Cold War. Called the Cold War since the Soviet Union and the U.S. didn't officially declare war on each other.
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Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War started when Greek communists tried to gain control to Greece, only to fail. Two principal Greek Guerilla forces had resisted German occupation, EAM-ELAS and EDES. In the end, the Civil War left behind a lingering feeling of bitterness between different parts of the Greek population. -
Postwar Occupation and Division of Germany
At the Potsdam Conference after Germany's defeat, Germany was divided 4 ways between the Allies. France received the southwest region of Germany, Britain received the northwest, the U.S. gained the southeast, and the Soviet Union received the northeast region. The purpose of dividing Germany was to make sure Germany couldn't gain power and threaten European affairs again. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese Communist Revolution was marked by social and political revolution that began from the formation of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People's Republic of China. The goal of the revolution was to preserve communism by dismantling capitalism. -
Enactment of the Marshall Plan
After the devastating effects of World War II on Europe, president Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan was a program to provide financial aid to Europe. The financial aid was used to back up projects to rebuild cities and infrastructure. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
The Belin blockade was the Soviet Union's attempt to limit the U.S., Britain, and France to travel to their areas in Berlin. The Soviet Union blocked off all rail, road, and canal access to the western parts of Berlin. As a result, civilians were left without food and medical supplies. The Allies retaliated by dropping off supplies by air and thus delivering much needed supplies to civilians. -
The Korean War
The Korean War began when 75,000 North Korean soldiers travelled across the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. The invasion of South Korea was the first military action of the Cold War. The Korean War ended in July 1953. The total number of soldier and civilian casualties totals to around 5 million. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed uprising led by Fidel Castro that intended to destroy the dictatorship led by Fulgencio Batista, which succeeded. Fidel Castro led a raid against Moncada army barracks on July 26, 1953. Due to the success of the Cuban Revolution, Batista was forced to flee. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was an ongoing conflict between communist North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam, with the U.S. as an ally. North Vietnam wanted the unification of Vietnam under a communist regime. Due to overwhelming costs and number of casualties, U.S. combat units withdrew by 1973. South Vietnam fell to a full-scale invasion by the North in1975. -
Hungarian Uprising
The Hungarian Uprising was an uprising following a speech by Nikita Khrushchev in which he denounced the period of Stalin's rule. Fueled by debate and unrest, active fighting broke out in Hungary in 1956. On November 4th, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary in order to stop the fighting. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The goal of the Bay of Pigs Invasion was to push Fidel Castro out of power. Wanting to remove Castro from power, the CIA launched a full scale invasion by 1,400 American-trained Cubans. The attack was a failure as the 1,400 Cubans were greatly outnumbered and surrendered after less than 24 hours of fighting. -
Building the Berlin Wall
Efforts to build the Berlin Wall stemmed from a goal to keep Western "fascists" out of Eastern Germany. In two weeks from Premier Khrushchev giving the Eastern German government permission to close the border, a barded wire and concrete wall was built. On November 9, 1989, the spokesman for Eastern Berlin's Communist Party gave citizens to cross the border and the wall was broken down after. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day political and military standoff that was the result of the discovery of missiles being implemented in Cuba. John F. Kennedy made the decision to enact a naval blockade on Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis ended with the Soviet Union pulling missiles out of Cuba and the U.S. pulling missiles out of Turkey. -
Rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization
The PLO was formed in 1964 to centralize the leadership of various Palestinian groups. The PLO came into prominence after the Six-Day War of June 1967. After June 1967, the PLO began to be widely recognized as the representative of Palestinians and started to promote a Palestinian agenda. -
Prague Spring
Prague Spring was a period of liberalization in Czechoslovakia under Alexander Dubcek. On August 20th, 1968, the Soviet Union launched an invasion of Czechoslovakia by 600,000 Warsaw Pact troops. Dubcek's reforms were repealed and he was replaced with Gustav Husak, who re-established an authoritarian Communist regime. -
Solidarity Movement in Poland
Solidarity was a Polish trade union that became the first independent labor union located in a country belonging to the Soviet Bloc. Solidarity was suppressed in 1981 and remerged in 1989. Solidarity formed a coalition government with Poland's United Worker's Party. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
During 1989, among university students and other residents, there was a growing sentiment for political reforms. Following the death of Hu, a martyr for political liberation, in April, thousands of students gathered to protest in Tiananmen Square. On the night of June 4, military powers opened fire and crushed protestors. Following the end of the massacre, the Chinese government has since attempted to suppress references to it. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
On the night of November 9th, the spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party gave citizens permission to cross the border. People began to chip away at the wall and bulldozers began to break down sections of the wall. The reunification of East and West Berlin was made official on October 3, 1990. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
In early December 1991, Yeltsin and the leaders of Ukraine and Belarus met in Brest to form the Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 26th, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union and left Boris Yeltsin as president of the new Russian state. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a main goal of the Bush administration was economic and security stability for Russia. -
Formation of the Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc was formed with the initial intention of fighting Nazi Germany. The members of the Eastern Bloc consisted of the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Albania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. These countries that were part of the Eastern Bloc had signed the Warsaw Pact with Russia. A prominent cause of the Eastern Bloc dissolving out was Gorbachev implementing democratization and economic restructuring. -
9/11 Attacks
On September 11th, 2001, 19 members of Al Qaeda hijacked 4 commercial airplanes, travelling to different targets in a suicide attack. Of the 4 planes, 2 were flown into the twin towers at the World Trade Center, one was flown into the Pentagon, and one crashed into a field at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The 9/11 attacks triggered major initiatives to combat terrorism and increase national security.