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In May 1945 the war ends in Europe and much of Germany suffered great damage and had no functioning government. In the summer of 1945 at the Potsdam Conference, American and British leaders argued over Eastern Europe.
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Between 1945 and 1946 Allied military courts tried over two hundred Nazi members and military officials in the Nuremberg Trials held in Nuremberg, Germany.
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Many were sentenced to death for their roles in the Holocaust and other war crimes.
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In early 1947 Soviet-backed Communists were threatening the governments of Greece and Turkey. President Truman then announced what became known as the Truman Doctrine which pledged to provide economic and military aid to oppose the spread of Communism.
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In mid-1947, the U.S. launched a massive program of economic aid known as the Marshall Plan, which provided $13 billion to help in the rebuilding of Europe.
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In June 1948, the Soviets blocked all routes into West Berlin its residents were unable to import food, coal, and other supplies. Western leaders organized the Berlin airlift, a massive effort to supply Berlin by air.
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In May 1949 because of the success of the Berlin airlift the Soviets called off the blockade. Days after the success of the Berlin airlift, the United States, Canada, and most Western European countries joined together in a military alliance, designed to counter Soviet power, known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.
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On May 1949, the Soviet Union finally stopped the blockade of Berlin after how successful the Berlin airlift was.
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After Japan's surrender in WWII, the Soviet Union and the U.S. agreed to temporarily divide Korea in half. The Soviets established a Communist government in the northern half and the U.S. supported a non-communist regime. In June 1950, the North Koreans attacked South Korea in an attempt to unite the country under a Communist rule.
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In 1951, the war was settled into stalemate and in 1953 both sides agreed to an armistice.
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in 1960 the Soviet Union shot down a U.S. U-2 reconnaissance plane and called the flight an aggressive act.
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The CIA launched a full-scale invasion on Cuba, there was 1,400 American-trained Cubans who had fled their homes when Castro took over. However, the invasion did not go well, the invaders were badly outnumbered by Castro’s troops, and they surrendered after less than 24 hours of fighting.
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On 1962 a U-2 spy plane flying over Cuba discovered nuclear missile sites under construction. Eight days later, Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and all U.S. military forces to DEFCON 3. DEFCON 3 is an increased readiness in force greater than that required for normal readiness.
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Soviets invade Afghanistan and had thousands of troops and immediately assumed complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country.
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By 1988, the Soviets decided to pull itself from the situation. Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev saw the Afghan intervention as an increasing drain on the Soviet economy, and the Russian people were tired of a war that many Westerners referred to as “Russia’s Vietnam.”
