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Truman Doctrine
On this date, President Truman delivered a speech that was the Truman Doctrine, which provided aid to Greece and Turkey to help them not conform to communism. Both countries were having civil wars, which the U.S. thought was over communism. -
Berlin Airlift
Because the Berlin wall was made around East Berlin, and all the roads into the city were blocked, the U.S. wanted to help without harming anything/anyone. So, for 11 months, the Berlin Aircraft dropped food, water, coal, and other supplies into Berlin, saving thousands. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was a program made by the secretary of state, George C. Marshall, which offered American financial aid for European economic recovery. -
NATO Forms
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed to create an alliance (of sorts) to protect nations from Soviet aggression.
"An attack on one is an attack on all." -
Korean War
Communism spread into Korea, and the country became divided because of it. North Korea was for communism, and South Korea was anti-communist. North Korea wanted the whole country to be completely communist, as did North Russia and China, so they helped the North in the war. The South didn't want communism, so the U.S. and the United Nations helped them to prevent the spread of it. -
Rosenberg Spy Case
On June 19, 1953, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed for allegedly passing American military information to the Soviet Union, and persuading others into telling them top-secret information regarding nuclear weapons. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a copy-cat pact of NATO formed by the Soviet Union and seven other countries under its rule. The Warsaw Pact bound those seven countries to aid of the others if any were attacked. -
Vietnam War
Like the Korean War, half of Vietnam (North) was communist and the other half was anti-communist. North Vietnam wanted all of Korea to be united and communist, whereas South Vietnam did not. In a successful effort to end the dispute, the U.S. sent South Vietnam troops, weapons and money, which led to the end of the war two years later. -
Sputnik
Sputnik, a Soviet satellite, was launched on October 4, 1957, setting the Americans back in the space race. The U.S. didn't want their citizens to turn to the Soviet Union's communist ways, so they congress passed the National Defense Education Act, which later became NASA. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful military invasion (Brigade 2506) to overtake Cuba, and funded by the CIA. Brigade 2506 was defeated by Castro in just three days. -
Creation of the Berlin Wall
Because of the separate rule in Germany after the war, Berlin was also split. Germany decided to build the Berlin wall around their part of Berlin (East) in attempts to contain their citizens and keep them from fleeing. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis started when the U.S. found out that the Soviet Union had shipped tons of equipment, including missiles to Cuba, which was taken as a threat. President John, F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade to stop the arrival of more missiles to Cuba, and finally the Soviets were offered a deal: if they removed their missiles from Cuba, the U.S. would remove their missiles from Turkey and wouldn't invade Cuba. -
First Man on the Moon
American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went into space in the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander and became the first humans on the moon, making the U.S. the leader in the space race yet again. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
On November 9, 1989, the blockades put on EAst Berlin were taken off, and people were free to permanently move. This caused somewhat of a party in the streets, as people were so overjoyed. Germany was not separated anymore, and the wall wall destroyed. -
Fall of Soviet Union
On this date, the Soviet Union collapsed and formed 15 separate countries. The U.S. viewed this as their victory to the end of the Cold War, and the world viewed capitalism as better than communism and democracy better than totalitarianism. Also, it made America seem more powerful and technologically more advanced than otters. (I noticed that I typed otters instead of others, but it was funny so I left it there.)
