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George Kennan
George Frost Kennan was an American diplomat and historian. He was known best as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War on which he later reversed himself. George F. Kennan died on March 17, 2005 -
The Arms Race
The Arms Race was a race during the Cold War between nations, but mainly America and the Soviet Union, to see who can get the most nuclear weapons manufactured by a certain period. This race was caused by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by America, ending World War 2. -
The Policy of Containment
Containment was a United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge its communist sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. The Policy of Containment lasted all the way until 1953. -
The Korean War
The Korean War started when North Korea invaded South Korea in hopes of taking over its land. The United Nations and the United States entered the war in order to help South Korea push back the North Korea. They pushed back North Korea so far that China and the Soviet Union had to help out North Korea. Eventually a stalemate happened, an armistice was signed, and on July 27, 1953, the war was dropped on the 38th parallel. -
The Domino Theory
The Domino Theory was a strategy used by the United States to take over communist states. The American government believed that if they took over one communist state, the neighboring ones will just fall soon after without having to put much effort into them, just like dominoes. This strategy was stopped being used around 1975. -
The U-2 Incident
The U-2 Incident was an operation gone wrong, it was lead by the CIA and U.S. president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. The operation involved U-2 stealth jets that could fly at subsonic speeds. It was used to spy on the Soviet Union and other communist allies around the Caribbean. Most of the U-2 jets were picked up by Soviet Radars and one was even shot down. The CORONA project was also apart of this incident, it included satellites that could pick up missile launch sites and was in use around 1958. -
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War, also known in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America, and called the Second Indochina War was a war against the Peoples Army of North Vietnam and the Government of South Vietnam. The North was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies while the South was supported by America, South Korea, Thailand, and other allies that were against communism. This long gruesome guerilla war finally came to an end on April 30,1975 -
The Launch of Sputnik
Sputnik was the world's first artificial, man-made Earth satellite. It was launched by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This was the event that caused the "Space Race" to begin which was a race, mainly between America and the Soviet Union, to see who can land something or somebody on the moon first. -
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion, also known as the CIA's perfect failure, was a failed military invasion of Cuba by the CIA's paramilitary group known as Brigade 2506. Their main mission was to overthrow the communist government of Fidel Castro, but they were defeated in 3 days by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. -
The Creation of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a wall built by the German Democratic Republic or East Germany. It's main purpose was to completely cut of West Berlin from the surrounding East Germany and East Berlin -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also know as the Caribbean Crisis and Missile Scare, was a 13 day argument between America and the Soviet Union talking about the concern of Soviet long-ranged ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. This was the closest the Cold War ever came to almost turning into an all out full-scale nuclear war. This long 13 day confrontation came to an end on October 28, 1962 -
SALT 1
SALT 1 or Strategic Arms Limitation Talks 1, was a negotiation held at a summit meeting in Moscow between America and the Soviet Union about limitations of manufacturing strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons long distances, Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABM) Systems, and Strategic Offensive Weapons. -
SALT 2
SALT 2 or Strategic Arms Limitation Talks 2, was a second negotiation held at a summit meeting in Moscow between America and the Soviet Union basically finishing what they left of in SALT 1 on May 26, 1972. -
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, also known as the Soviet-Afghan War, was a war between insurgent radical militia groups and the Soviet Army and allied Afghan Forces. This was lasted a long 9 years and ended with over 2 million civilian casualties on February 15, 1989. -
The Star Wars
The Star Wars program was created by the United States president, Ronald Reagan. It was called the Strategic Defensive Initiative (SDI) and was started to stop missiles from other countries using anti-ballistic long ranged missiles. The project was eventually abandoned due to it being so expensive and almost costing around 30 billion dollars. It was also abandoned in order to prevent potential conflicts with the Soviet Union. -
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built by East Germany in 1961 to completely cut of West Berlin from East Berlin and surrounding East Germany. One night the head of the East German Communist Party announced that civilians can freely cross over the border when ever they wanted to and before you knew it, happy crowds swarmed the wall, some climbed right over it while others started beating at it with hammers and picks. -
The Fall of Communism in the USSR
On December 25, 1991, the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, stepped down from office and was declared resigned, and handed over his office's powers, along with the Soviet nuclear missile launching codes to the new Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Thus ending communism in Russia and ending the long Cold War once and for all.