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The Nuclear Race
The Nuclear Race was a nuclear weapons competition between the United States, the Soviet Union, and its allies during the Cold War.
On July 16, 1945, the United States tested the first atomic bomb in New Mexico. And 4 years later, on August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. This event was the main cause of the beginning of the arms race. This lasted until the signing of the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty of November 1990. -
The Greek Civil War
Τhe Greek Civil War was fought between the Greek government army which was supported by US and the Democratic Army of Greek In this war, the USSR avoided sending aid.
On December 1944 the Greek communists tried to gain control of Greece.
But, finally, in 1949, the civil war ended and resulted in the defeat of the Democratic Army of Greece. The war left the country in a state of poverty and thousands of Greeks were forced to emigrate. -
The Berlin Blockade
The Berlin blockade was the closure of Germany's borders. It was the beginning of the Cold War.
It was imposed by the USSR, and mainly affected the western area of Berlin, which were controlled by the US, GB and France.
The blockade, which lasted eleven months, was lifted by the USSR on May 12, 1949. -
The Hungarian Uprising
The Hungarian uprising was a revolution against the policies imposed by the USSR.
Hungary had been controlled by the USSR since 1945. But, ever since Nikita Khrushchev's criticism of Soviet's policies, the Hungarian people had asked for the freedom to choose their own political system away from communism.
On November 4, 1956, USSR tanks arrived in Budapest to stop the Hungarian uprising and they stopped it on November 10, 1956. After this revolution, Hungary became a socialist country. -
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a fought between North Vietnam which was a communist country and South Vietnam which was a capitalist country. North Vietnam was supported by the USSR and other communist allies while South Vietnam was supported by the US and other capitalist allies.
The Vietnam War started as a result of the US’s strategy that aimed to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world.
After 15 years of conflict, on January 27, 1974, a peace accord was singed in Paris ending the conflict. -
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin. This wall separated families for 28 years.
Construction of the Wall began on August 13, 1961. The Wall isolated West Berlin, which was a capitalist country from East Germany, which was a communist country. The Wall was created because millions of Germans escaped from East to West Germany because life in the west was so much better than life in the east.
On October 3, 1990, Germany was officially reunified, -
The Cuban Missilie Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union that began on October 16, 1962. It began due to the American discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
On October 28, 1962, the Cuban missile crisis ended. It ended when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to withdraw Russian missiles from Cuba in exchange for the United States respecting Cuba's policy. -
The Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Invasion of Czechoslovakia was a joint invasion of Czechoslovakia by five Warsaw Pact countries.
On August 20, 1968, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia to take action against the Prague reforms.
Finaly, they stopped the liberalization reforms of the Prague Spring and strengthened the authority of the Czechoslovak Communist Party. -
The Invasion of Afghanistan
The invasion of Afghanistan was the invasion of troops of the USSR.
In December 1979, the USSR intervened in support of the Afghan communist government during the Afghan war because it feared the loss of communists in Afghanistan. After 10 years they signed a peace treaty to end the war. The last Soviet troops left Afghanistan on February 15, 1989. The communist party remained in power until 1992. Afghanistan's population fell from 13.41 million to 11.61 million in 1988 as a result of the war.
