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The Truman Doctrine
Truman appeared before Congress asking for U.S. assistance for Greece and Turkey. He hoped that U.S. intervention would prevent communists from taking over those two nations. Some people considered this the declaration of the Cold War. In his speech Truman discusses the Soviet Union as the leader of communist activity. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall plan was used to help 16 different European countries through money. This plan was in response to the devastation caused by World War Two. Many European nations needed economic help and the U.S. wanted to step in before the Soviet Union did. This was in hopes in preventing the spread of communism. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was when British and U.S. planes delivered food and supplies to Berlin after being blockaded by the Soviet Union. Josef Stalin wanted to cut off ways of entering the city to force the Allies into retreating. This left the people living there without food or supplies. The airlift eventually resulted in the blockade being lifted. -
Creation of NATO
NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was formed by the United States and other western countries to try and preven the spread of communism. Forming NATO triggered the Soviet Union and other communist countries to from the Warsaw Pact. This made the division between the two sides for the remainder of the war. -
The Korean War
This war began when the North Korean Army passed the 38th parallel into South Korea.It was the start to the Cold War. In July, the US entered the war on the side of South Korea in order to prevent the spread of communism. South Korea fought back to the 38th parallel where the fighting seized for a small period of time. Americans looked to make an armistice with North Korea. The United States wanted to avoid war with Russia and China or a World War Three. In July 1953 the war came to an end. -
Creation of Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was an aggreement between the Soviet Union and 7 other European countries establishing a mutual defense organization. This pact established that the countries involved would come to help if one country was attacked by a country not involved in the pact. It was a direct response to the formation of NATO. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War involved North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was communist while South Vietnam was not. The war started soon after Ho Chi Minh became leader of North Korea. By 1969 there were up to 500,000 US soldiers involved in Vietnam. In 1975, Saigon was captured by communists and the war was ended. -
Soviet launch Sputnik
The Soviets were the first to launch a satelitte into space. The Americans feared that the Soviet Union had advanced past the US in technology and worried they were advancing in the arms race. Eisenhower responded with advacing the US space program and launching the Explorar. This was the start of the "space race." -
Bay of Pigs
The invasion of the Bay of Pigs was an attempt by Cuban exiles to overthrow their dictator, Fidel Castro. On April 17, 1961 exiles armed with US weapons landed at the Bay of Pigs, but the fighting was soon stopped by Castro's army. -
The Berlin Wall Goes Uo
The Berlin wall was built by the German Democratic Republic to keep Western fascits from entering East Germany. The wall was built of barbed wire and concrete and mostly prevented communication between West and East Germany. When it was announced that citizens could cross many people crossed to West Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis was a disagreement between the Soviet Union and US on whether the Soviets should put nuclear missiles on Cuba. The US opposed the idea because Cuba was only 90 miles from the US. Kennedy initiated a blockade around Cuba but the nuclear war was avoided when Kennedy agreed not to invade Cuba. Kennedy also removed nuclear weapons from Turkey. -
US Sends a Man to the Moon
The US sending a man to the moon was all apart of the "space race" between the Soviet Union and the US. The US were the first to land a man on the moon with Apollo 11. It was one of the biggest space advancements and gave hope to exploring space in the future. -
Nixion Visits China
Nixons visit to China was important to establishing a relationship between China and the US. Nixon was in China for 7 days and over the course of those days China and US opened trade and contact. The Chinese also agreed to a peace settlement for Taiwan. The trip was also given media attention that was mostly positive. -
German Reunification/Fall of Berlin Wall
The fall of the berlin wall occured when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens could begin to cross the border. That night many people crossed into West Berlin and some even began to destroy the wall itself. To this day the Berlin Wall is a symbol of the Cold War. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
The fall of the Soviet Union began when some of the Soviet republics pulled out of the Soviet Union. The states that pulled out formed a Commonwealth of Independent States and only one repbulic of the USSR remained. The Soviet Union president then resigned resulting in a peaceful collapse to the Soviet Union.
