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The Marshall Plan, officially known as the European Recovery Program, was program created by the US to help European countries in need. It's goal was the help prevent the spread of communism. The United States gave money to support the rebuilding of European economies. The US wanted to modernize European industry and businesses and give Europe a sense of hope and self-reliance. Every nation involved with the Marshall Plan had economies in a better state than before WW2.
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In 1949, 12 nations together signed the National Atlanitc Treaty Organization, or NATO. This was signed to coordinate the militaries of the nation involved in order to stop Soviet aggression. The original 12 nations were the US, Belgium, Canada, France, Denmark, Italy, Iceland, Great Britain, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugual, and Luxembourg. An attack against one of these nations was considered an attack against them all. Eisenhower was elected Supreme Commander of NATO rforces in 1950.
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After WW2, Korea was split into North and South Korea. The war began when North Korea invaded South Korea, and then the US stepped in to provide aid for the non-Communist South Korea. General Douglas MacArthur lead much of the battle in South Korea, and the two sides came to a stalemate. The war continues today, with neither side really winning.
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In 1950, the FBI arrested Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for 'conspiracy to transmit classified military information to the Soviet Union.' A main piece of evidence was a testimonial from Ethel's brother and his wife. They claimed that Ethel and Julius persuaded her brother to give them to-secret information on nuclear weapons. They were found guilty and sentanced to death in 1951, finally facing execution in 1953.
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The Warsaw Pact was essentially equivilent to NATO for non-Communist countries. Poland, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania signed this pact to aid each other in 1955. The Soviet Union held this pact over the other nations' heads, utilizing the powers of the combined military. Poland and Czech were both crushed by the Soviets when they tried to wiggle out of the pact.
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In 1954, the Geneva Accords split Vietnam into North and South Vietnam. The North became communist while the South were capitalists. South Vietnam was supported by the US, as well as by Australia, New Zeland, and South Korea. After much fighting, peace negotiations started in the early 1970's. Then, in 1975, North Vietnam launched an attack that captured South Vietnam and together they became known as the Socialite Republic of Vietnam.
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On October 4th, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first unmanned artificial satellite. This sparked the space race, and increased conflict and tension between the US and the Soviet Union. It also shocked and instilled fear into Americans. Though Sputnik was about the size of a basketball and weighed no more than 185 lbs., it had a huge impact.
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Castro's journey to power wasn't an easy one. He first attacked an army barracks in 1953, and ended up in jail. He was later released in 1955, however. His attempt to land back in Cuba, after ending up in Mexico, nearly failed. The survivors totaled about 18 of the 81 sent on the mission. The survivors fled to the mountains, and worked on rebuilding their army. On Janurary 1st 1959, his revoluntionaries wrestled control and Castro took over as Prime Minister.
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In 1961, as an attempt to push Castro from power, the CIA launched the Bay of Pigs invasion. A group of Cuban exiles, trained by the US, set off the first part of the plan. They traveled in air bombers, with the hopes of destroying Cuban airfields. This first attack failed, however, because Castro knew and moved their planes to safety. The second attack was at the Bay of Pigs, where Castro's troops overwhelmed the invaders and they surrendered after less than a day of fighting.
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In the middle of the night on August 13 1961, the Berlin wall was put up. The wall split East and West Berlin; East was controlled by the Soviet Union and West was controlled by the US, Great Britain, and France. No longer could people on the east side travel to their jobs on the west, or people on the west side meet their family on the east. The more the wall grew and became more advanced, the more people were desperate to escape.
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After gaining control in Cuba, Castro aligned with the Soviet Union. On October 14th, an American spy plane spotted missiles being set up on Cuba. Kennedy responded by setting up a blockade and threatening the use of military force to neutralize the situation. After an American plane was shot down over Cuba, both sides were prepared to fight. However, after many negotionations, both sides came to an agreement and the missiles were removed from Cuba in exchange for the US not invading Cuba.
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A few years after Sputnik was launched, Kennedy made it a goal to have a man land safely on the moon and return. Eight years later, on July 16th 1969, Apollo 11 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Four days later, the lunar module holding Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon. That night, at around 10:30, Armstrong took the first step on the moon. The lunar module left the moon a day later, and the astronauts landed back on Earth on July 24, 1969.
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In the 1972 Summer Olympics, the basketball game proved to be quite interesting. It was held in Munich, Germany, between the US and Soviets. The game for the gold is said to be one of the most controversial Olympic events in history. With 3 seconds left on the clock, the US tied up the score at 49 after making 1 free throw. Then, the controversy comes in. Apparently the Soviet Union team had called a time out before the 2nd shot. In the midst of the confusion and calls, the Soviets scored & won.
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Communism began to falter in some nations in 1988 and 1989. Then, on November 9th, a government official announced, "Permanent relocations can be done through all border checkpoints between the GDR (East Germany) into the FRG (West Germany) or West Berlin." Everyone was in shock and really happy. People started chipping away at the wall until eventually it was taken down and the city unified.
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Gorbachev was leader of the USSR from 1985 until the collapse in 1991. He created reforms soon after coming to power. These reforms included perestroika, glasnost, and democratisation. These reforms brought to light the problems of the USSR and eventually led to its fall. By the time Gorbachev resigned in late August, the country was in pieces.
