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The United Nations is an international organization formed in 1945 after WW2 by 51 countries that are committed to international peace and security, developing a friendly relationship with other nations and promoting social progress, better living standards, and human rights. -
The Truman Doctrine was a United States foreign policy established by President Harry S. Truman. It was intended to prevent the spread of Communism in the aftermath of WW2 by providing support from the US to countries that were thought to be targets of influence by the Soviet Union. -
10 motion-picture producers, directors, and screenwriters who appeared before the Un-American Activities Committee, refused to answer questions about their possible communist affiliations and after spending time in jail were blacklisted from Hollywood. -
The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a program by the US that provided aid to the Western European countries after the devastation of WW2. It was crafted as a 4-year plan to reconstruct cities, industries, and infrastructure that was damaged during the war and to remove trade barriers between European neighbors- as well as foster commerce between those countries and the US. -
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an international organization that consists of the US, Canada, Britain, and other European countries that have agreed to support one another if they are attacked. Its purpose is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through military and political means. -
The Korean War was a war fought between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) from 1950 to 1953. After WW2, Japan had to surrender all of its colonies to the US and the Soviets after losing the war. The US and the Soviet Union then divided Korea along the 38th parallel splitting it into North and South Korea. North Korea invaded the South and was hoping to reunite the two nations as a single country under communism. -
The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite Sputnik 1. This starts the space race between the Soviet Union and the US. -
In 1954, the French would leave Vietnam and the country would be split into two North Vietnam (communism) and South Vietnam (capitalist). The US supported the Southern Vietnamese and in 1962 the Kennedy administration formed the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, which would give military aid to the South Vietnamese government. In March 1965, President Johnson ordered the US Marine battalions to defend the American airbase at Da Nang, Vietnam. -
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed attack launched by the CIA during the Kennedy administration to remove Cuban leader Fidel Castro from power. JFK was briefed on a plan by the CIA that was developed during the Eisenhower administration to train 1,400 Cuban exiles for an invasion of their homeland. This invasion failed because the exiles were met by 20,000 Cuban troops and the population did not support them and ended up capturing or killing them within days. -
The Berlin Wall was built by the German Democratic Republic during the Cold War to prevent its population from escaping the Soviet-controlled East Berlin to West Berlin, that was controlled by the Western Allies. It divided the city of Berlin into two physically and ideologically contrasting zones. -
Afghanistan was an important country because of its location as it borders China and Russia. The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan gained power through an internal coup in 1978 and its leader was pro-Soviet. A civil war soon broke out between fundamentalist Muslims against Amin's government (anti-Soviet). The Soviet Union then sent the Red Army to support the new pro-Soviet Afghan government. In 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan to try to prop up the communist government. -
On November 9, 1989, 5 days after half a million people gathered in East Berlin in a mass protest, the wall divided Berlin was torn down. This marked the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.