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Chinese Revolution
Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of The Peoples Republic of China. This led to full scale civil war between Chinese Communist Party, and the Nationalist Party right after WWII. The fall of mainland China led the U.S. to suspend diplomatic ties with the PRC for decades. -
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The Cold War
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Korean War
This war began when 75,000 North Korean Soldiers poured across the 38th parellel into South Korea. The 38th parralell was Soviet backed democratic peoples Republic of Korea to the north, and the pro western Republic pf Korea to the south. 5 million soldiers died. Americans looked at it as a war against communism itself. -
Uprisings in Hungary and Chzechoslovakia
This was a spontanious nationwide revolt against the government of the Peoples Republic of Hungary and its imposed Soviet policys. When the government collapsed, thousands of people went into militas to fight the police and soviet troops. In the end the Soviets won and the revolution was crushed. -
Sputnik Satalite Launched (Space Race)
The Russians launched a satalite called Sputnik into earths orbit. This worried the Americanse becasue the satalite was delivered on a ballistic missile, which could carry a nuklear warhead. This started the space race. THe space race was between America and Russia. The goal was to be the first country to put a man on the moon and have their flag firmly placed on the moons surface to claim it as thier own. We all know America ended up winning the space race. -
U2 Spy Plane Shot Down Over Russia
American pilot Gary Powers was shot down while flying the U2 spy plane over Russian territory. This was very signifagent becasue now Russia and the rest of the world knew we were spying on them. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
While flying reconossince, the U.S. found missile silos in Cuba. This led to a 13 day confrontation between Cuba/Soviet Russia, and the U.S. Look at it this way, It was a time of extremely high tension where anything could have set off a nuclear war. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic. The barrier included guard towers placed along large long concrete walls. The Berlin Wall served to prevent the large Immigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period. -
Russia Invades Afghanistan
This war lasted nearly a decade and it ended in Feburary of 1989. It was fought between the Soviet trained Afghan forces, and the insurgent group Mujahideen. The war resulted in Afghans fleeing their country. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed in addition with the rebel casualties.
