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Berlin Blockade and Airlift
During the Berlin Airlift, western countries delivered food and supplies to Berlin through the air because all other routes were blocked by the Soviet Union. The United States and Great Britain flew 277,000 flights into Berlin, carrying over 2.3 million tons of supplies. On May 12, 1949 the Soviet Union stopped the blockade, ending the airlift. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a war between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, supported by China and the Soviet Union. It began when the North Korean Communist army crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded non-Communist South Korea. The war ended in 1953 when a peace treaty was signed, returning Korea to a divided status. -
Space Race
The Space Race was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in spaceflight capability. This included events such as who could put the first manned spacecraft into orbit and who would be the first to walk on the Moon. The Space Race ended in a US-Soviet joint mission with the Apollo-Soyez project. -
U-2 Reconnaissance Plane
In 1960, a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down over the airspace of the Soviet Union. In order to cover it up, America claimed that the pilot fell unconscious while the plane was still in autopilot. It had been uncovered that America was lieing when Powers was revealed alive and had told his mission to the Soviets. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506. A counter-revolutionary military intended to overthrow the revolutionary left-wing government of Fidel Castro. The invading force was defeated within three days by Cuban armed forces. -
Reagan Visits the Wall
President Ronald Reagan issued for Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall. Reagan asked Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear it down as a symbol of Gorbachev's desire to increase freedom in the Eastern Bloc through an open policy. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and Cuba, and the United States. The US had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy, aimed at Moscow, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban regime. Soon, an idea would be proposed to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to prevent another invasion. -
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
The SALT were negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union that focused on reducing the manufacture of strategic missiles that carried nuclear weapons. Two documents were agreed upon: the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) and the Interim Agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. -
Soviets invade Afghanistan
Troops from the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in late December of 1979. The Afghan's centrist government was overthrown by left-wing military officers. This new government began extensive land and social reforms, and forged close ties with the Soviet Union. -
Reunited Germany
Germany became reunited when the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany to form the reunited nation of Germany. Also, the city of Berlin reunited into a single city.
