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The Formation of the UN
Representatives from 50 nations met in San Francisco in July of 1945 to complete the Charter of the UN. This was an initiative created by the Allies after WWII that would pledge to use full resources against the Axis powers. On July 28, 1945 the Senate approved the UN Charter and it came into existence on October 24, 1945 after 29 nations had ratified the Charter. -
Truman Doctrine
The principle that the US should give support to countries or peoples threatened by Soviet forces or Communist uprising. First expressed in 1947 by US President Truman in a speech to Congress seeking aid for Greece and Turkey, the doctrine was seen by the Communists as an open declaration of the Cold War. -
The Marshall Plan
This was a US sponsored program designed to rehabilitate the economies of 17 Western and Southern European countries in order to create stable conditions in which democratic institutions could survive in the aftermath of WWII. -
NATO Formed
NATO or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created by the US, Canada and several other Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. -
The Korean War
The Korean War was between North Korea with the Soviets and South Korea with the US. Korea was split into two the communist North and the capitalist South and the war was trying to see which- if any -style of government would rule the entirety of Korea. This ended up not working and the boundaries stayed the exact same. -
Sputnik and the Space Race
Sputnik was the first artificial satellite to successfully orbit Earth and it was launched by the USSR. The Space Race was the competition between mostly the US and the USSR to see who could be the first to get a satellite to successfully enter the Earth's gravitational pull and orbit it. Once that happened it turned into who could be the first to get to the moon. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed attack launched by the CIA during the Kennedy administration to push Cuban leader Fidel Castro from power. The people of Cuba strongly disliked him and the way he ran the country and he was not a good leader to them. This was the US' attempt to rid him of his power. -
Berlin Wall Goes Up
The Berlin Wall was created to seperate East Germany from West Germany. The Eastern part of Germany wanted to be communist while the West did not. Many people in the East escaped to the West because the West was much more prosperous and they were living a lot nicer than those in the East. -
U.S. enters the Vietnam War
The US enters the Vietnam War in an attempt to prevent the spread of communism. This war was once again over which type of government would rule the country and under the Kennedy administration the US aided anti-communist war efforts around the world. -
Hollywood 10
The Hollywood Ten were 10 motion-picture producers, directors and screenwriters who appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee who were allegedly connected to the communist party and refused to answer questions regarding that. -
Soviets invade Afghanistan
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty. They provided military assistance after a communist revolution that was unpopular and threatening to the people in Afghanistan. -
Berlin Wall Falls
Five days prior to the Wall being destroyed, half a million people gathered in East Berlin to protest the wall. After being unsuccessful to calm the protests the Berlin Wall was finally torn down.