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Yugoslavia becomes Communist
Yugoslavia was formed during WW2. It was a socialist state and was made up of six socialist states: present day Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia,Montenegro and Macedonia. It initally sided with the Eastern block under Josip Broz Tito at the beginning of The Cold War. Yugoslavia pursueded a policy of neutraility after the Tito-Stalin split of 1948. Yugoslavia fell during the 1980s because of the rise of ethnic nationalism which led to the Yugoslav Wars starting in 1992. -
The Truman Doctorine
Harry Truman gave a speech stating that the US would support Greece and Turkey with economic and militiary aid in order for the two countries to stay out of the Soviet sphere. Some historians consider this to be the start of the cold war and the policy to stop Communism from spreading. -
The Marshall Plan
Europe faced famine and an economic crisis. The USA proposed a plan which would help rebuild the continent. This was offered to all European countries but only the non-communist countries took the Marshall Plan. Except Yugoslavia they took money from the USA because they weren't under USSR block. -
Creation of NATO
An alliance between North America and Europe. Its main purpose was too stop Communism from spreading and taking control of there nation, It's still around today and 26 different countries come together too make important decisions about security issues and defense issues against allied attacks. -
The Korean War
The UN came to the rescue of South Korea in an response to an invasion from North Korea. The invasion was aided by the USSR. North Korea was allied with communist China. The war ended in a military statement. -
Creation of the Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was between the USSR and the eight countries that were its satellite nations. It stated that if any of the eight nations or the USSR got attacked that they would back each other up. It was signed in Wasaw,Poland. -
Vietnam War
The USA and the southern based Republic of Vietnam (RVN) opposed the southern-based revolutionary movement known as Viet Cong and its sponsor, the Communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The USA replaced the French in Vietnam eventually because the French lost. They eventually split Vietnam on the 17th parallel. -
Soviet launch Sputnik
The USSR launched Sputnik into orbit on October 4th, 1957. It came as a suprise to the world and it launched the space race which was between the USA and USSR, and it began the space age. The launch also began new political, military, scientific, and technological advances. -
Nikita Khrushchev visits the USA
Khruchchev was invited to visit the USA and he did so in September by spending 13 days in the USA. It was a media circus. He came with his family and he visited NYC, Washington DC, Iowa, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh. He admired the self-service cafeteria and introduced it to The Soviet Union. The visit resulated in an informal agreement between Khrushchev and Eisenhower that there would be no firm deadline on Berlin -
Bay of Pigs
The United States attempted to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro. 1,300 exiles armed with United States weapons landed at The Bay of Pigs. They were quickly defeated by Castro's army. The invasion was a result of when the USA stopped buying sugar from Cuba and Castro took over all of the USA businesses in Cuba. -
The Berlin Wall Goes Up
The wall was constructed by the GDR(German Democratic Republic) and it cut off East and West Germany, as well as East Berlin with barbed wire and light fencing. Both sides of the wall had gun positions and watch towers. At the end the wall was 96 miles long and 11.8 ft tall. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis happend from October 16-28 1962. The USSR placed a range of missiles in Cuba pointing towards the USA. Nikita Khrushchev presented the scheme as a way too protect Cuba from another USA invasion. Castro approved of the USSR doing this. Khrushchev sent a letter to Kennedy saying that the missiles would be gone if the USA promised not to invade Cuba again. On October 28, Khrushchev removed the missiles and the USA promised not to invade Cuba. -
Olympic Rivalry 1972 basketball game
This summer olympic basketball final was the most controversal because it was the first time the USA lost in basketball since the sport came into the olympic ring in 1936. The US team set a olympic record of winning the first 8 games of the tournement which game them a score of 63-0, and put them up against the USSR. It was contriversal because the buzzer sounded as the second free throw of the USA was happening which bought the USA up by one 50-49 but it was said that the USSR won that game. -
German reunification and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Wanting to be united in Germany began in the 1990s. In East Germany conservative parties supporting the reunification won elections. Economic unifiction with West Germany happened in July and on October 3,1990 political unification occured under the West German Constitution. The fall of the East led to a recession but by 1994 they had a better economy. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
The USSR fell because the economy was going bad and the non-Russian ethnic groups resisted being part of a Russianized state. The Communist influence was never firmly there and at the end of the 80s/ early 90s it basically wasn't around. Mikhail Gorbachev also introduced glasnost and perestroika.
