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The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War has roots in Vietnam’s centuries of domination by imperial and colonial powers—first China, which ruled ancient Vietnam, and then France, which took control of Vietnam. In the late 1800s and established French Indochina. In the early 1900s, nationalist movements emerged in Vietnam, demanding more self-governance and less French influence. The most prominent of these was led by Communist leader Ho Chi Minh, who founded a militant nationalist organization called the Viet Minh. -
Berlin Wall
The wall was built and guarded by the Soviets. The Soviets made sure that the 7 communist federations of Eastern Europe adhere to all their commands at all times, the consequence of going their own way would have been and often was catastrophic for the little countries like East Germany & Hungary. -
Yalta Conference
The Big Three Churchill (Great Britain), President Roosevet (USA), & Stalin (Soviet) at the end of World War II agreed that Stalin would join the fight against Japan to end World War II along as the United States & Great Britain allowed the Soviet Union to control Eastern Europe after the War. The Soviet Union agreed to allow free elections in Eastern Europe. This would establish the division in Europe between the United States (Western Europe) & the Soviet Union (Eastern Europe) that would be -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman asked for $400 million in military and economic assistance for Greece and Turkey and established a doctrine, aptly characterized as the Truman Doctrine, that would guide U.S. diplomacy for the next 40 years -
Marshall Plan
A program financial aid and other initiatives. Marshall spoke at Harvard University and outlined what would become known as the Marshall Plan. Europe, still devastated by the war, had just survived one of the worst winters on record. -
NATO Pact
an organization formed in 1949 for the purpose of collective defense: originally comprising Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and later joined by Greece, Turkey, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. -
The nuclear Arms Race
The nuclear Arms Race was between the U.S and the S.U it was called the nuclear arms race B/C it was a race to build powerful nuclear weapons. Each side fired the weapons but never hit each other. They just wanted to show each other now powerful the nukes were. The United States produced a bomber the b52 that could fly 6,000 miles and deliver a nuclear war load. -
Bay of pigs invasion
In 1959, Fidel Castro came to power in an armed rebellion that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. The U.S. government distrusted Castro and was wary of his relationship with Nikita Khrushchev the leader of the Soviet Union. In reaction to this the United States organized an operation call the Bay of pigs invasion where the United States supplied and traded counter/revolutionary forces to over throw Castro -
Korean War
The Korean War was an example of the US policy of containment in action. The purpose of the policy was to "contain" communism where it existed and not let it spread over any other areas in the world. It was adopted by the Truman administration and continued in one form or another by later administrations. Vietnam was another example. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missle Crisis was the first major showdown of the cold war. While the Bay of Pigs Invasion was a major issue, it was more of a complete failure, not an international suspense... but it does play a major role in the missle crisis.
After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, JFK came away looking weak and defeated. We had just failed in training Cubans to overthrow Fidel Castro, and if we couldnt succeed there, we had no hope against the Russians. -
Berlin Airlift
supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin. -
Warsaw Pact
The general secretaries of the communist and workers' parties of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland, and Romania gathered in Warsaw to sign a protocol extending the effective term of the 1955 Treaty on Friendship
