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in august 1945 the potsdan conference happened where Truman, Stalin and Churchill divided up Europe
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Communists take over Poland this leads to the Truman doctrine. The U.S promises to fight against the influence of communism
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In the aftermath of the airlift the United States, Canada, and most of European countries joined together in a military alliance . The alliance called North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) was designed to counter Soviet power in Europe.
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in the fall of 1953 the United States tested the first fusion powered hydrogen bomb with spectacular results ,completely vaporizing the island which it was tested on . Less than a year later the Soviets tested their own hydrogen bomb. U.S and Soviet leaders increased their stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
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in 1955 , The Soviet Union and the Communist nations of Eastern Europe formed their own alliance known as the Warsaw Pact
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The Soviets launched their first satelites into space. They were competing with the U.S because they wanted to send the first man to the moon.both counties wanted to show that they had the superior technology .
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in 1962 an American spy plane had photographed several Soviet nuclear missiles on a launching pad on the island of Cuba just 90 miles away from American territory. The Soviets claimes that the missiles were only to protect cuba from an American attack , not to attack the United States. Still, President Kennedy demanded that the Soviet take back the missiles.
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in 1968 Richard nixon wsa elected U.S president. He sought what he called detente , or reduced tension between the superpowers. one result of his efforts was the start of negotiations known as the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT). The talks led to agreements limiting the number of nuclear weapons.
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Viet Cong forces takeover the southern part of Vietnam this leads to American intervention so they can help France. China and Russia supply weapons and other necessities to the rebel forces.
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University students demand reforms from the chinese government there were about 1 million chinese protesting. Military tanks were used and the army was calling in order to calm the protesters.
