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Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a pair of revolutions in Russia in 1917 which dismantled the Tsarist autocracy and led to the rise of the Soviet Union. The people were not happy with their government so they overthrew them and established communism. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the boundary that split western capitalist Europe from eastern communist Europe during the cold war. This is significant because the Iron Curtain further divided the Capitalists from the Communists -
The Potsdam Conference
The heads of the US, USSR and UK governments met to discuss the end of the war. The goals of the conference also included the establishment of postwar order, peace treaty issues, and countering the effects of the war. -
Atomic Bomb - Hiroshima/Nagasaki
The Atomic bomb was dropped on Japan and changed the tide of war. This is significant because the Atom bomb created a new form of warfare, modern warfare. -
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan was the system created by the Soviet Union to rebuild the Eastern European countries aligned to the Soviet Union. This is significant because it was a plan to spread communism by the U.S.S.R. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy made during the Truman administration created to prevent the spread of communism during the Cold War. This is significant because it put America into the role of the worlds "police force". -
Hollywood 10
The Hollywood 10 were actors and screenwriters from Hollywood who refused to testify in court about their political beliefs because it was an infringement of their constitutional rights. This is significant because these actors were deemed communists for not testifying. -
Alger Hiss Case
The Alger Hiss case occured because Alger Hiss was accused of espionage. This is significant because Americans were now concerned for soviet spies in government. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave over $12 billion to rebuild European countries threatened by communism. This is significant because it further established America as the worlds dominant power and police force. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt by the soviets to prevent Westeners from aiding Berlin. The US combated the blockade by flying in supplies to the people of Berlin. This is significant because this was the first major international crisis of the Cold War. -
Soviet bomb test
The Soviet bomb test was the Soviets attempt and success in building an atomic bomb. This is significant because now multiple powers now had the atomic bomb. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was the US's way of solving the Berlin Blockade. They flew in planes with supplies and food to the people of Berlin. This is significant because it resolved the conflict without violence. -
NATO
NATO is an international alliance that consists of 29 member states from North America and Europe. This is significant because it was established as a means of aligning against communism. -
Rosenburg Trial
Two Americans were persecuted and executed for sending information to the Soviet Union. This is significant because it caused further communist hysteria in the US. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North Korea and South Korea. This is significant because the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea had been split into two sovereign states. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
McCarthy made wild accusations about Americans being Communist and in trial he was proven wrong by the Army. This is significant because it devalued a demogog. -
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries. -
The Geneva Conference
A conference among several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland from April 26 – July 20, 1954. It was intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War -
Warsaw Pact
This was a pact made between the Soviet Union and its satellite states to form alliance. This is significant because it showed how the Soviet Union responded to opposition from the US. -
Hungarian Revolution
A Hungarian Revolution against Communism, the revolution was crushed and Communism prevailed. This is significant because it was a victory for Communism and Stalin. -
U2 Incident
A US spy plane was shot down and killed by Soviets when flying over Russia. This is significant because it is violence in the Cold War. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
14,000 Cuban exiles revolted against Fidel Castro but lost. This is significant because the US did not support the revolt. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that the Soviets constructed in Berlin that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. This is significant because the Soviets further heighten the tension between the Democrats and the Communists. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred when the Soviet Union was attempting to put nuclear weapons on Cuba; 90 miles off of American shores, it lasted 13 days and put America at Def-Con 2. This is significant because it was the closest the world has been to nuclear holocaust. -
Assassination of Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam, was assassinated. This is significant because it marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963. -
Assaination of JFK
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. This is significant because it marked the end of the Kennedy era in the Cold war. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave authorization to President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia.This is significant because it gave the president unlimited war power without checks and balances. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
The gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the U.S. 2nd Air Division, U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. This is significant because the US dropped more bombs on Vietnam than the entire amount dropped in WW2. -
Tet Offensive
A series of surprise attacks by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces, on scores of cities, towns, and hamlets throughout South Vietnam. This is significant because it was considered to be a turning point in the Vietnam War. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr, was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. King was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, and was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. CST. This is significant because Dr. King was the symbol for civil rights and his death further progressed the civil rights movement. -
Assassination of RFK
On June 5, 1968, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was mortally wounded shortly after midnight Pacific Daylight Time at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. This is significant because he was going to win the presidential election but then was shot. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, was a joint invasion of Czechoslovakia by five Warsaw Pact countries. This is significant because it showed how the Soviets were still aggressive in their movements. -
Riots of Democratic convention
The convention was held during a year of violence, political turbulence, and civil unrest, particularly riots in more than 100 cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4. This is significant because more people wanted the US to back out of the war. -
Election of Nixon
The Republican nominee, former Vice President Richard Nixon, defeated the Democratic nominee, incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey. This is significant because now the Vietnam War was in Nixon's hands. -
Kent State
The Kent State shootings were the shootings of unarmed college students during a mass protest against the bombing of Cambodia by United States military forces. This is significant because the government shot peaceful protesters. -
Nixon visits China
U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China marked the culmination of the Nixon administration's resumption of harmonious relations between the United States and China. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
The Paris Peace Accords, was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. This is significant because America was no longer in war. -
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon, was the capture of Saigon, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam on 30 April 1975. This is significant because all of Vietnam fell to communism. -
Reagan elected
The United States presidential election of 1980 was the 49th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 1980. Republican nominee Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter. This is significant because Reagan would not tolerate the soviets and he would be more strict. -
SDI announced
The SDI was first proposed by President Ronald Reagan in a nationwide television address on March 23, 1983. Because parts of the defensive system that Reagan advocated would be based in space, it was named Star Wars. This is significant because the soviets believed that our technology was much more advanced than theirs so they bankrupted themselves trying to catch up. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
The Geneva Summit of 1985 was a Cold War-era meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. This is significant because this was the first time two leaders met to hold talks on international diplomatic relations and the arms race. -
‘Tear down this wall’ speech
"Tear down this wall!" is a line from a speech made by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin calling for the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlin since 1961. This significant because he exposed Gorbachev in front of the whole world -
Fall of Berlin Wall
The spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West. Starting at midnight that day, he said, citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country's borders. This is significant because it marked the end of the Cold War.
