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Japan surremded on August 14, 1945. This brought the hostilities of World War II to an end.
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The Marshall plan was a nickname for the European Recovery Programme. This was set up because the economy of Europe had been ruined by the Second World War
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The Berlin Blockade was the first major international event of the Cold War. The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road and canal access to parts of Berlin that were under Ally control
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NATO is short for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This organization constitutes a system of safe collective defenses.
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The USSR's first attempt to make an atomic bomb was code named First Lightning. After the success of this this attempt the Soviet Union was the second nation to develop nuclear weapons
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The KGB was the Committee for State Security in Russia. It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and provided most of the internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time
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This was a mutual defense treaty that was formed between 8 communist states. This treaty was estabished under the initiative of the Soviet Union.
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Sputnik was a Soviet union artificial satellite. It was the first artificial satellite to be launched into earth's orbit.
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The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic. This wall cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin.
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The Cuban Misisile Crisis was a 13 day confrontation beween the USSR, Cuba and the US. The stategic placement of Cuba allowed the Soviets to effectively target almost the entire continental United States with nuclear weapons.
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The Tonkin incident was the USS Maddox was performing signal intelligence partol and engaged three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats. A sea battle resulted, which started the Vietnam war.
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The United States's Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon.
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SALT was short for The Strategic Arms Limitation. SALT froze the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers at existing levels
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SALT II was a continuation of SALT I. SALT II was many controversial experiment of negotiations between Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev.
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Ronald Reagan was eleced president in 1980. This was important because he ended up having part in ending the Cold War.
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This was a U.S. program that Reagan made. It was a space-based system to defend the nation from attack by strategic ballistic missiles.
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There was a treaty signed between United States of America and the Soviet Union. This treaty requires destruction of the Parties' ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.
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East German official Gunter Schabowski stated that thravel through the border to West Germany was open. This brought celebration to the Berlin wall because people felt more free.
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Soviet military commanders relinquished their control of Warsaw Pact forces. The pact's Political Consultative Committee met and formally ended the Warsaw Pact.
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This left all Soviet Union leaders to run their own states. The ending of the world's largest communist state also marked an end to the Cold War.
