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Vietnam (1945-89)
The U.S justified it's military intervention in Vietnam by the domino theory, the aim was to prevent the communist domination of South-East Asia. During this time Vietnam went into a war with both superpowers each supported a different side in the war. -
Period: to
Stabilization of the Cold War 1950-1961
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Nuclear Buildups (1953)
Both the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a nuclear arms race. Spending billions of dollars trying to build up a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons, crippling the economy and helped bring an end to the cold war. -
Period: to
1953-74
(Stabilization of the Cold War) -
The Space Race
This was a race during the Cold War, a competition between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R to develop aerospace capabilities, basically a race t see who could achieve the spaceflight capability. This showed the technological demonstrations and advancement between the two superpowers. -
USSR Development of Hydrogen Bomb
The Soviet Union explodes it first hydrogen bomb, and began a series of Soviet hydrogen bomb tests. The bomb was created to counter the threat of America. -
Hungarian Revolt of 1956 (Oct 23, 1956 – Nov 11, 1956)
A national uprising that began 12 days before Hungary viciously crushed the Soviet tanks and troops. The Soviet Union invaded Hungary to stop the revolution. The revolution although a failure revealed the weakness of Eastern European communism. -
The Suez Crisis (Oct 29, 1956 – Nov 7, 1956)
International crisis in the Middle east, where the Egyptian president nationalized the Suez Canal, which was controlled by the French and The British interests. The French, British and Israel invaded Egypt to recover control over the Canal. This was a turning point as there was a growing rift between the Atlantic Cold War Allies. -
Sputnik (October 4, 1957, 7:28 PM)
The Soviet Union launched the Earth's first artificial satellite, as a result it intensifies the arms race and raised Cold War tensions. Both sides were working to created and develop new technology. -
U2 incident
An American U-2 spy plane was shot down while it was conduction espionage over the Soviet Union, the incident derailed an important summit meeting between President Dwight, Eisenhower and Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev. -
Period: to
The Middle Cold War, 1961-74
(Repeated Crises & Competition) -
JFK ( January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963)
JFK became the 35th president. JFK dealt with the Soviet Union by placing a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent Soviets from bringing more military supplies. JFK demanded the missiles to be removed and destruction of the sites. -
Bay of Pigs (Apr 17, 1961 – Apr 19, 1961)
Cuban exiles launched an invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the South Coast of Cuba, but it was failed operation led by the CIA during Kennedy's administration to push the Cuban leader from power. -
Berlin Crisis (Jun 4, 1961 – Nov 9, 1961)
The crisis started when the Soviet Union launched a ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of armed forced in Berlin. This became conflict between the Soviet and the U.S. over the status of divide Germany city of Berlin, which led to the construction of the Berlin Wall. -
Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct 16, 1962 – Oct 28, 1962)
A confrontation between the U.S. and the USSR during the Cold War where the two were close to having an all out nuclear conflict. The two however came to the conclusion that missiles in Cuba would be withdrawn so long as America doesn't invade Cuba. -
Six-Day War (Jun 5, 1967 – Jun 10, 1967)
The war was caused by the escalating steps taken by the Arabs. The war had a geopolitical consequence in the Middle East, the winner of the war led to a surge of national pride to Israel. The Soviet Union helped in arming the Arab sates. -
Vietnamization
Vietnamization was a policy of the U.S. withdrawing their troops and transferring the war effort to the government of South Vietnam. This cut the involvement of America in Vietnam and allowed many U.S. troops to return home. -
Nixon (January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974)
The 37th President, he focused on reducing the dangers of the Cold War among the Soviet Union and China. Nixon's policy of detente with both nations (despite the hostilities). Moving away from American's traditional American Policy of containment of communism, he hoped both sides would seek for American favour. -
SALT
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, this was a period in which the Soviet Union and the U.S. negotiated for the first agreements to place limits and restrains on some of their central and most important armaments. -
Nuclear Buildups (1974)
The nuclear competition arms race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union for supremacy in nuclear warfare.