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Its goals were to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,” AKA to prevent war. The original leaders were the U.S., Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and China. -
A group called the House Un-American Activities Committee investigated the Hollywood film industry, and accused 40 people of being communists. 10 of these men decided to challenge the committee. They compared their trial to Nazi Germany, and were sentenced to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. -
Known as the official declaration of the Cold War. President Truman asked for support from Americans to help Greece and Turkey. They were being controlled by the Soviet Union at that time, so helping the nations meant war with the Soviet Union. -
AKA European Recovery Program. Provided aid to Western Europe after WWII. It gave over $15 billion to help Western Europe recover from the damage of WWII. It was a four-year plan created by George C. Marshall, U.S. Secretary of State. -
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a group of countries that became allies. They said that if a state were to attack one of them, it would be attacking them all. The original nations that signed the treaty were: Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States. -
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North Korean soldiers crossed the 38th Parallel into South Korea. This was the first violent act of the Cold War. The U.S. entered the war on South Korea’s side, their goal being to defeat communism. It is known as the “Forgotten War”, because it happened around the World Wars, that received much more attention.
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On November 1, 1955, the U.S. started supporting South Vietnam. On March 8, 1965, U.S. combat troops landed in Vietnam.
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The Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. The next year, the U.S. launched Explorer I, their own satellite, and created NASA. The Soviet Union launched the first space probe onto the moon, and sent their first cosmonaut to orbit the Earth. In July 1969, Apollo 11 took off and landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. This is widely considered as the event that made the U.S. win the Space Race.
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President Kennedy tried to invade Cuba to end Fidel Castro’s reign. The U.S. military trained Cubans that escaped to invade their home country. They were outnumbered and had to surrender to Castro.
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Communist East Germany built a wall out of barbed wire and concrete between themselves and West Berlin. They wanted to keep Western Germans, who they believed were fascists, out. Their underlying goal was to prevent an uprising from German citizens on both sides. -
The Soviet Union dropped troops into the main cities of Afghanistan. The KGB invaded the palace, killed the president and his men, then placed Babrak Karmal in power. This caused a 9-year Afghan civil war. This also caused unrest in the Soviet Union, and eventually led to the USSR’s collapse. -
The head of Communist East Germany made an announcement saying that East German citizens could cross the border. They crowded around the wall, using pickaxes and hammers to tear down the wall.