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The Truman Doctrine
Earlier in the year in Feburary the British embassy informed the United States that they could no longer fund Turkey and Greece. Great Britain gave money to these two nations because their economy was at its lowest point ever due to World War II. They were given money to stray from the possible chance of joining the Soviet Union. -
The Marshall Plan
After World War II, Europe's economy was in horrible condition so the United States in fear that Commnism would spread to their allies began donating money to all of Europe. The United States goals were to rebuild a war-devastated region, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again (http://www.enotes.com) -
Creation of NATO cont..
protect themselves from the Soviet Union. In this treaty it states that if Soviet Union attacks one of these 12 nations, then it attacks all 12 of them leading into another possible world war. This treaty was set in place because with the Soviet's current pace of new technology they could quickly create a new weapon to pose as a threat to one nation but when combined with 11 others, each nation felt more safe. -
Creation of NATO
On this date 12 nations signed the National Atlantic Treaty Organization. Those 12 nations were the following; Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States (with Greece, Turkey and the Federal Republic of Germany joining afterward in 1952) (http://novaonline.nvcc.edu) These nations formed this agreement because they needed a defensive strategy to protect themselves from the Soviet Union. This agreement -
Soviets create and test Atomic Bomb
On this day the Soviet Union successfully created and tested their Atomic Bomb. Granted the United States already achieved this acomplishment, the United States thought that the Soviets would take 3-5 more years to make their Atomic Bomb. The only reason the Soviet Union jumped so far ahead technologically on this project was that a scientist gave crutial information to the Soviets. -
Korean War
The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea to expand their power and allied with China, spread communism. Soviet Russia supported China and North Korea and backed them up with its own military. The United States under Harry Truman along with the United Nations helped stop this war and help halt the spread of Communism. -
US creates and tests the Hydrogen Bomb
The United States tested this bomb as a way to gain an edge in the Nuclear Race with a Thermonuclear Weapon, the Hydrogen Bomb. Accordomg to J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb, this new weapon was approximately 1,000 times more powerful than conventional nuclear devices. (http://www.history.com) -
Creation of the Warsaw Pact
The creation of the Warsaw Pact happened all because the creation of NATO. The Soviet Union realized what just happened and several years later along with the following nations; Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania created the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet Union claims this is in direct response to West Germany being included into NATO. -
Vietnam War
The expansion of Communism was happening again in Asia and this time it was Vietnam that was trying to follow the Soviets Communistic ways. The United States viewed this as the first domino begining to fall in the Domino Theory. This theory is where one country falls to Communism, then the rest in Asia will soon fall also. The United Nations helped prevent this by invading Vietnam and soon 10 years later the United States put all its effort into stopping this theory. -
Rosenberg Spy Case
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were charged with conspiracy to commit espionage. Not only was espionage a horrible crime to do but the information that they helped give the Soviet Union was about the Atomic Bomb. It is believed that with this information the Soviet Union created their Atomic Bomb so fast nearly 3-5 years ahead of schedule. -
Bay of Pigs
Fidel Castro over threw General Fulgencio Batista with his gurilla army. This sudden change in leadership in Cuba posed as a threat to the United States so the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent in over 1,000 American trained Cubans to try to take over Fidel Castro. Castro's army outnumbered the American force and quickly surrendered. -
The Berlin Wall goes up
On this day Berlin was seperated into two different halves, the East and West side. These sides were not just seperated by the government, but by a physical wall. This was was nearly 15 feet high and covered with barbed wire. Added to this wall there were guard towers on top of the wall armed to the teeth and given orders to shoot people on sight if they tried to climb over the wall or help out one side. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The Cuban Missle Crisis is by far the closest the world has ever been to a nuclear war. This crisis happened when the Soviet Union realized on how behind they were for nuclear warfare compared to the United States. The Soviet Union's missles could only reach Europe whereas the United State's could reach all of the Soviet Union. Fidel Castro was still in power in Cuba so secretly the Soviet Union began building nuclear missles on Cuba with Castros permission because he felt that a second war -
Cuban Missle Crisis Continued...
was inevitable so as a way to take advantage he had the Soviet Union build their missles. The United States under President John F. Kennedy, told the Soviet Union if they do not remove themselves from Cuba and get their missles out of range that the United States would declare war against them. -
United States sends man to the moon
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the spaceship Sputnik into space, the United States didn't realize how behind they were in the space race. This realization caused the US to kick their technology into first gear and start to really improve. A little over 12 years after the launch of Sputnik, the United States sucessfuly put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin into space and onto the moon. On this day, the United States won the space race. -
German Reunification/Fall of Berlin Wall
Nearly 28 years after the Berlin Wall was built to split Berlin into two different halves, East and West, the wall came down. The people from East Germany brought down the wall through their courage and non-violent resistance. The wall was created by East Germany to contain its people from fleeing to the West where life was easier and free of the harsh law in the East. -
The collapse of the Soviet Union
The world watched as the Soviet Union diverged into 15 seperate countries. This in the eyes of the United Nations and especially in the United States was a huge day of relief and happiness. The United States has finally won the Cold War which lasted nearly 46 years. The United States could relax their military production now due to the threat of the Soviets being extinguished.
