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Violence in Romania
Stalin cited citizen violence as an excuse to demand an ouster of all non-Communists from the civil service and cabinet. -
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The Cold War
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U.S. a global economic Superpower
The United States was now the richest naiton in th eworld. ITs industrial output had increased by a remarkable 15 percent annually between 1940 and 1944. By 1947, th United States controlled almost two-thirds of the world's gold bullion and launched more than half of the world's commercial shiping. -
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USSR creates satellite states
The USSR establishes staellite states in the eastern part of Europe. They are converted to communism and support the USSR. The USSR repressed democratic coalition governments of liberals, socialists, Communists, and peasant parties in central and eastern Europe. -
UN
The United Nations was created to bring about an era of international cooperation. The Charter had been ratified by China and officially started the UN -
Stalin proposes his new 5 year plan
He planned to increase production levels and mandated more collectivization of agriculture. Stalin cut bacj the army by two-thirds to beef up the labor force and attempted to increase the already low birthrate. A new round of purges took place. -
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Europe Struggles to get back on its feet
Many British people died in the bitterly cold winter due to the shortage of fuel. Duch people were close to startvation post Nazi occupation. They were relived by U.S. airlift of food. -
Crowd killed Jews
A vicious crowd in Keilcem Poland assaulted some 250 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. There were at least 40 deaths. -
Marshall Plan
This was a program of massive economic aid to Europe to relieve oridanary people of the hardship s that were making communism attractive. -
Truman Doctrine
Truman Doctrine announces American commitment to contain commmunism. THere planned to limit communism after World War II by countering political cirses with economic and military aid. -
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Struggles in Berlin
Soviet roops blockade Berlin. In response, the United States airlifts provisions to Berliners. -
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Cold War heats up
West and East Germany are formed. Western nations form NATO. The Soviet bloc establishes Couunicil for Mutual Economic Assistance COMECON. The USSR establishs its first nuclear weapon. -
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Purge of Communists in America
U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy leads the hunt for American Communists. There is a lot of propogando to support free market economics and put down communism, -
Stalin Dies
Joseph Stalin dies. The gave hope to the U.S. that the USSR would back down. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a mutual military defence for the USSR and its satelite countries. -
Khrushchev denounces Stalin
Khrushchev denounces Stalin in secret speech to Communist Party Congress, Hungarians revolt unsuccessfully against the USSR. -
Cuba problems origins
Fidel Castrol comes to power in Cuba. -
The Bay of Pigs
Kennedy assured by teh Centeral Intelligence Agency of success launched an invasion of Cuba at the Pay of Pigs. It was intended to overthrow Castro. The invasion failed however and the United States was humiliated. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The CIA reported the installation of silos to house Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba. Kennedy responded forecefully ordering a naval blockade of ships headed for Cuba and demanding removal of the installations. On October 25 to 27 Krushchev and Kennedy negotiated an end to the crisis. -
Testban Treaty
Only about a year after the missile crisis, the US and Soviet Union agreed on nuclear bombs. They both signed a testban treaty outlawing the explosion of nuclear weapons i teh atmosphere and in the seas. -
Assassination of JFK
This assassination shocked teh nation and the world. He was loved as a presdient and the country was extremely sad after he was killed in Texas. -
Krushchev Resigns
Nikita Krushchev was ousted for his eratic policies and for te Cuban missile crisis. In his forced retirement he expressed regret at his brutal treatment of Boris Pasternak. -
First Successful Human Heart Transplant
During this era there was a lot of scientific research that was going on. This was one of the many feats that scientists had achieved at the time and it was a big deal because the human heart is vital to live. -
Revolution in Czechoslovakia
This was also known as the Prague spring. It was a revolution against the Soviet Union and Communism that was currently ruling the nation. They wanted to decentralize the economy and to give more rights to citizens. -
Death of Jan Palach
Jan Palach was a twenty one year old philosphy student who went to a main square in Prague and set himself on fire as an act against communism in Czechoslovakia. This led to more suicides for the cause and many people went to his funeral. -
U.S. Moon Landing
Before this, the Soviets had launched the satellite Sputnik into space in 1957 which began the space race with the United States. Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon and the Untied States was the first country and they put the flag down. -
SALT I
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks were two round of bilateral talks and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union. It was beacuse of the Cold War and the issue of armament control. -
North Vietnam and US Sign Treaty
In the Paris Peace accords in 1973 the United States and Vietnam tried to make a treaty so that there would be peace. The United States left Vietnam and the North and South Vietnamese stopped fighting for the present. -
OPEC Oil Embargo
The Arab nations had joined together in the OPEC to make kind of a trust to control the price of oil. This allowed them to almost quadruple the price of oil, and eventually the nations of the world tried to embargo so that they did not have to pay the prices. -
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Islamic Revolution
This was a revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini against the current Shah of Iran that was backed by the United States. Those who were for the revolution wanted to return to traditional Islamic ways, and turn away from Westernization -
First test-tube Baby
This was another huge scientific revolution that was a part of all of the new things that were coming from science during this time. It was the first time that scientists were able to create a baby using a lab and not natural ways. -
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US Hostage Crisis with Iran
This was when a student revolt in Tehran led to the takeover of the United States Embassy in Iran. Hostages were taken and the US had to eventually negotiate to get the people back. -
Miracle on Ice
This was when an amateur US olympic hockey team defeated the much respected and past champion Soviet National Team. They were a huge underdog and went on to win the Olympics. Not only was this a sporting victory, but it also played a role in politics because of US tensons with the USSR. -
Reagan Becomes President
As president Reagan implemented sweeping new political and economic initiatives. He made Reaganomis and advocated for reducitn tax rates to spur economic growth. He also announced a War on Drugs and he strived to end the Cold War in his second term. -
Gorbachev Becomes Soviet Premier
Mikhail Gorbachev had policies of openness and restructuring as well as summit conferences with Ronald Reagan during the Cold War. He also claimed how he contributed to the end of the Cold War and the revola of the Communist Party in his state. -
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
This was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occured at teh Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, that was then a part of teh USSR. An explosion and fare released large quantities of radioactive prticles into the atmostphere which spread over much of the wester USSR and Europe. -
Communist Regimes Ousted in Easter Europe
Before this, much of Eastern Europe was ruled by communist governments, mostly because they were influenced by Russia. Before this there were many revolts, and now, the people got what they wanted and got rid of communism -
Berlin Wall Demolished
The Berlin Wall was a berrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic that separated West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. Many people tried to escape East Germany over the "Iron Curtain" but there were troops that did not allow it. In April 1989 though after both Reagan and Kennedy had asked the wall to be torn down, it finally was. -
Tiananmen Square
This was a student led popular demonstrations in Beijing which took place against the deep splits within China's political leadership. At the time of Tiananmen Square the government had told the military to take care of it and they massacred poeple in the square. The students had occupied the square for seven weeks and the military went in with assault rifles and tanks and killed many.