gorbachev resigned from being leader of the Soviet Union as tensions were so high, Boris Yeltsin then took over creating the new independent state of Russia. It was now a republic not a communist state so the Soviet Union flag fell, and a new one rose. -
9/11 Attacks
They were a series of 4 coordinated terrorist attacks from a terrorist group known as al-Queda. They hijacked 4 airplanes. One was to crash into the white house, one the pentagon, and two the twin towers. The ones that struck the twin towers were both successful, as well as the plane that struck the pentagon. The last was bravely overtaken by the passengers, and crashed in field before it could strike the white house.