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The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was presented through a speech given by the then United States President, Harry Truman. This speech explained Truman's thoughts on helping aid both Greece and Turkey equally with their overall economic and military issues as best they could. He did this in hopes that they wouldn't fall under Soviet command. This was thought to be the whole start of the Cold War as the US struggled to keep other nations out of Soviet control. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was passed in hopes to greatly support and assist in any way they could to help rebuild Europe economically and politically. The United States wanted to do this so that Europe wouldn't be taken under Communism. This caused the Communists to lose much of their overall appeal to European voters and enrage the Soviets which lead to more tension between them. -
Creation of NATO
The creation of NATO was made up of 10 Western European nations in hopes to stop the fear of Soviet aggression and advancement. They stuck together, promising to help one another if an attack did take place between one of them and the Soviets. This contributed to the Cold War by creating a stronger force against the Soviets. This was about the time the Soviets felt the need to defend and fight for what they believed was rightfully theirs, so they began their advancements in war weaponry. -
Soviet Nuclear Bomb
The Soviet Union learned of the United States preparing their own nuclear project, so in response to this news, the Soviets began to build their very own nuclear bomb. They performed their very own test of their bomb on August 29, 1949 and were overall successful. Both sides were creating weapons for future use that could potentially protect themselves during the Cold War. -
The Korean War
The Korean War started out with the advancement of North Korea into South Korea. The United States became alarmed and involoved in the Korean War by going to give a helping hand to South Korea through naval and air support. The UN Security Council and Soviets also became active within this war, sending in even more troops to assist the South Koreas, all commanded my General MacArthur. The war ended with a stalemate. The US and Soviets began to see they often don't see eye to eye on situations. -
Creation of the Warsaw Pact
The Soviets began to fear NATO and the many allies it had when Germany was allowed to join. The Warsaw Pact was put into effect between the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satalliete nations by forming a military allliance. The Soviets were hoping for some comfort in this alliance and to build up their allies for the Cold War. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War spanned for about 20 years and was fought between North Korea, who had the support of the Communists, and South Korea, who were supported of the US and all other anti-Communists. The US became involoved in this war in order to perhaps contain and prevent any further advancement of Communism. The US and Soviets clashed throughout this whole war. -
Soviet Launches Sputnik
The Soviet Union created Sputnik, a satallite, and launched it into Earth's low orbit. This advancement in space technology was the very beginning of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union to see who could become most superior in the exploration of space. This rivalry led to many new accomplishments for both sides but even more tension that built up and contributed to the Cold War. -
Bay of Pigs
Eisenhower allowed cuban exiles to be trained by the CIA to invade Cuba. They secretly traveled and landed on the southen coast of Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs). A war ensuded and led to Soviet and Cuban troops to advance and kill or capture the exiles. The Soviets were more enraged by this secret invasion once they learned that it was planned by the US. -
The Berlin Wall Goes Up
East German troops were sent out to begin to constructed the Berlin Wall to seperated East and West Berlin. This was made in hopes to end the Berlin crisis and became a huge symbol of Communist oppression. However the building of this wall only seemed to added to the overall stress of the Cold War. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The Soviets promised to provide Cuba with Soviet weapons/missles to help defend themselves. Kennedy became wary about this agreement and explained that the US wouldn't tolerate the use of nuclear weapons or the building of Soviet missle sites in Cuba. The US began to stop the shipment of more weapons to Cuba. The crisis ended when the missles were offered to be removed in exchange for no Cuban invasion. The Soviets became more angry at the US for putting a halt to their missle site construction. -
US Man on Moon
The United States sent the aircraft, Apollo 11, up into space with both Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin within. They were hoping that the astronauts would reach and land on the moon for the first time in history. Neil Armstrong became the first man ever to step onto the moon. This was a major space advancement in history during the Soviet and US Space Race period. -
1980 Olympic Hockey Game
This winter olympic men's hockey game became known as the "Miracle on Ice". It was basically the first victory of the United States team against the Soviets in about thirty years. This made even more major history for the US and the Soviets were disappointed and furious by their loss. This just added more fuel to the fire between the two. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
East Germany opened the Berlin Wall. The two sides of Berlin were once again able to unite. People from both sides began to dismantle and chip away pieces from the wall as well. The two nations were able to become one on October 3. This was a sign of a stand against Communism which seemed to frustrate the Soviets greatly. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
A declaration was formally passed stating that each of the fifteen republics that were previously seen to make up the Soviet Union were now considered independent from one another. This seemed to be the official end to the Cold War since the Soviet Union was no longer one big force to fight against the United States.
