-
Cold War
The Cold war was a time of tension between the two superpowers of the world: America and Russia. America was lead by John F. Kennedy, and Russia, or The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, or just the Soviet Union, was lead by Nikita Khrushchev. The war ended in an armistace, or a tie, and was the closest we've ever been to a nuclear war. -
The Truman Doctrine
Truman made a policy of containment. This tried to keep communism in China and Russia. The Truman Doctrine was whe n Truman encouraged nations to resist communism. In the same year as this, Harvord graduate and Security of State George C. Marshall set up a plan to rebuild Europe after WWII. Truman admired his passion for helping those in need. Not long after this, Truman signed to become part of the United Nations, an organization to try to keep wars from happening. -
NATO
Short for North Atlantic Treaty Organizations, NATO was made to resopnd to the Soviets. US and many other countries signed a treaty of peace and swore to eliminate the Soviet Threat. If Soviets attacked one country, NATO would help it. If Russia attacks one nation, they are attacking all of NATO -
The Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was when the Soviet Union tried to keep France, Britain, and the United States from traveling to their sectors of Berlin that they gained after WWII. This failed because the western powers initiated an air drop to give the people of Berlin food and supplies. Soon folowing this was the building of the Berlin Wall, a huge concrete wall with barbed wire and armed guards. The west side was free, and the east side was communist. Ronald Reagan celebrated the fall of the wall in -
Korean War 2
The military hero, Douglas McCarther, was sent in to be the general of the whole UN army. He was the leader of may key invasions, like the Inchon Invasion, which pushed back the North far enough to make a perimeter, helping the South out a lot. -
Korean War
On June 25th, 1950, 75,000 North Korean soilders crossed the 38th parrallel, the boundry between North and South Korea. Close to this was the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ. This was where there was to be no military by either side. By July, America entered the war to help South Korea. The Russians were helping the North, giving them far greater military power than South Korea and America combined. It finally came to an end in 1953, with 5 million estimated lives lost. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Alliance, or the Warsaw Pact, was a treaty of military alliance made by Russia and signed by several Eastern European nations. The treaty was signed in Warsaw, Poland giving it the name Warsaw Pact. Soon after this, a new Russian premier from 1958- 1964, Nikita Khrushchev
leading Russia at the height of the Cold War. -
Vietnam War Begins
The Vietnam War was when the communist North Vietnam and it's allies, the Viet Cong, and it's leader, Ho Chi Minh
, fought the non-communist South Vietnam and The United States. The was was quite unpopular in America, but got gradually more popular when America and SV started to face troubles. The war ended with American troops being pulled out in 1973 and Vietnam turning communist two years later. 3 million people, including 58,000 Americans, were killed. -
Cuba
After Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, both very fmaous communist leaders in Cuba succesfully took over Cuba and made it communist, the CIA started planning about how to take them out. After two years of planning, the CIA launched a full out invasion on the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. This failed miserably because of mis-communications and terrible stelth. The planes arrived an hour early, and the invasion place was set at a public park, giving he Cubans plenty of time to get reinforcements and help. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The Cuban Missle Crisis was a dangerous time between the United States and Russia. Soon after Cuba turned communist, Russia placed nukes and ballistic missiles in Cuba. An American spy plane discovered the missles in Cuba. Kennedy already had missles set up, and he also made a blockade around Cuba so that if there was any military weapons on that ship, it would be turned around as an act of war. The crisis finally ended when the two presidents decided they had enough. -
Vietnam War 2
During the Vietnam War, the United States Congress passed the Gulf Of Tokin Resolution in response to the Gulf of Kong incidence. To get more troops into the war, US president Harry Truman set up a military draft to get more soilders into the war. Soon after this, Russia shocked the world with the launch of their first satelite. America, under JFK, established NASA, and the space race began. -
The Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was when the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong launched a series of feirce attacks on more than 100 cities in the South. This was an attempt to try to keep rebellion down in the South. America and South Vietanm held off for a while, but in the end, the North got a strategic victory. -
The Salt Agreement
As the Cold War comes to a close, US president Richard Nixon met Soviet president Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow to discuss how to end this war. It ended in the signing of the Stragetic Arms Limitation Talk, or SALT. This was the bigest attempt to controll nuclear warfare ever. During this time period, there was a time of Detente. This is French for "relese from tension". This was when America started to get along again with the Soviet Union. -
Fall of Communism 2
During this same time, US president Ronald Regan was forming a defense initiative known as Star Wars. This was made to keep other countries from keeping balistic missiles to attack other countries. -
Communism Collapses
After Mikhail S. Gorbachev launched his reolution, he started to make a democoracy in Russia. People started to vote for him, and things started to look good. But communist countries under Russia started revolting. Russia was still communist, but nations wwere turning away as fast as they joined. Soon, Gorbachev got thrown in prison, and every communist country turned to democoracy. He sadly announced that communism was no more and sadly retired. -
Senator Joseph McCarthy
In Ameerica during he 1950's, there was a fear of communists being inside the country right then. This fear was acknowledged by Republican Senator Joseph P. McCarthy. McCarthy spent almost five years trying to expose all the communists in America. This was later known as the Red Scare. Two of the people that he caught were a married couple named Jules & Ethel Rosenberg. They were comvicted of espionage to the communists. Their execution was on June 19, 1953. -
Glasnos
Glasnos, or "openness" in Russia, was when Mikhail S. Gorbachev launched a policy of new things. They introduced new economic practises. In less than 5 years, the revolution against communism swept communist governments throughout Europe from power.
