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Igor Gouzenko
Igor Gouzenko, a clerk working at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa defects and gives proof to the government about a Soviet spy ring operating in Canada, and also in other western countries. -
Communist party takes over in Czechoslovakia
Proof of the U.S.S.R's expansionism and expansionism of communism working -
Stalin closes off routes to Berlin
Joseph Stalin blocks off routes from west Germany into Berlin as an attempt to starve out the other countries that have a part of Germany. This heightened tensions because it was an act of aggression from the Soviet Union -
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Western powers air drop supplies into Berlin
The three Western powers, US, Britain and France all work together to drop in supplies to Berlin citizens by planes -
NATO is formed
Most Western and European countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to stop Communist expansion -
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Korean Conflict
The North and South Korea are fighting for land, The U.S.S.R. and China were supporting North Korea and The US and Britain were supporting the South -
Warsaw pact formed
A treaty pact formed between Soviet Russia and other eastern European countries. Some say it is is a pact to counteract NATO -
Sputnik launched into space
The Russian satellite Sputnik was launched into space and was a big step forward against America and gave them a big head start for the space race. -
Cuba becomes communist government
Once Fidel Castro took over Cuba he openly aligned himself with the Soviet Union and took over the communist ideology. This was another act against America due to Cuba only being about 80 miles away from the american border -
First Man in Space
Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut was the first human being to go to space. This gave The Soviet Union yet again another gain in the space race -
Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed invasion of Cuba done by the CIA as an attempt to overthrow the communist government run by Fidel Castro. -
Begin Building of Berlin Wall
This is when the Berlin wall began construction dividing west and east Berlin -
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Cuban Missle crisis
With the alignment of Cuba with the U.S.S.R. , Soviet Russia planted and built missiles and nuclear warheads in Cuba near America. This was what many people call the pinnacle of the Cold War. This is the closest both countries got one on one. -
Apollo 11
This was the first time anyone has successfully landed a human being on the moon, or any extraterrestrial body. This was a major turning point for both the space race and also for the cold war in general -
SALT 1 signed
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talk was a major part of the downfall of the U.S.S.R and the cold war all together. It was a treaty signed with both America and the U.S.S.R to limit the amount of missiles allowed per country. The fact that both countries willingly got together to sign this was a huge step towards the end -
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Soviet-Afghan War
In 1979 the Soviets invaded Afghanistan as an attempt to convert Afghanistan to communism or otherwise expand. But because of this America did not like this idea and funded Afghans to fight the Russians. -
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Eastern European Countries Become Independant
In this time period many countries split away from both the soviet union and the Warsaw Pact. some of these countries include, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Lithuania. This was a major part of the downfall of the Cold War and the U.S.S.R. -
Fall of Berlin wall
After the east German spokesperson said that they have changed relations with the west more than 2 million people from east Germany went over to west Germany to celebrate. A part of this celebration was literally taking down the wall with hammers and chisels. This is a point where the Soviet Union was almost at its end. every action around this time was a step away from communism and closer to liberalism -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Gorbachev was considered the leading cause of the downfall of the soviet union and communism. He is the leader who wanted to work with America and do what is really best for his people. He passed many laws that lead to liberalism, such as his major law for free speech. One of his political standpoints was "glasnost" (openness) this is why he did what he did, he believed that people need to be open to reach their full potential -
Cold War Ends
This is when many say the cold war officially ended. At this point all the countries in the Warsaw pact and in the U.S.S.R separated and became fully independent. This is also the point where Russia finally became a democratic country
