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Soviets Create & Test Nuclear Bomb
The Soviet Union created a Soviet Atomic Program in February 1943 in an attempt to create a nuclear bomb in the arms race with the United States. The program was led by a nuclear physicist known as Igor Kurchatov and a political director referred to as Lavrentiy Beria. This program was very small compared to the Manhattan Project in the United States. They were also very behind compared to the United States. (Rest of information on Part 2) -
Soviets Create and Test Nuclear Bomb Part 2
On December 25, 1946, the Soviets were finally able to created their first chain reaction in a graphite structure. With some difficulty, the nuclear bomb would be finally created two agonizing years later. The Soviets were successfully able to test their first nuclear bomb, named RDS-1 on August 29, 1949. https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/soviet-atomic-program-1946 -
United States and the Hydrogen Bomb
After the Soviet Union slowly catching up to the United States in the arms race, the United States planned to do something big. They wanted to create an explosive that was larger than any nuclear weapon that was created. This thermonuclear bomb would take the arms race to the next level. The hydrogen bomb, also referred to as H-Bomb, was created by Edward Teller, a physicist. This H-Bomb could have covered 12 times more destruction compared to the bomb unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. -
United States and the Hydrogen Bomb Part 2
The H-Bomb explosion would cover a 60 mile radius with destruction, compared to the Hiroshima bomb only covering a 5 mile radius. Links: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-tests-first-hydrogen-bomb
https://sciencing.com/effects-hydrogen-bomb-5399698.html -
Fidel Overthrows Cuban Dictator
Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in the Cuban Revolution, finally on January 1, 1959. Though Fidel happened to be a young lawyer and and activist at the time, he was able to overthrow Batista. Originally Fidel had petitioned to overthrow Batista, who accused of corruption and tyranny. Unfortunately, Castro's constitutional arguments were rejected. That is when Fidel took matters into his own hands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Revolution -
The Bay Of Pigs
Fulgencio Batista was the Cuban dictator before he as overthrown by Fiedel Castro in 1961. The United States was concerned with Castro's relationship with Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union through the Cold War. A plan to train Cuban exiles to invade their homeland was first developed by the Central Intelligence Agency, also referred to as the CIA, during Eisenhower's presidency.
The goal of following through with this plan was to overthrow Fiedel Castro and get rid of communism. -
The Bay of Pigs Part 2
Getting rid of the communist-government in Cuba would allow containment in communism and Cuba could become allies to the United States. On the day of the invasion, the Cuban exile force were immediately under heavy fire from Castro's forces. With the bad weather that day, much of the exile's ammunition and weaponry were soggy and hard to use. In the end, roughly 1,200 exiles surrendered and over 100 were killed. (https://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/The-Bay-of-Pigs.aspx) -
Collapse of Soviet Union
In December of 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed into 15 individual countries. Democracy had finally contained most of communism. Many events led to the economic decline in the Soviet Union that required it to reform. Because there were many non-Russian ethnic groups, much of the influence that communism once played on many of the individuals in the Soviet Union was now gone. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union Part 2
When Mikhail Gorbachev came into power by 1985, he created a stance that allowed many citizens to think their own beliefs on a government system. He gave people freedom of expression that led to them fighting for democracy and civil rights. http://www.coldwar.org/articles/90s/fall_of_the_soviet_union.asp
