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Cold War
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Yalta Conferance
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met to discuss postwar peace. This did not go as planned. An uneasy peace was set for the years after WWII. -
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Potsdam Conference
Truman, Attlee, and Stalin met to discuss postwar peace. As with Yalta, not much was done. The state of French Indochina was also discussed. -
Vietnam Independence
Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent country. Vietnam was originally part of French Indochina. The French had previously fought hard to hold their colony. -
Sinews of War Speech
Churchill delivered his Sinews of War, otherwise known as the Iron Curtain, speech. This detailed the recovery of Europe and Soviet influence spreading. It warned of the dangers of communism and the reaches of the Soviet Union. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy that promised to defend any country under the threat of communism. It was developed further when communist threats occurred in Greece and Turkey. This differed drastically from past US foreign policy, isolationism. -
Foundation of NATO
NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. This was the opposing side to the Soviet bloc. It was made up of North American and Western European democratic nations. -
Korean War Begins
Communist North Korea invaded South Korea, beginning the Korean War. This was the first Asian theatre war the US fought in during the cold war. There was a total of 36,914 US casualties. -
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Space Race
The US and the USSR had a competition to see who would ultimately put a man on the moon first. The USSR had the first man-made satellite, first animal, and first person in space. However, the US had the first man on the moon. -
Sputnik Launch
Sputnik 1 was the first man-made Earth satellite. It was launched by the USSR and subsequently started the space race. This was the first of the Sputnik missions led by the USSR. -
U-2 Incident
The USSR shot down a US spy plane in Russia. This forced the US's hand into admitting spying on the Soviet Union. This also resulted in the first USSR-US spy-swap release of two imprisoned spies. -
Start of Building of the Berlin Wall
This was the physical manifestation of the Cold war; a long, unfeeling wall. The Berlin Wall tore apart families and communities. This covered 91 miles around West Berlin. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The USSR gave Cuba missiles to have poised to fire on the US at any given moment. When the US found out, there was a standoff that ended peacefully. This is the arguably the closest the world was to total annihilation. -
U.S. Troops Sent to Vietnam
The US sent 150,000 troops to aid in the Vietnam Conflict. This was the first major media involved US war. This is also arguably the only war the US ever lost. -
Iranian Hostage Crisis
The Iranian Hostage Crisis took place during the Iranian revolution. Students and militants raided the US Embassy and took 53 Americans hostage. This moment changed US-Iranian relations to this day. -
End of the Soviet Union
After massive decline and Gorbachev's resignation, Russia formally dissolves the Soviet Union. Statues throughout Eastern Europe are toppled. The Cold War is officially viewed as over.
