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Chinese Revolution
Despite United States' efforts to financially aid and support the Chinese Nationalists' fight against the Chinese Communists, the Communists led by Mao Zedong establish the People's Republic of China, triggering an even greater fear of the spread of Communism in the United States. -
Korean War
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Korean War
North Korean Communists invade South Korea. Truman calls for US military action in support of Soth Korea, while China supports North Korea. Fighting continued even after the 38th parallel was established, dividing North and South Korea, and until roughly 5 million soldiers died in the war. The North and South parts of Korea are still divided today. -
Uprising in Hungary
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Uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia
Inspired by the liberties granted to Poland in recent years, in 1956, Hungarians protested in Budapest and presented their 16 points, or reasons why they believed that they should be allowed the same liberties, and freedom from Soviet control. In 1968, Czechoslovakia had replaced their formerly Communist government with new liberal leader Alexander Dubcek, and was invaded by Russia, Hungary, parts of Germany, and Poland. Those who had supported the liberal reforms were removed. -
Sputnik Launched
The Sputnik, the first manmade Earth satellite, was launched by Russia, along with many other new political, military, and science developments, creating the "Space Race" Russia and the US. The US wanted to ensure that they kept up with Russia's technology, because if Russia could launch a satellite, they could probably launch missiles too. -
U2 Spy Plan Incident
The American U2 plane of pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down by the Soviet Union, and Powers was sentenced to 10 years in prison on the charge of espionage. After only 2 years however, he was traded back to the US in return for the release of a Soviet captive from the US. This event heightened tensions between the two sides of the Cold War. -
Berlin Wall Goes Up
The Berlin Wall was rapidly built to divide East and West Germany, symbolically into "Democratic Germany" and "Communist Germany," and to prevent people from migrating from one side to the other as pleased. It was built without notice in the dead of night, and caused issues for people with jobs and/or loved ones who were on the other side of the wall.
This occurred until the Communism began to fall in the late 1980s. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
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Cuban Missile Crisis
13-day tension over nuclear armed Soviet missiles located on Cuba. This was a high-tension situation since Cuba is so near the United States, and a missile from there could easily wipe out over half the nation. Due to mutually assured destruction, and the fact that we were on the brink of a potenial nuclear war, President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev both needed to be very careful, and finally agreed that if the US missiles in Turkey were removed, that the Soviet ones in Cuban would be. -
Russia Invades Afghanistan
While Afghanistan was already in the midst of a civil war, Russia invaded in an attempt to further spread Communism. However, instead of Afghanistan seeing this as an opportunity to rebuild, they saw it as a threat to their religion and fought back. The Mujahdeen, a guerilla force in the name of Allah was formed to defend Islamic beliefs from Russian Communist reforms that threatened the religion. Because this was a war Russia could neither afford nor win, they eventually backed out in 1989.
