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Russian Revolution
End of the revolution dynasty and centuries of of Russian imperial rule, led by Vladimir Lenin seized power and destroyed the tradition of crises rule. This event led to the establishment of the Soviet Union, the worlds first socialist and totalitarian society. -
Potsdam Conference
Last world war II meeting led by the "Big Three" heads of state. This failed to settle an important issue which helped set the stage for the cold war. -
Atomic Bomb
An American dropped the world's first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The dropping of the atomic bomb marked the end of world war 2. Many historians believed this ignited the cold war. -
Iron Curtain
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declares, "From stetting in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. This was showing the efforts by the Soviet union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the west and its allies states. -
Truman Doctrine
An American policy whose stated purpose was to counter soviet geopolitical expansion during the cold war. This became the foundation of American foreign policy, and in 1949 led the formation of NATO. -
Marshall Plan
Objective is restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole. The purpose of this also influenced the economic party within them. -
Hollywood 10
Members of the Hollywood industry publicly denounced the tactics employed by House UN-American activities. 10 motion picture producers, directors, and screen writers who appeared before the house of un-American activities committee on October 1947. -
Soviet Bomb Test
The Soviet Union Conducted 715 nuclear tests by official count. In order to measure the effects of the blast the Soviet scientist constructed buildings, bridges and other civilian structures in the vicinity of the bomb. -
NATO
The first peace time military alliance the United States entered into outside of the western hemisphere. Primary purpose was to unify and strengthen the western allies response to possible invasion. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
The Soviet Union lifted the blockade, the airlift continued until September 30, a total cost of $244 million. This was an international crisis that arose from an attempt by the Soviet union, to force the western allies powers to abandon their post-World 2 jurisdictions. -
Korean War
The Korean war began when the north Korean communist army crossed the 38th parallel and invaded non-communist south Korea. This war was against the forces of international communism itself. -
Khrushchev Takes Over
He led the Soviet Union during the height of the cold war, serving as premier from 1958-1964. He instigated the Cuban missile crisis by placing nuclear weapons 90 miles from Florida. -
Eisenhower's massive Retaliation Policy
John Foster Dulles announced that the United States will protect its allies through the "deterrent of massive retaliatory power." This policy completed the transition to a military strategy based on nuclear deterrance. -
Army-McCarthy hearings
Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army, which he charges with being soft on communism. -
Warsaw Pact
The soviet union and its affiliated communist nations in Eastern Europe founded a rival alliance;the Warsaw pact. This signing of this pact became a symbol to Soviet dominance in eastern Europe. -
The Vietnam war
A continuation, actively between North and South Vietnam but without significant U.S. involvement. The purpose of this war was a way to prevent a communist take over of south Vietnam. -
Hungarian Revolution
Hungarian uprising was a nation wide revolt against the communist government of the Hungarian people's republic. This is the nations greatest tragedy. -
U2 incident
Pilot Francis Gary powers has been an a top mission to over fly and photograph denied territory from the U2 spy plane deep inside Russia. The incident derailed an important summit meeting president Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
Bay of pigs invasion
Group of 1,500 Cuban exiles trained and financed by the CIA launched an ill-fated invasion of Cuba from the sea in the Bay of Pigs. This invasion was supposed to overthrow Eidel Castro and his revolution. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and the moment when the two superpowers came closest too nuclear conflict. Detente was to deter Soviet adventurism while striving for more constructive relations with the communist world. -
Detente Under Nixon
Detente improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union that began tentatively in 1971 and took decisive form when President Richard M. Nixon visited the secretary-general. -
The Reagan Doctrine
This was an activity orchestrated and implanted by the United States under the Reagan Administration. Under this doctrine the United states provided overt and covert aid to anticommunist. -
Reagan's Berlin War Speech
His speech announced that he challenges soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall. This speech is calling for the leader of the Soviet union, to open up the barrier that divided west and east berlin. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The wall symbolized the lack of freedom under communism. Crowds swarmed the wall and knocked it down. The fall of the berlin wall also symbolized a key turning event in the diplomatic and government powers as it showed the downfall of many communist countries. -
Berlin wall
The reunification of East and West Germany was made official and year after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It showed the lack of freedom under communism.
