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Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution caused tension between the U.S and the Soviet Union by the threat of nuclear warfare and the attempt to spread communism. The U.S was opposed to communism because it was against the aspects of Democracy. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was a meeting in Germany between the three allied leaders, Truman, Churchill, and Stalin to negotiate the terms for the end of World War II. Truman and Churchill wanted to spread the political freedom with democratic governments throughout Europe, while Stalin supported dominating it with communism which started tension between the leaders. -
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During World War II, an American bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90% of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Thousand's would later die from radiation exposure. Three day's later, a second bomber dropped another bomb on Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people. Japan's emperor Hirohito was forced to surrender in result. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas after the end of WWII. The Soviet Union wanted to seal itself off and it's dependent eastern and central European allies from open contact with the West and other non-communist areas. The term Iron Curtain was first brought up by Winston Churchill at a speech. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine is an American foreign policy created to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion by pledging to contain threats to Greece and Turkey and other countries threatened by the Soviet's with the support of sending free gifts of finical aid to help the economies and to maintain freedom of communism. -
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan was the system created by the Soviet Union in order to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union. -
Hollywood 10
The Hollywood 10 were members of the HUAC (House of Unamerican Activities Committee) who investigated movies that may have had communist influence. They protested and refused to talk about their investigations. They were convicted and sent to prison. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an aid from the U.S to Western Europe to help rebuild their economy with political and social conditions. Truman was afraid that Europe would turn to communism if the U.S didn't help. The Soviet Union refused to participate in the plan and overthrew Czechoslovakia while the plan was being debated. The U.S donated food, machinery, and technical support for the new production for the rebuilding of homes and buildings. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was started by Stalin and the Soviet's when the west and east were seeking different ideas so he shut down the city by sealing off all roads, railroads, goods, and power to force the West out from aiding. -
Berlin Airlift
The Western Allies responded to the Berlin Blockade by organizing the Berlin Airlift to carry food and supplies to the people of Western Berlin. The Soviet's did not disrupt the airlift out of fear it might create conflict. The airlift succeeded and the blockade was lifted. -
NATO
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is a intergovernmental military alliance formed to provide collective security against the Soviet Union by the U.S and West Europe. -
Alger Hiss case
Alger Hiss was accused of spying for the Soviet Union by sending them information and documents. The case caused people to fear that he was part of a conspiracy to destroy the U.S. -
Soviet bomb test
The Soviet Union exploded it's first atomic bomb in 1949. It came across as a great shock to the United States because they were not expecting them to possess nuclear weapons so soon. The impact of the possession they had caused Americans to question their own safety. Truman responded by calling for the U.S to build up more on nuclear weapons to halt the spread of Soviet influence around the globe. -
Rosenberg trial
The Rosenberg's were accused of connection with a plot to pass U.S bomb secrets to the Soviet Union. They were convicted and sentenced to die in the electric chair. -
Korean War
At the start of the Korean War, Truman was blamed for the loss of China to communism. The political situation in Korea was divided at the 38th parallel, occupied by the U.S in the South and the Soviet Union in the North. North Korea was turned into a communist dictatorship with the Soviet's influence. Truman used the United Nations to repel the attack and restore peace by sending troops to Korea and allowed MacArthur to cross the 38th parallel if he stayed away from China's border. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the decisive engagement in the first Indochina War after French forces occupied the valley. A Viet Minh commander amassed troops and placed heavy artillery in caves of the mountains overlooking the French camp. The French airfield was eliminated and Viet Minh forces overran the base and the French lost forces. -
Army-McCarthy hearings
Joseph McCarthy was a U.S senator who had a campaign against the communist's in the U.S government. He claimed that there were 205 communist working within the state. He influenced society by trying to expose communism and democracy within the U.S government and it put people in fear of the red scare. He was exposed as a fraud at the McCarthy hearings because he was accused of blackmail and the news press exposed him. -
Geneva conference
The Geneva Conference was a meeting between several nations to try and resolve the problems related to the wars in Asia. As a result, Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel with Ho Chi Minh's nationalist forces controlling the North and Ngo Dinh Diem, a French educated, Roman Catholic claimed control of the South. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union and seven of it's European satellites signed a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. The treaty called on the states to come to the defense of any member attacked by an outside force and it set up a unified military command. The pact was created in reaction to the integration of West Germany into NATO. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution was a nationwide revolt against the government of the Hungarian peoples Republic and it's Soviet imposed policies. Students and workers took the streets and issued personal freedom, more food, removal of secret police, and especially the removal of Soviet control. This happened shortly after Khruschev took over and eventually forced Rakosi to resign. -
U-2 incident
The Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet air space and captured it's pilot, Francis Gary Powers. President Eisenhower was forced to admit that the CIA had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years. The Soviets convicted Powers and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. He was released after a little less than two years for an exchange for a captured Soviet agent in a U.S-USSR spy swap. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs was JFK's failed attempt to overthrow the Cuban government led by Fidel Castro. The U.S invaders were badly outnumbered by Castro's troops and the U.S troops surrendered after less than 24 hours of fighting. This attempt was supposed to help terminate Communist leadership. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the Communist German Democratic Republic, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Communist's wanted to keep Western fascists from entering. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This event was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The Soviet Union planted missiles in Cuba that if launched, would land in the United States. President Kennedy ordered their removal or else he would invade Cuba. The weapons were soon dismantled. -
Assassination of Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem was the U.S backed leader of the South Vietnamese Republic. He started losing support in South Vietnam after his decision to go after the Buddhists and make Catholicism the primary religion of the country which brought violent demonstrations. President Kennedy gave his approval to a plan by a group of South Vietnamese generals to overthrow Diem. The group assassinated Diem and the U.S was left to deal with a secession of South Vietnam governments with less stability. -
Assassination of JFK
President John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the U.S was assassinated while traveling through Dallas, Texas, in an open top convertible. As their vehicle passed the Texas school book depository buildings, Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired three shots from the sixth floor, fatally wounding President Kennedy and seriously injuring Governor Connally. Kennedy was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at the age of 46. Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as 36th president shortly after. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
After United States ships were attacked by the Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin, the resolution statement was released permitting any action necessary in order to protect the United States from attack by the Vietnamese. This event relates to the growing conflict between the U.S and Vietnam caused by the U.S attempts to stop the spread of Communism in the country. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the code name for the American bombing campaign authorized by President Johnson where U.S military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam for three years straight. This was intended to put military pressure on the Communist leaders and reduce their capacity to wage war against the U.S supported government of South Vietnam. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. The offensive was an attempt to foment rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the U.S to scale back it's involvement in the war. The U.S and South Vietnamese forces managed to hold off the attacks. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, an event that sent shock waves throughout the nation. A Baptist minister and founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King had led the civil rights movement since the mid 1950's using a combination of impassioned speeches and nonviolent protests to fight segregation and achieve significant civil rights advances for African Americans. -
Assassination of RFK
Senator Robert F. Kennedy, brother of JFK, was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California presidential primary. Immediately after he announced to his cheering supporters that the country was ready to end its fractious divisions, Kennedy was shot several times by 22 year old Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan. He died in the hospital a day later. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Soviet Union and their five Warsaw Pact satellites invaded Czechoslovakia while the United State's Marshall Plan was being authorized. The troops invaded to crack down on reformist trends in Prague. This invasion halted the pace of reform and successfully turned Czechoslovakia into a Communist country. -
Riots of Democratic convention
The purpose of the convention was to select a new presidential nominee to run as the Democratic Party's candidate for office since President Johnson announced that he would not seek re-election. The convention was held during the year of violence, political turbulence, and civil unrest with riots in more than 100 cities. Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters battled the police in the streets, while the Democratic party fell apart over an internal disagreement on Vietnam. -
Election of Nixon
Richard Nixon won a close election to Vice President Hebert Humphrey in 1968. He served as President from 1969-1974. He followed a foreign policy marked by detente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with China. He promised peace with honor in Vietnam which means withdrawing American soldiers from South Vietnam also known as "Vietnamization". In the face of likely impeachment for the Watergate scandal, he resigned. -
Kent State
Four Kent State University students were killed and nine were injured when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam War. The tragedy was a watershed moment for a nation divided by the conflict in Southeast Asia. -
Nixon visits China
President Nixon visited China to make a neutral alliance after Mao Ze Dong wins. The U.S wanted to prevent China from siding with the Soviet Union after it became Communist. There was an attempt to contain China to ultimately force out North Vietnamese. Nixon ended the 25 years of no communication with the U.S and China. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
The ceasefire in Vietnam was an agreement on ending the war and restoring the peace in Vietnam. The treaty included the governments of the Democratic Republic (North Vietnam) and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) and the U.S. It ended direct U.S combat and temporarily stopped the fighting between North and South Vietnam -
Fall of Saigon
The fall of Saigon was the capture of the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, by the people's army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal reunification of Vietnam under the Socialist Republic of Communism. -
Reagan elected
President Ronald Reagan was elected U.S President in 1980, and planned to strengthen the U.S army by spending $34,000,000 per hour on weapons and military supplies and by challenging the Soviet Union. He wanted to prevent the spread of Communism and completely destroy it. -
SDI announced
The Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) was President Reagan's idea of a missile defense system to protect the U.S from nuclear weapons in space, zapping oncoming missiles from satellites before they can reach the U.S. The Soviet Union viewed SDI as a new plan on unleashing nuclear war. They saw it as a threat and they didn't have the money to also get a missile shield. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
President Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva for the first time with no arm limitation agreements but they did engage in long sincere personal talks and gained a friendship. The meeting came as a surprise to the U.S but it was keeping arms race under control. As for Gorbachev, he desired the meeting to obtain a better relationship with the U.S so that he could pursue his domestic reforms. -
"Tear down this wall" speech
President Reagan traveled to West Berlin and made the "Tear down this wall speech" calling the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlin since 1961. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
Citizens of countries got together and rose up against Communist domination. The government was unable to contain the uprising and after the 30 years, the Berlin Wall was destroyed. West and East Germany were reunited and established a Democratic government. Most of the Communist governments of Eastern Europe collapsed. Gorbachev also dissolved the Soviet Union on his last day in office.
