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The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy created to counter Soviet geopolitical leadership during the Cold War. President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave $13 billion in economic support to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II. The Marshall Plan successfully sparked economic recovery for Western Europe. -
Berlin Airlift
A military operation that brought food and other needed goods into West Berlin by air after the government of East Germany, which at that time surrounded West Berlin (see Berlin wall), had cut off its supply routes. The Berlin Airlift prevented West Berlin from falling into the control of the Soviet Union after World War II. -
Soviet Union Gets the Atomic Bomb
Soviet Atomic Bomb Test. On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. It came as a great shock to the United States because they were not expecting the Soviet Union to possess nuclear weapon knowledge so soon. -
Communist Revolution of China
The Chinese Revolution in 1949 was the climax of the Chinese Communist Party's drive to power since its founding in 1921 and the second part of the Chinese Civil War. China's communistic leadership molded early China. -
Execution of the Rosenbergs
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were a couple who were convicted of leaking the U.S. atomic secrets to the Russians. Both refused to admit any wrongdoing and proclaimed their innocence right up to the time of their deaths, by the electric chair. The Rosenbergs were the first U.S. citizens to be convicted and executed for leaking information. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a war between the Democratic North and the Republic South Korea, in which quickly became an international fight for communism. The Korean War started because the North side of Korea invaded South Korea after crossing the 38th parallel that seperated them. This war never really ended and was the first time that America fought war, actively knowing that nuclear weapons could have been involved. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee for the purpose of investigating conflicting accusations between the United States Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact alliance of the East European socialist states is the nominal counterweight to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the European continent. The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty among Soviet Union and seven Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War. -
Launch of Sputnik
October 4th, 1957 was when Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite was launched by the Soviet Union into the Earth's orbit. This successful launch frightened many Americans. -
The Kitchen Debate
The Kitchen Debate was a televised debate among Vice President Nixon and Russia's Premier Krushchev on the benefits of communism vs. capitalism where nuclear weapons were discussed. The Soviet Union in return was unable to provide both food and nuclear weapons as stated they would, which resulted in their downfall and the Cuba Missle Crisis. -
U-2 Incident
The U-2 incident was an incident involving the United States U-2 spy plane that was shot down while in the Soviets airspace. This was an extreme embarassment to the United States and resulted in a worse relationship with the Soviets. -
Building of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a wall that divided Berlin into East and West Berlin to seclude the Germans who traveled to the democratic West, away from the communist East during the Cold War. The wall symbolized the lack of freedom under communism. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning Soviet missiles deployment in Cuba. This was the first major conflict in the Cold War which was the closest the Cold War came to a nuclear war. -
SALT Treaty
The SALT treaty was a Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty to limit the build up of nuclear weapons. Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the SALT Treaty on May 26, 1972, in Moscow. For the first time during the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union had agreed to limit the number of nuclear missiles in their arsenals. -
The Miracle on Ice
Miracle on Ice is the name given to the men's hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York where the United States defeated the Soviet national team. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin.
