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Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a reach for help where President Harry S. Truman asked Greece and Turrkey for $400 million in economic and military assistance. He asked these two countries and among the Greek Civil War to help one another and create stronger allies. This doctrine guided the United States diplomacy for the next 40 years. -
National Secutiry Act of 1947
The National Security Act of 1947 was a strategy to restructuring the United States government military and intellegence agencies. Following WW2 many of the troops were weak and lacked supplies and funds and the intellegnece agencies were affected the same way, The aftermath of this act was great in that it cased far-reacing changing in the military and in the intellegnece agencies, improving and strenghtening them for the future. -
Berlin Airlift
On June 26, 1948 American troops were sent from England to offer relief to those suffering in West Berlin. The Russian troops had blocked off all roads and rails to and from West Berlin and the people that were there were trapped; therefore, the American troops flew in and brought the first of aid supplies . With them they brought medicines, clothes, food, water, etc. This relief continued on for about a year until in May of 1949 Russia realized how big of bullies they were being. -
Arms Race
Prior to the America was the first to develop nuclear weapons and on August 29, 1949 the “Soviet Union successfully tested its first atomic bomb”. The USSR’s success surprised the world because most assumed the USSR’s development with regards to nuclear weapons was not very advanced. This event started the Arms Race and lasted for roughly four decades. (Arms Race, 2014) -
Korean War
The Korean War is famous for being the first major conflict of the Cold War. It created great tension between the Soviet Union and the United States in where the Soviet Union supported North Korea and the United States supported South Korea. In the end, littel resolution was made between the two countries, nor between the Soviet Union and the United States, and sill today the two countries are divided and under communistic ruling. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War lasted from 1 November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975. The Vietnam War began as a result of the communist northern Vietnam invading Southern Vietnam when Ho Chi Minh and his soldiers: the Viet Minh sought freedom from the French and attempted to reunite all of Vietnam. (Vietnam War, 2014) -
Suez Crisis
In the event of the Suez Canal, Israeli armed forces pushed into Egypt moving towards the Suez Canal. This event occured shirtly after Egyptian president, Gamal Adbel Nasser nationalized and initiated the canal in July of that same year. The French and Briitsh forces came and joined the Israelis bringing the Soviet Union into the picture as well. This event damaged their relationship with the United States. -
Soviet Invasion in Hungary
Many Hungarians were very surprised by the attack of the Sovierts on their country. they saw the Soviet Union as somewhere where the working class and risen up and seized power. This invasion marked the failure of the United States attempts to liberate Eastern Europe, many were killed and the Soviet Union had "won" the battle once again. -
Space Race
With the Arms Race, the USA and the USSR competed to be the mightier and in numbers with respect to nuclear weapons. The space race had two super powers that competed to see who would be the first: the first to send man in a spacecfraft into space and orbit the earth. The Soviet Union took “first” place when they launched Sputnik I, the first satellite to orbit Earth, and also when “Yuri Gargarin was the first man to orbit the Earth in the spacecraft Vostok I”. (Space Race, 2014). -
Bay of Pigs
The United States CIA helped train Cuban exiles and formulate a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro and his followers. Word got out that the invasion was going to happen and despite the United States’ efforts to weaken Cuban Militia, Fidel Castro and his forces were waiting for the attack. When the invasion occurred, Castro’s forces successfully seized most of the invaders. This loss was a huge hit to the U.S. allowing communism to spread more (Bay of Pigs, 2014). -
Cuban Missile Crisis
On October 14, 1962 an American U-2 spy plane flew over Cuba ancaptured picture of long range Soviet missiles. “These missiles could reach any point of the United States with nuclear warheads causing mass destruction”. On October 22, 1962 the United States declared, “No offensive weapons would be allowed to enter Cuba”. By the end of the month, the US and the USSR made arrangements to remove nuclear weapons (USSR from Cuba and the US from Turkey and Italy). (Cuban Missile Crisis, 2014). -
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind"
In 1961, Russia sent the first man-Yuri Gargarin- into space. This was a huge moment in world history. The Soviet Union and the United States were competing to get the man to the moon. It wasn't until about 8 years later that the U.S. won the race an placed astronaut Neil Armstrong on the moon. At the moment it is said that Russians, Arabs, people all over the world, "forgot that we were all citizens of different countries on Earth. That moment really united the human race." (First, 2014). -
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur was fought between Israel, Egypt, and Syria (Egypt and Syria were allies in the war). The war lasted about a month and began on Yom Kippur (a holy day for Israelis) from October 6 to October 25, 1973. The main support the Israelis had was from the United States. The United States offered Israel the intelligence and technology necessary to succeed. The Arab countries Egypt and Syria had the support of the OPEC states as well as the Soviet Union. (Yom Kippur War, 2014). -
Soviet Afghanistan War
Just as the Vietnam War was an embarrassment for the United States of America, the Soviet Afghanistan War was an embarrassment for the Soviet Union. The Soviet Afghanistan War lasted from December 24, 1979 to February 15, 1989. This war was significant during the Cold War because, as one of the super powers of the world, the Soviet Union had armed forces that were “unstoppable”. However, this war proved a mockery of the Soviet Union, damaged not only their image, but their ecconomy as well. -
TIMBER!: Berlin Wall Comes Down
Egon Krenz of East Germany was who rescinded travel restrictions for East Germans. When his speech was all said and done, tens of thousands of Germans flooded the checkpoints along the wall, demanding entry into the West. This event marked a great time in history where freedoms where once again beign granted and the Soviet Union was beginning to collapse. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Signs that the Soviet Union was declining were seen in the late 1980s as Gorbachev came into office and reformed the USSR. However, his attempts backfired when he allowed for more freedoms claimed by citizens and the drastic change of the government doing everything to reduce government actions and efforts. By the end of 1991 “the Soviet Union divided up into 15 separate independent countries” and “Mikhail Gorbachev announced his resignation." (Collapse of the Soviet Union, 2014).
