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Berlin Blockade
The Soviet Union blocked all travel of supplies into west Berlin. The blockade created the dear of war in the West. -
Berlin Airlift
The West brought in supplies to Berlin on airplanes. They were bringing in an average of 5,000 tons of supplies a day. By keeping Berlin supplied the West had no need to give in to the Soviet Union's demands. -
Creation of NATO
NATO was created as an alliance pack for Western countries. While memebers of NATO saw the pact as taking defensive measures in the event of the war the Soviet Union and its allies saw it as the West preparing for a war. -
McCarthy announces that there are communists in US State Department
Senator McCarthy announced that he had a list of 205 people in the US State Department that were known members of the American Communist Party. McCarthy rose to fame during this time period and gained power from the public. People were terrified of upsetting him for fear of being called a communist. -
UN called to join Korean War by the US
The US called the UN to use force in order to get the North Koreans out of South Korea. The fear of the spread of communism was the reason that the UN and the US were invested in this war. -
Creation of Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was the alliance of communist countries. The Soviel Union used the Warsaw Pact as a way to have tighter control over these countries as well as a way to deter the countries from seeking autonomy. -
Suez Crisis
The Israeli, British, and French armies attacked Egypt. The British and French took control in the area around the Suez Canal. The Soviet Union sent weapons to the Egyptians and eventually threatened to use nuclear missiles on Western Europe. This event was important because it could have led to the use of nuclear missiles. -
Sputnik Launch
The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite. This event was important because the US feared that the Soviet Union would be able to attack the US from space. This event led to the beginning of the space race. -
Bay of Pigs
CIA planned to send commandos (former Cuban exiles) into Cuba this event was important because it lead Cuba into being wary of future attacks from the US. -
First picture of Cuban missile launch site
A US sureveillance aircraft photographed construction of missile launching sites. The discovery led to fear that Cuba and or the Soviet Union would start a nuclear was with the US. -
Kennedy announces quarantine of Cuba
Kennedy makes an announcement that he is quarantining Cuba in order to prevent the Soviet Union from providing more missiles. This was important since it showed that the US was actively preventing weapons from reaching Cuba. Quarantining Cuba could have led to a war if the Soviet Union had attempted to get through the quarantine. -
Nucleat Test-Ban Treaty
The treaty banned the testing of nuclear missiles in space, underwater, or in the atmosphere. The treaty was a way to begin to control the creation of nuclear missiles. -
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative was intended to create a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks. There was fear that the system violated anti-ballistic missile from the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty. Due to political pressure and underfunding the system was eventually abandoned. -
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
One of the nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded. The explosion released more than 100 times the radiation than the bomns at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The explosion demonstrated the dangers of using nuclear power, -
The Fall of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union dissolved. The Eastern European countries that were under the rule of the Soviet Union left the Soviet Union. Gorbachev resigned after the Soviet Union was dissolved.
