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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations. The purpose was to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. NATO was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered outside of the Western Hemisphere. -
The crisis started on June 24, 1948, when Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. So then the US and Britain flew food and supplies into West Berlin. This solidified the division of Germany. -
A conflict that began with North Korea's invasion of South Korea. This came to involve the United Nations allying with South Korea and the People's Republic of China allying with North Korea. Eventually, they all agree to a truce, bringing the fighting of the Korean War to an end.
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This was an alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This included the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria as members. The states were all allies and would fight together if one of them was attacked. -
A prolonged war between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese, and the non-communist armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States. The U.S. entered the Vietnam War in an attempt to prevent the spread of communism. Communist forces ended the war by seizing control of South Vietnam in 1975, and the country was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the following year.
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First artificial Earth satellite. It was launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the space race. -
In 1962 the Soviet Union began to secretly install missiles in Cuba to launch attacks on U.S. cities. The confrontation that followed, known as the Cuban missile crisis, brought the two superpowers to the start of a war. But then an agreement was reached to withdraw the missiles. -
American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first humans ever to land on the moon. Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. The primary objective of Apollo 11 was to complete a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy. -
Protests grew in East Berlin and citizens started tearing down the Berlin Wall. Soviet and East German police didn't intervene or stop the protests. This was one of the series of events that started the fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe.