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The Marshall Plan
It channeled over $13 billion to finance the economic recovery of Europe. -
Creation of NATO
It stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Its purpose was as a security organization. When one country got attacked, it was taken as an attack against all of the countries within NATO. -
Korean War
One month later, American troops entered the war on South Korea's side. American officials worked to create some kind of peace agreement with the North Koreans. Eventually North and South Korea were divided by the 38th Parallel. It is still divided today. -
Creation of the Warsaw Pact
It was created in response to the formation of NATO. It focused on the objective of creating a coordinated defense among its member nations in order to prevent an enemy attack. -
Vietnam War
Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the communist forces in the north and the US and Soviet Union helped southern Vietnam. 3 million people were killed, including 58,000 Americans. More than half of these deaths were Vietnamese civilians. In 1973, President Richard Nixon ordered the withdrawl of US forces. A year later, communist forces took control and the country was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. -
Soviets Launch Sputnik
The Soviet Union launches the first satellite into space. -
Bay of Pigs
The plan was to invade Cuba and take down Fidel Castro. This invasion turned out to be a failure because a radio station was broadcasting every detail of the plan across Cuba. Backup paratroopers also landed in the wrong place, so the exile forces were quickly surrounded and taken as prisoners. 114 people were killed and 1100 were taken prisoner. -
The Berlin Wall Goes Up
The purpose of the wall was to keep Western fascists from entering East Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union sent nuclear missiles to Cuba. The US didn't like this so they said they were ready to use military force in order to remove these missles and prevent another war. Eventually, the US agreed to Nikita Khruschev's offer, and the Soviet Union removed the missiles without the US invading Cuba. JFK also agreed to remove th enuclear missiles in Turkey. -
The SIx Day War
Israel attacks Egypt and Syria in response the the build up up Arab forces. -
Olympic Rivalry: 1972 Basketball Game
The US basketball team lost to the Soviet Union. There were a few errors during the game that led to the Soviet Union winning. -
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
The United States and the USSR had reached an agreement to negotiate limitations and reduce both strategically offensive weapons and defensive weapon systems. -
1980 Olympic Hockey Game
The US comes from behind and beats the Soviet Union and then beats Finland to win the gold medal. -
German Reunification/Fall of Berlin Wall
This wall was the dividing line between West Berlin and East Berlin. It also represented the symbolic boundary between democracy and communsism. The construction of this wall separated people from their family members and friends. It also made people lose their jobs they had on the opposite side of the wall. Eventually, communist power lost control and the wall was slowly chipped away. East and West Berlin were then reunified as one state on October 3, 1990. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Many of the republic states under he Soviet broke away and formed the Commonwealth of Independent States. This in turn destroyed the Soviet Union as a whole,
