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Russian Revolution
Mar 8, 1917 – Nov 7, 1917 In 1917 Russia rose up against its government in a civil war. America gave aid to Russia's enemy which drove the country to communism. This communist revolt was led by Lenin and the Bolsheviks. -
The Iron Curtain
1945-1991 - The Iron Curtain, named by Winston Churchill in a famous speech, was a virtual wall dividing East Europe from West Europe. The Soviets made this wall to keep their affairs from Non-Soviet countries. -
Potsdam Conference
Jul 17, 1945 – Aug 2, 1945 During the Potsdam Conference of 1945 President Truman and Winston Churchill demanded peace, freedom, democracy and equal rights for all people. Joseph Stalin wanted to spread communism to spread all over Europe. The conference was set up to talk about what would happen to Europe after WW2. -
Atomic Bomb Nagasaki & Hiroshima
Aug 6, 1945 – Aug 9, 1945 In 1945 America dropped the first atomic bomb ever on Japan, and three days later dropped a second one. This scared many countries such as Russia that did not have such powerful bombs. -
Truman Docterine
The Truman Doctrine proposed by President Truman was an American Foreign Policy to prevent the spread of communism. The Truman Doctrine provided political, military, and economic assistance to countries threatened by communism. -
Molotov Plan
In response to the Marshall Plan the Soviets created the Molotov Plan which was a system used to provide Eastern European countries that would politically and economically help the Soviet Union. -
Hollywood Ten
The Hollywood Ten were 10 actors, directors, and screenwriters accused of putting communist influence into movies. These 10 individuals all received jail time and were banned from working for any major Hollywood studios after going in front of congress and refusing to answer any questions congress had. Their defiant stands placed them at center stage in a national debate over the controversial anti-communist crackdown in America during the 50s and 60s. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was started by the United States to give aid to Western Europe in order to rebuild it after WW2. The US lent over $13 billion dollars in economic aid to Western European to help them rebuild. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was the first conflict of the Cold War. The Soviet Union tried to stop France, Great Britain and the US from traveling to each other. This left the people of West Berlin with no supplies and food eventually resulting in the Berlin Airlift. -
Berlin Airlift
After the Soviet Union put up the Berlin Blockade that shut out West Berlin from the rest of the world the US needed to help. For almost a year the United States ran an airlift over West berlin dropping food, water, and medicine to nearly 2 million citizens. -
Alger Hiss Case
The Alger Hiss case was a controversial case during the Cold War over spying. Alger Hiss was an American government official who was accused of spying for the Soviet Union. He was accused of treason and pleaded not guilty but was eventually convicted of perjury. Hiss was sentenced to 5 years in prison but his case showed how much America feared communism. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, was started in order to provide security against the Soviet Union. NATO was the first peacetime military alliance between the United States, Canada, and other Western European nations. -
Soviet Bomb Test
In August of 1949 the Soviet Union exploded its first Atomic Bomb. A US spy plane caught signs of nuclear radioactivity and was scared because it was thought the Soviets weren't close to nuclear warfare. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North Korea, aided by China and Soviet Union, and South Korea aided by the United States. The war started with fighting along the border between the two countries. The United States aided South Korea in order to stop North Korea from running all of Korea and the in order to stop the spread of communism. -
Rosenberg Trial
The Rosenberg's were a husband and wife convicted of "Conspiracy to commit espionage" during the Cold War. They were accused of selling the secret to the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union but there was no evidence that they had done so. After a three year trial the Rosenberg's were sentenced to death. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The decisive battle during the Indochina War between the French and Viet Minh for control of the Vietnamese border near Laos. The Viet Minh victory in this battle ended the eight-year-old war. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
The Army-McCarthy Hearings was one was the first hearings to be televised and was viewed on most Americans TV's. McCarthy was a Wisconsin Senator at the time who was extremely afraid was communism. He was accused of making public accusations of treason and disloyalty and when it was televised it popularity with American citizens vanished. -
Geneva Conference
Apr 26, 1954 – Jul 21, 1954.
The Geneva Conference was a meeting between the powerful nations in Geneva Switzerland. The conference was set to settle issuing from the Korean and Indochina War. Because of the Geneva Conference the French agreed to withdraw their troops from Vietnam. -
Warsaw Pact
In answer to NATO, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union started the Warsaw Pact which was a communist pacted. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution was a Hungarian uprising after a Soviet speech by Joseph Stalin. Encouraged by freedom Hungry civilians rioted for a revolution. In 1956 the first phase of the revolution was won and a multi party government was formed. -
U2 Incident
During the cold war an American U2 spy plane was shot down in Soviet air and the pilot was captured. With the Soviets possessing evidence of American espionage, President Eisenhower was forced to admit that the CIA had been conducting spy missions. The Soviets convicted the American pilot on espionage and sentenced him to 10 years in a Soviet prison but was released 2 years later in exchange for a captured Soviet. This marked the first ever America and Soviet spy swap. -
Bay of Pigs
An American aided uprising started to overthrow Cuba's leader Fidel Castro. America trained and armed 1,400 Cuban's who had fled to America after Castro took power. However, the refugees were badly outnumbered and surrendered within 24 hours. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a concrete barrier that divided West Berlin from East Germany and East Berlin. It was constructed by the German Democratic Republic. The wall had guard towers and anti-vehicle trenches to keep anyone and everyone from entering or leaving West Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was an intense 13 day political and military standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviet's intended on installing nuclear silos in Cuba, 90 miles from the U.S. President Kennedy notified Americans of this threat and said that he was prepared to use military force to contain the situation. Fortunately the U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba and removes its nukes from turkey in exchange for the removal of the nukes in Cuba and the situation was resolved -
Assassination of Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem was the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam war. Diem was hated by his people because of his dictatorial rule and suppression. He was over thrown but the South Vietnamese army and assassinated with the help of the American Government. The assassination of Diem marked the United States greater involvement in the Vietnam War as it attempted to stabilize the South Vietnam government after the assassination. -
Assassination of JFK
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 while in Dallas, Texas while campaigning for re-election. JFK was shot by former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. JFK's death brought great sorrow to American citizens and raised questions for generations to come about America's involvement in Vietnam and the Cold War. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution an act approved by Congress giving President Johnson nearly unlimited power to oppose communist powers. The Tonkin Gulf resolution eventually led to the full fledged war in Vietnam where thousands of US troops died. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
The codename for the US bombing campaign against Vietnam The U.S. targeted North Vietnam from March 1965 to October 1968. The bombings were intended to put military pressure on North Vietnam communist leaders to weaken them. Operation Rolling Thunder marked the first American assault on North Vietnam. -
Tet Offensive
A series of attacks done by the North Vietnamese on cities and outposts in South Vietnam. This offensive was an attempt to rebel against the South and to encourage the US to pull out from the Vietnam War. The US and South Vietnam held off the attacks but news coverage of the events shocked American citizens.The Tet Offensive marked a turning point in the war. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights leader who fought against segregation and demanded civil rights for African American citizens. He was killed on April 4th, 1968 while in Memphis, Tennessee supporting workers rights. He was killed by James Earl who was arrested and sent to prison. The death of MLK started riots all across the country and that led to the passing of the Fair Housing Act. President Johnson passed the bill calling it "a fitting legacy to King and his life's work." -
Assassination of RFK
John F. Kennedy's brother, Robert F. Kennedy was a Presidential candidate in the 1968 election. While touring the country campaigning for his election he was shot in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. RFK was later pronounced died at the hospital at the age of 42. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
During the Cold War the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia which was started by the Warsaw Pact. The Warsaw Pact was an alliance between the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany and more. 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops took over Czechoslovakia to stop reformist trends killing and wounding hundreds of people. -
Riots of Democratic convention
In 1968 thousands of Vietnam War protesters rioted against the police and the government in Chicago. As these protesters riot the government seems to fall apart as questions are asked about the Vietnam war and American citizens view on the Cold War shift greatly. -
Election of Nixon
The election of President Richard Nixon took place during the 1968 elections. In 1968 America had suffered greatly from the assassination of MLK and the riots it brought as well as the assassination of Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy. Nixon promised to bring back law and order and new leadership during the Vietnam War helping him win the election. -
Kent State
During a Vietnam War protest at Kent State University officers of the Ohio National Guard shot rounds into the crowd of protesters. 4 students were killed and 9 more were injured. The shootings resulted in a student led strike temporarily closing colleges across the country. This event also shed light on the controversy of the Vietnam War. -
Nixon visits China
On February 2nd, 1972 President Nixon became the first US President to visit China since it's establishment in 1949 greatly surprising American citizens. This was a very important event because the Vietnam War was disliked by American citizens and this showed the US was seeking a relationship with a communist country. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
In 1973 President Nixon issued a ceasefire of the bombings of North Vietnam when one of his advisors came back from France with a peace proposal. Unfortunately North and South Vietnam continued to retaliate against each other and as a result 25,000 South Vietnamese troops were killed. -
Fall of Saigon
The City of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, was South Vietnam's capital during the Vietnam war. In 1975 North Vietnam laid siege on Saigon eventually capturing the city and naming it after there communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Because President Nixon had pulled most of America's military from Vietnam South Vietnam was not equipped to defend themselves. This take over finalized the end of the Vietnam War. -
Reagan elected
In 1981 American politician and former actor Ronald Reagan was elected as the 40th president of the United States. Reagan was born in Illinois to a poor family but became successful early. He started as a Hollywood actor in the 20's and than moved into politics serving as the Governor of California at one point. Reagan is credited as bringing the Cold War to an end. -
SDI announced
SDI, more popularly known as "Star Wars," was a missile defense system proposed during the Cold War to stop the Soviet Union from nuking America. The technology for the defense system was impossible but with all the money President Reagan had been putting into the military the Soviets speculated it could be real. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
The Geneva Conference with Gorbachev was a meeting between the Soviet Union Leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Reagan. The meeting didn't result in agreements but it did result in a bond between the two leaders. This surprised Americans because President Reagan was so against communism. -
‘Tear down this wall’ speech
During a speech made by President Reagan in 1987 he called for the Soviet Union to tear down the Berlin wall which divided West and East Berlin. Reagan's advisors urged him not to make the speech but he did it anyways ultimately resulting in the fall of the Berlin Wall. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
At the end of the Cold War, after an infamous speech by President Reagan, the Berlin Wall fell. The Berlin Wall had separated East and West Berlin for 28 years. When the wall was finally taken down more than 2 million people from East Berlin visited the West to celebrate in the biggest street party in the history of the world.
