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Period: to
The Cold War
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National Security Act and the CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was a major source of information during the war. For example, it led the invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs (1961) and discovered that Cuba had soviet missiles pointed at the US. -
North Atlantic Treaty and NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The main purpose of this organization was to defend it's members from possible communist invasion by the Soviet Union. The United States president, Eisenhower, was appointed as the supreme allied commander. -
First Soviet Atomic Bomb Test
The United States was shocked that the Soviet Union possessed knowledge of nuclear weapons. President Truman responded by calling on the US to build up their own nuclear weapons in order to stop the Soviet from influencing the rest of the world. -
Korean War
(1950-1953). Aided by the Soviet Union, North Korea invaded South Korea. This caused the United States and the rest of the United Nations to confront the communist forces that were innitiating conflict in Korea. -
Warsaw Pact
This treaty united the republics of Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and the Soviet Union. It was the communist counteraction of NATO. It was seen as a threat to American capitalism. -
Cuban Revolution
When Fidel Castro took over Cuba and the US got involved, the Soviet-US relations were worsened and the Soviet Union gained another communist ally. The Cuban Missile Crisis arised out of that and reaffirmed the communist ascendancy into Cuba. -
Bay of Pigs
Castro took over all of the US businesses in Cuba, so Kennedy authorized US troops to invade Cuba and attempt to overthrow Castro. They failed to gain the support of the population and were quickly defeated. -
Israeli Attack on USS Liberty
After bombing the US ship, the Israelis claimed that they had made an error and mistaken the US ship for an Egyptian one. Secretary of State and Chief of Staff argued that the attack was delibreate and that the American flag that was flying could not have been that easily mistaken. -
The Czechoslovakia Uprising
Because the Czechoslovakia's industry was weakening, the country replaced the communist leader Novotny with Alexander Dubcek who believed in a socialist democracy. Dubcek was not popular with the rest of the Warsaw Pact, however, and Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, and Poland invaded the country and demanded that Soviet trroops be stationed there. -
Operation Babylift
President Ford ordered the US military to fly 70,000 orphans out of Vietnam, shortly after the end of the war, and they were all quickly welcomed and adopted by American families. -
Iran Hostage Situation
500 Muslim students seized the US embassy in Iran and took 66 hostages. After an unsuccessful military attempt to rescue the hostages, President Carter signed a treaty to return Iran's wealth and not interfere with their affairs. -
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
In the Chernobyl power plant, reactor 4 and the safety systems were shut down for maintenance testing. At 1 a.m. the reactor's power dropped, and because the safety systems were also off, the reactors exploded at 1:23 a.m. It was the worst nuclear disaster in world history. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
at 7 p.m. the border was opened for "rivate trips abroad." Soon after it was opened, there was a rush of East Berliners into West Berlin. On November 10, the demolition started. -
Reunification of Germany
Germany was politically reunited under the West German constitution, East Germany collapsed, and Kohl retained power. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
(No specific date in December). The Soviet Union fell and seperated into 15 different countries. It symbolized the triumph of democracy over totalitariansim, and capitalism over socialism. It also signified the end of the Cold War.
