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After WWII, Germany was left in ruins and it was decided at the Yalta Conference (sometimes called the Crimea Conference), that the the victorious allies would split it into four parts. One part was given to the United Kingdom, one part to France, one part to the United States and the eastern part was occupied by the USSR. The city of Berlin was also partitioned between the four parties even though it was located in the part occupied by the USSR.
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The Potsdam Conference was a meeting of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States in Potsdam, Germany. They all met to edit and finalise the plans made in the Yalta Conference.
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"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an "Iron Curtain" has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to...control from Moscow."
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formally European Recovery Program, the U.S.-sponsored program was designed to rehabilitate the economies of 17 western and southern European countries in order to create stable living conditions. The United States feared that the poverty, unemployment, and dislocation of the post-World War II period were reinforcing the appeal of communist parties to voters in western Europe.
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The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control. Their aim was to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin with food, fuel, and aid, thereby giving the Soviets practical control over the entire city.
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In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the United States begins a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens of the besieged city. For nearly a year, supplies from American planes sustained the over 2 million people in West Berlin.
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A treaty to join a total of 12 nations including the United Kingdom and the United States as allies.
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Chairman Mao Zedong gains power and converts China into a communist state.
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McCarthy comes forward with a list of suspected communists and sparks a country-wide frenzied panic. Hollywood was especially targeted for fear of their influence on the public.
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Communists and nationalists fight for Korea, eventually splitting the country in half along the 38th parallel, North Korea converted to communism and South Korea democracy.
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Married couple Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are accused of communism and conspiracy to commit espionage, and despite mixed public opinion, after only 15 days the couple is sentenced to death by electric chair.
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The KGB was the security agency of the Soviet Union government which was involved in nearly all aspects of life in the Soviet Union.
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Vietnam splits into Communist North Vietnam and Democratic South Vietnam at the 17th parallel
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A mutual defense treaty between 8 communist States of Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War.
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In a display of power, the Soviet Union becomes the first to successfully launch a satellite into space.
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Castro, a Marxist-Leninist, is seen by the US as a communist threat.
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In 1957, the Soviets and Americans had agreed to hold exhibits in each other's countries as a cultural exchange to promote understanding. Vice President Nixon was on hand to open the US exhibit in Moscow. Nixon took Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev on a tour of the exhibit. Nixon and Khrushchev engaged in a friendly impromptu debate about their countries.
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Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet head of state to visit the United States. During the next two weeks, although Khrushchev's trip was more of a goodwill visit than an opportunity for significant negotiations, the tour provided some much needed friendliness between the two nations.
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On April 17, 1961, Kennedy ordered what became known as the "Bay of Pigs Invasion": 1,500 U.S.-trained Cubans, called "Brigade 2506", landed on the island. No U.S. air support was provided. Allen Dulles, director of the CIA, later stated that they thought the president would authorize any action required for success once the troops were on the ground.
By April 19, 1961, the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release of the -
The Berlin Wall seperated the socialist East Berlin from the free West Berlin, effectively stopping emigration and blocking either side from the influence of the other.
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The Cuban missile crisis (also known as the October crisis), was a 14-day confrontation in October 1962 between the US and
communist Cuba (who ere supported by the Soviet Union). The crisis is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict -
He proposed an increase of U.S. military funding in preparation on the threat in West Berlin. Saying that an attack on West Berlin was an Attack on America. The proposal was to increase the military defense budget by $3.25 billion dollars and to employ 200 thousand more troops.
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Troubled by the long-term dangers of radioactive contamination and nuclear weapons proliferation, Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed to negotiate a nuclear test ban treaty.
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The Gulf of Tonkin Incident is the name given to two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States. The destroyer USS Maddox engaged three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats. The outcome of these two incidents was the passage by Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted the US President the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression."
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After several attacks upon them, it was decided that U.S. Air Force bases needed more protection as the South Vietnamese military seemed incapable of providing security. On 8 March 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines were dispatched to South Vietnam. This marked the beginning of the American ground war.
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U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, convinced of the defeat of the Loyalist forces and fearing the creation of "a second Cuba" on America's doorstep, ordered U.S. forces to restore order.
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The USS Pueblo, a Navy intelligence vessel, is engaged in a routine surveillance of the North Korean coast when it is intercepted by North Korean patrol boats. According to U.S. reports, the Pueblo was in international waters almost 16 miles from shore, but the North Koreans turned their guns on the lightly armed vessel and demanded its surrender. The crew aboard were blindfolded and transported into North Korea, where they were charged with spying and imprisoned.
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In the face of rising anti-Soviet protests in Czechoslovakia, Soviet troops (backed by troops from other Warsaw Pact nations) intervene to crush the protest and restore order. The brutal Soviet action shocked the West and dealt a devastating blow to U.S.-Soviet relations.
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The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks were negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union that were aimed at curtailing the manufacture of strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
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The Paris Peace Accords on "Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam" were signed on 27 January 1973, officially ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. A cease-fire was declared across North and South Vietnam. U.S. prisoners of war were released.
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Both the United States and the Soviet Union initiated massive resupply efforts to their respective allies during the war, and this led to a near-confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers.
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The Fall of Saigon (or Liberation of Saigon) was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War.
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A continuation of SALT I
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The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles.
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Operation Urgent Fury, was a United States-led invasion of Grenada that resulted in a U.S. victory within a matter of weeks. Triggered by a bloody military coup which had ousted a four-year revolutionary government, the invasion resulted in a restoration of constitutional government.
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In an attempt to reduce tension, Gorbachev suspens misslie deployment in Europe.
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The literal meaning of perestroika is "restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system, moving towards more freedom.
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Gorbachev and Reagan meet at Höfði house in Reykjavík, Iceland, to discuss reducing intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe. To the immense surprise of both men's advisers, the two agreed in principle to removing INF systems from Europe and to equal global limits of 100 INF missile warheads. They also essentially agreed in principle to eliminate all nuclear weapons in 10 years (by 1996).
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Glasnost was a policy implemented by Gorbachev that called for increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities in the Soviet Union.
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"Sinatra Doctrine" was the name that the Soviet government of Mikhail Gorbachev used jokingly to describe its policy of allowing neighboring Warsaw Pact nations to determine their own internal affairs.
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The Parliament adopted a "democracy package", which included trade union pluralism; freedom of association, assembly, and the press; a new electoral law; and a radical revision of the constitution, among others. In a historic session from 16 to 20 October, the parliament adopted legislation providing for multi-party parliamentary elections and a direct presidential election, which took place on March 24, 1990.
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After the 'Velvet Revolution', the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces that it will relinquish power and dismantle the single-party state.
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After persistant protests and civil unrest towards the communist government, Lothar de Maizière of the East German Christian Democratic Union became Prime Minister on a platform of speedy reunification with the West.
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