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United Nations
This is a group of countries that are united to help economics, international law, security, and social progress. It was established after WWII to help prevent another massive war, and to have each country working together to succeed globally. The name "United Nations" was first used in a speech by Franklin Roosevelt, but didn't come to full official existence until October 24,1945 (when the US, England, France, and other countries signed the Charter). -
The Iron Curtain
After WWII ended, on March 5, 1946 the Iron Curtain was established. This was an invisible line that split Europe into 2 parts. One side that was communist, and the other anti-communist. Also, Berlin was divided between communists and anti-communists. This was to prevent another world war from starting again. -
Truman Doctrine and Containment
The Truman Doctrine was given in a speech on this day, and it stated that the US would help Greece and Turkey in the war with economic and military aid to prevent them from falling to the Soviets."...the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." -Harry Truman. The doctrine pretty much stated that it would contain communism to prevent from spreading. -
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was established on September 18, 1947 by the National Security Act. It was made to further protect the US from and during another war (if one were to occur). They handle many top-secret cases and are a very private group. -
The Marshall Plan
This was originally called the European Recovery Program (ERP) and it was the US helping European countries with supplying monetary support in rebuilding their broken economies. It's main goals were to rebuild the economy of Europe, remove trade barriers, and to modernize industry. -
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was how the US still helped out their European allies even with a blockade in front of their area. Soviets needed to try and cut off all transportation to and from Berlin, and they did accomplish that, but the US still found another way around it. We sent over planes of candy, food, water, and other goods to our territory in Berlin and easily passed the Berlin Blockade. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established on this date by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. Some of the countries include France, England, and the US. NATO was pretty much the side of the Iron Curtain against communism. -
Soviets Explode Atomic Bomb
After the US has utilized the first atomic bomb during WWII, Russia had to come up with plans of their own for the same. They tested out the bomb after many tries and experiments, and finally it has worked. High levels of radiation were discovered by a US spy plane flying off the coast of Siberia on September 3, 1949. Later that month, President Harry Truman announced that Soviet, too, had the bomb in their hands. -
The Second Red Scare
The second Red Scare came into play after WWII and was founded upon McCarthyism. This was a belief made by Senator Joseph McCarthy that there were many hidden communists in the US, and it was his duty to find them. The movement was anti-communist and many people feared them. If one person was believed to be a communist their whole family and work lives would be ruined. -
Korean War
After North Korea began a Communist society, they wanted the whole country to follow Communism. However, after North Korea invaded, on June 25th, 1950 the war began as both parts of Korea fought against each other. The effect of this war showed that the US was going to do anything in order to stop the domino effect of Communism. Next, the US went down to Vietnam to try to prevent another “North Korea”. -
1952 Olympics
The 1952 Olympics were held in Helsinki, Finland after being nominated in 1940 but cancelled due to World War II. This was famous for all of its broken records before the olympics in Beijing. -
The Rosenbergs
The Rosenbergs were a married couple involved in the Cold War, and had a big impact on it. Julius Rosenberg (right) was arrested for transferring atomic weapon secrets to the Soviet Union. Ethel Rosenberg (left) was arrested on August 11, 1950 for being in a spy-ring which sold atomic weapon secrets to the Soviet Union as well. On June 19, 1953, the Rosenbergs were sentenced to death by electric chair. Many people believe that they were falsely accused, and were just used as scape-goats. -
KGB
The Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB) was a Committee for State Security developed by Soviet Russia. In other words, it was like the Soviet's version of our CIA. During the Cold War, the KGB failed to repair most of it's illegal networks in the US. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance (Warsaw Pact) was established 6 years after NATO. This was the side of the Iron Curtain who were for communism and strongly believed in it. It's main country was Russia, since that is where communism started to spread without containment. -
Vietnam War
After fearing the spread of Communism, the US checked on Vietnam. The south believed in democracy however, the north believed in Communism. Vietnam fought against the US and the French starting November 1, 1955 and eventually won. In the end, communism took over all of Vietnam. However, during this war, two groups, the doves and the hawks, were created. -
Hawks and Doves
During the Vietnam War, people had different opinions on how to stop the spreading of communism. The doves wanted to peacefully end the war and withdraw the troops back from Vietnam. On the other hand, the hawks were the opposite and wanted to increase the number of troops in Vietnam to win the war. Meanwhile, the Soviets start the space race by launching Sputnik. -
Space Race
Meanwhile, between 1957 and 1975, the US and the Soviet Union competed against each other for the supremacy in space exploration. The rivalry was over who was superior in technological and ideological fields. It began when Russia sent Sputnik and the first man into space. The US realized that if Russia could send satellites into space, they could easily bomb the US. In the end, we have our current NASA and we were able to have the first man to walk on the moon. Communism spreads to Cuba. -
Sputnik
During the Vietnam War, Russia launched the very first artificial satellite to be put into Earth’s orbit in 4 October 1957 which started the space race. During the arms race, both the US and the Soviet Union competed against each other through intelligence. After Russia launched Sputnik, the US feared losing the race and the space race officially started. -
Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro takes over Cuba. He is a communist leader who planned to expand his communist ways. He was the leader of the Cuban Missle Crisis and defeated us in the Bay of Pigs invasion since we lacked in air support. -
Bay of Pigs
Because Cuba was a Communist society, the US feared because it was so close to them. Therefore, they took action to try to contain Communism. The US attempted to get rid of Fidel Castro but failed to because of the lack of air support. This caused Castro’s popularity to increase because he was able to survive an attack from the great US. This invasion then lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Russia gave support towards Cuba because they were Communists as well. They provided missiles for Cuba. At last, both Russia and the US came to a consensus that Russia will disarm the missiles in Cuba if the US back off and disarm their missiles in Turkey. The Cold War will soon come to an end.
