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The Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was technically two revolutions, both taking place in 1917. The first started on March 8th of 1917 when uprisings against Czar Nicholas II started eventually leading to his abdication four days later and the formation of a nationalist government. The second revolution was started on November 6, 1917 by Vladimir Lenin of the Bolshevik Party. This revolution lead to the Russian Civil War, spanning six years, and to the formation of the Soviet Union a communist government. -
Potsdam Conference
On July 17th, 1945, President Truman, Winston Churchill and Stalin came together to discuss what was to become of Germany after World War II ended. They agreed to split Germany four ways between France, Britain, The U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union (Stalin) agreed not to turn their section of Germany into a communist government. An agreement later broken. -
Atomic Bomb - Hiroshima/Nagasaki
In the fight in the Pacific against Japan, who would not surrender, the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (August 6th, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9th, 1945). These atomic bombs had been developed in the U.S.'s secret Manhattan Project. After they dropped the bombs, Stalin was upset that President Truman didn't tell any other of the allies at the Potsdam Conference about the creation of these bombs causing more tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union. -
Iron Curtain
After World War II, the Soviet Union started occupying Eastern European countries and turning them into communist Soviet Union controlled. The Iron Curtain refers to the line between Soviet controlled countries and the free, non Soviet controlled countries. The termed Iron Curtain was coined by Winston Churchill in a speech he gave on March 5th, 1946 about the Soviet Union's aggressive need to occupy Eastern European countries. -
The Molotov Plan
This was the Soviet Union's plan to rebuild Soviet controlled Eastern Europe when they refused the Marshall Plan. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a foreign policy created by President Harry Truman to aid any democratic countries under threat from communism. -
The Hollywood 10
The Hollywood 10 were ten writers and directors from Hollywood who were convicted of refusing to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee on account that they were communists. This resulted in them not only getting some jail time but also getting blacklisted in Hollywood. They were just the beginning of people who would get blacklisted in the Red Scare. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was a plan created by the U.S. (specifically George C. Marshall) to help Western Europe rebuild itself by sending aid. The U.S. providing aid in the hope that these countries would not turn to communism. -
Berlin Blockade
During part of the Soviet Union's occupation of East Berlin they built a blockade to prevent anyone from going in or out. They even blocked the transportation of food and supplies to the citizens of Soviet Berlin. Luckily the U.S, thought of the Berlin Airlift. -
The Berlin Airlift
When the Soviet Union put up the Berlin Blockade, the people there were starving and running out of supplies. The U.S. didn't want to start a war so instead of trying to fight the Soviet Union, the U.S. sent planes over the wall with supplies for the people of Berlin. This continued until the blockade ended on May 12, 1949 with the help of other countries allied with the U.S. during the Cold War -
NATO
NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization and is an alliance between the U.S. and many European countries. It was created in the Cold War as a military alliance between countries against the aggressive expansion of the Soviet Union. -
Soviet Bomb Test
The U.S. had created the first atomic bomb during World War II and the Soviet Union was rushing to create their own so they could compete with our power during the Cold War. They ended up creating it way before we estimated they could. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger Hiss was a government employee who was convicted of being a communist and of steeling government secretes. In 1950 he was found guilty of espionage. -
The Korean War
After China fell into communist rule, Korea started to. Korea was divided into to halves by the 38th Parallel, communist North and democratic South. We were afraid communism would spread further and so we sent troops to aid South Korea while the Soviet Union back North Korea. Korea still remains split by the 38th Parallel. -
The Rosenberg Trial
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg who were convicted and found guilty of leaking bomb plans along with other military weapon secrets to the Soviet Union. They were given the death sentence and were executed on June 19th, 1953. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was a battle between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries. This marked the beginning of the struggle for the Viet Minh's independence from France and the beginning of the Vietnam War. -
Army - McCarthy Hearings
Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy gained political influence by using the fear of communists on his infamous communist witch hunt. When he started turning his accusations towards the Army's security, they countered by holding a series of televised hearings accusing McCarthy of using improper influence to gain political favor with David Schine. Although McCarthy was acquitted he lost his popularity and his political career was soon over. -
Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference was a conference among several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland. It was intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the Vietnam -
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw was a pact between Soviet controlled countries and allies in response to the creation of NATO and the U.S.'s tactics against the Soviet Unions expansion. -
The Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution was an uprising started by students against the Hungarian People's Republic which was heavily under Soviet influence. The uprising lasted less than a month resulting in the Soviet Union taking complete control of Hungary and squashing any political uprisings. -
U-2 Incident
A U.S. U-2 spy plane taking routine aerial pictures over the Soviet Union was shot down and they discovered it's purpose. It was an embarrassment to the U.S. and worsened our relation to the Soviet Union. -
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
When Fidel Castro took power of Cuba in 1959, the U.S. greatly distrusted him because his known ties to with Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union. So the U.S. planned on over invading Cuba and overthrowing Castro using Cuban exiles. The plan failed though as we were greatly out numbered. The invasion resulted in Cuba growing stronger ties to the Soviet Union. -
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built by the Soviet Union to divide their part of Berlin from the rest. Soviet controlled Berlin was under communist rule while the rest of Berlin was becoming democratic, so it protected the Soviets side from the Western worlds ideologies. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Cold War the U.S. had missiles in Turkey and Greece - close to Russia. Obviously the the Soviets didn't like that so they set up missiles in Cuba which the U.S. was very concerned about. So for eleven days negotiations were made between the U.S, and Soviet Union which resulted in the dismantling of the Soviet's missiles in Cuba and the U.S.'s in Turkey with the promise not to invade Cuba again. -
Assassination of Diem
The Assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm was a coup coup d'éta of the South Vietnam president Diem organized by the U.S. government, specifically the CIA. Even though the U.S. backed South Vietnam because they weren't communist, Diem was a cruel president who wasn't well liked by the Vietnamese people. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated while riding in a motorcade parade in Texas while he was campaigning to be reelected. He was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald who was an ex marine and had previously lived in the Soviet Union for about three years. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
In August, 1964, two U.S. destroyers in Tonkin Gulf, Vietnam said they had been fired upon. So Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to maintain peace and security in Vietnam -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder took place for over a year. It was sustained bombing over Vietnam by the U.S. 2nd Air Division aimed at destroying North Vietnamese morale and destroying important things to their movement such as their bases and transportation -
Tet Offensive
The Vietnamese New Year, Tet, was a huge celebration and cause for cease fire on both sides. But in 1968, the Viet Cong and North Vietnam attacked South Vietnamese, U.S. and other allied troops in the first of many attacks over the course of nine months. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) went to Memphis, Tennessee to support sanitation workers on strike in early April, 1968. On the night of April 6th, King was shot in the neck from a sniper at his hotel and died. This sparked nation wide mourning and outrage. His killer James Earl Ray, was found guilty but later said the U.S. government was involved. James's conspiracy was supported by many members of the King family and is still speculated today. -
Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
After winning the California primaries, Robert F. Kennedy was shot while exiting through the hotel kitchen where the event was being held. He died the next day in the hospital. Sirhan Sirhan was found guilty and sentenced to death, although his sentence was later changed to life in prison. RFK's assassination put into action reforms within the Secret Service. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
Also known as Operation Danube, five Warsaw Pact allies (the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany and Poland) invaded Czechoslovakia because their government had decided to use democratic process which was against the communist Soviet Union. -
Riots of Democratic Convention
While the split democratic party was discussing Vietnam at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, 10,000 Vietnam protesters were gathering in Grant Park. They were met by the Police and the National Guard as they did not have permits to legally protest. Soon a protester lowered an American flag at the park and a police officer started striking him with a baton. This resulted in a battle between protesters and police that lasted all night. -
Election of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon got elected in 1968, a year of great upheaval with two assassinations, MLK and RFK, and the Vietnam War going strong. His predecessor, Lyndon B. Johnson, had won by a landslide four years previous but had decided not to run again after the stress of dealing with the conflict in Vietnam. -
Kent State
Opposition for the Vietnam War was strong, especially from college age students, it was not uncommon for there to be protests on college campuses. So when 29 Ohio National Guard members open fired at students protesting at Kent State University killing four students, it shocked the U.S.. It provoked a mass student strike with 4 million university, college and high school students boycotting school around the nation, some schools even joined by closing. -
Nixon Visits China
President Richard Nixon wanted to re-establish diplomacy with China, so he visited China for seven days. His visit to China ended 25 years of no communication and was a key step in the process of normalizing the U.S.'s relations with China -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
In 1973, President Richard Nixon called a ceasefire in Vietnam. And although he did that, both sides continued to seek retaliation towards one another. -
The Fall of Saigon
Saigon, the Capital of South Vietnam, was captured by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong signifying the end of the Vietnam War and the reunification of Vietnam under the Vietnamese Socialist Republic. As soon as the Northern Vietnamese troops invaded Saigon the U.S. evacuated it's troops and ambassadors. The Southern Vietnamese leaders were left to be captured by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. -
Reagan Elected
When Reagan was elected to Presidency in 1980, his policy on the Cold War was drastically different then Nixon's. Nixon tried a more diplomatic approach while Reagan decided to increase military spending and "destroy communism" -
SDI Announced
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was President Reagan's purposed missile protection system that was to be a collection of satellites that had lasers that could shoot missiles apart before they could reach the U.S.. Many thought the idea was crazy, calling it Star Wars, but it had a desired affect of scaring the Soviet Union with the potential of our technology. Something the Soviet's lacked funding for. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
The Geneva Summit held in 1985 between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. They were there to discuss weapon treaties and while none of that was successful, they created a personal relationship that proved valuable in ending the Cold War. -
Reagan's ‘Tear Down This Wall’ Speech
Against his advisers wishes, President Reagan went to West Berlin and made a speech asking Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Although the wall wasn't torn down for several years, Reagan's speech sparked revolution in Soviet controlled nations. People in East Berlin were finally able to leave for the first time in 40 years. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
As the Cold War began to defuse across Europe, East Berlin Officials announced that on midnight of November 9th, 1989 citizens of East Berlin were allowed to leave and go into West Berlin. At midnight, millions of people left East Berlin into West Berlin. Huge celebrations were thrown and people took pick axes and other tools and started destroying the Berlin Wall.
