Cold War - The Cold War is called the "Cold War" because there was no large scale fighting and neither side ever declared war on the other
By JustinHovan
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Postwar Occupation and Division of Germany
Berlin is split in twain. The western portion is controlled by a combination of Britain, France and the USA and follows western ideals. The east of Berlin is controlled by the Soviet Union that is tyrannical and communistic -
Greek Civil War
Happened in two distinct parts, we care about the second. Greek communists attempted to overthrow the Kingdom of Greece in order to establish communist/Soviet power. The revolution failed and the Kingdom remained in power, with no communism to be seen. -
Enactment of Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan is an "Economic Recovery Act," But not for America. The Marshall Plan was a grounds for America to help (mostly western) Europe recover from the economic impacts of the war. As a result, European economy would see a resurgence and recovery. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
The Berlin Blockade marks the first major conflict in the Cold War. The Soviet Union blocked all access routes from the west into Berlin, so that the Western nations cannot provide aid. Given these circumstances, the west takes to the skies, airdropping supplies into Berlin from Planes. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
Mao Zedong declares the creation of the "People's Republic of China" ending the civil war in China. While the fighting was over, there was still disparity between the nations. America largely wants to stay out of Chinese Communist affairs. -
Korean War
North Korea invades South Korea, starting a war between the two. America gets involved on the assumption that the Soviets ordered the invasion. Would end in a demilitarized zone between the north and south -
Cuban Revolution
Armed revolt against Cuban leader. Led by Fidel Castro fighting against dictatorship. As all good revolutions do, it would just replace one dictator with another -
Overthrow of the Guatemalan Government
The CIA decided they needed to get involved with the Guatemalan Government. They removed someone who was elected from power. This stopped some rebellion that was going on, ending a horrible civil war. -
Formation of the Eastern Bloc
wanting to grow, the Soviet Union started annexing countries. These countries were members of the Warsaw Pact. Much like Germany at the beginning of WWII, the world thought that the land claims would stop on their own once the leaders were satisfied. -
Vietnam War
A war officially only fought between the north and south Vietnamese people. America got involved to prevent the spread of communism. Despite America's countless atrocities in Vietnam, it was still a huge loss for America -
Hungarian Uprising
The Soviets were in charge of Hungary and unsurprisingly, people weren't super happy about it. The Hungarians revolted in mass against the Soviet policies. The Soviets did what they do best, march the red army into cities and squash protests. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Under Kennedy, the American government would attempt to support a Cuban resistance to Castro's Rebellion. The idea was to force Fidel Castro away from power and prevent him from bringing communism to Cuba. Ultimately, the Cubans would be either killed or imprisoned, where the American government had to negotiate for their lives. -
Building the Berlin Wall
The communist East side of Berlin starts to create a wall of concrete and barbed wire. The public idea for the soviets to "keep fascists out of East Berlin," but it was also largely to prevent people from East Berlin from fleeing to the democratic West. The Berlin Wall would later become quite possibly the most defining symbol of the cold war, many declaring that the Cold War only ended with the collapse of the Berlin Wall. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
With Fidel Castro in power, the Soviets begin putting ballistic missiles in Cuba, while denying that they would even consider it. U.S. sets up a blockade around Cuba, denying the entrance of mainly Soviet ships specifically. Soviet ships approach the blockade, that has orders to sink them if they cross, but the ships turn around and the Soviets agree to take the missiles out of Cuba if the U.S. takes theirs out of Turkey. -
Prague Spring
Alexander Dubček would become the first secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party. Dubček would basically try to repair things after the Stalin era. It was a regrowth period based on rehabilitation, liberation, and democratization. However, this made the Soviets mad, so they marched in with their army, removed Dubček and reverted all his changes. -
Soviet War in Afghanistan
Some communist groups from the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Largely they were upset that the Afghans were democratic rather than communists and wanted to fix that. After nearly 10 years, the Soviets would begin to pull out. Due to its length and ultimate failure, the war is sometimes called the "Soviet Union's Vietnam War." -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Unsurprisingly, there is unrest in communist China. People get tired of it and want to try to make change, they begin protesting. The Chinese military would bring their full force upon the protesters, scattering or killing them before declaring martial law. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall would fall as people stormed to the wall, to appease the crowds, the Soviets started opening parts of the wall, which would lead to its end. The fall of the Berlin Wall signified the fall of the Soviet Union and the iron curtain. The end of the Berlin Wall is generally seen as the end of the Cold War. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
On 12/26/1991, the hammer and sickle flag would be lowered for the last time. Gorbachev would allow the Soviet Republics to declare their independence and gain sovereignty. The split would dramatically hinder the spread of communism as the new nations converted to Western ideals. -
9/11 Attacks
On September 11th, 2001, America would be faced with the worst act of terror in her history. Terrorists from Al-Qaeda would hijack multiple planes and attempt to or successfully fly the planes into major U.S. landmarks. This would effectively begin America's focus on the 'War on Terror.'
