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Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was launched by the U.S. in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro by launching 1,400 American-trained Cubans who fled once Castro took over. The invasion was a defeat however, as the invaders were heavily outnumbered by Castro's troops. The invaders surrendered within 24 hours of fighting within Cuba. The significance of this event is how it shows how tensions could have caused future events, for example the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuba wanted to prevent further invasion. -
Berlin Wall
A wall created by the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic that separated east and west Berlin. The wall was created in an attempt to stop refugees from fleeing Germany through Berlin. While the US president Kennedy was unhappy about the wall, he claimed that "a wall is a hell of a lot better than war". This wall lasted until the last years of the Cold War, and on Nov. 9, 1898 people were once again allowed to cross the Berlin Wall. This event shows poor treatment for civilians -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted 13 days. Soviet Union leader, Nikita Khrushchev, agreed to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles onto their land to prevent future invasions. These missiles being 90 miles off the coast of Florida presented a clear danger to the American people. The U.S. demanded there to be no nuclear weapons present on Cuba. Tense negotiation took place until the agreement for Cuba to remove the missiles if U.S. promises not to invade Cuba. -
Cuban Missile Crisis Cont.
This event is significant because it is known to be the closest time that actual combat broke out between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. If that actually happened, things could look very different today. -
The Start of the Vietnam War
The Vietnam war was a proxy war during the Cold War, which put North Vietnam supported by communist countries, against South Vietnam supported by anti-communist allies. North Vietnam wished to unite both countries into a single communist regime modeled after the Soviet Union and China. South Vietnam called for aid against the communist party which sparked the U.S. to send troops. After a long battle, the south finally fell to a Northern invasion, and the U.S. had to cope with its defeat. -
Vietnam War Cont.
This war was significant because it is one of the very few losses that the U.S. has ever taken, and they lost to communism to add injury to insult. During the time of the Cold War, what issues could arise in the U.S. in the grief of a defeat?
