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Venona Papers
The Venona Project began because Carter Clarke did not trust Joseph Stalin. The coded Soviet cables, however, proved to be far more difficult to read than Clarke had expected. American code-breakers discovered that the Soviet Union was using a complex two-part ciphering system code that in theory was unbreakable. By 1948 the accumulating evidence from other decoded Venona cables showed that the Soviets had recruited spies. This allowed the Soviet to develop atomic weapons -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolized efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the west and non-Soviet-controlled areas.While the Iron Curtain was in place, the countries of Eastern Europe and many in Central Europe were under the political influence of the Soviet Union. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy to stop Soviet imperialism during the Cold War. It was announced to Congress by President Harry S. Trumam when he pledged to contain Soviet threats to Greece and Turkey.At the time, the U.S. Government believed that the Soviet Union supported the Greek Communist war effort and worried that if the Communists prevailed in the Greek civil war.Truman argued that the United States could no longer stand by and allow the forcible expansion of SU -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
After World War II, the Allies partitioned the defeated Germany into a Soviet-occupied zone, an American-occupied zone, a British-occupied zone and a French-occupied zone.In June 1948, the Russians–who wanted Berlin all for themselves–closed all highways, railroads and canals from western-occupied Germany into western-occupied Berlin. Lasted for more than a year and carried more than 2.3 million tons of cargo into West Berlin. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North and South Korea, in which a United Nations force led by the United States of America fought for the South, and China fought for the North, which was also assisted by the Soviet Union.Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel.North Korean invasion came as an alarming surprise to American officials.Nearly 5 million people died. -
Rosenberg Trial
Judge Irving R. Kaufman presides over the espionage prosecution of the couple accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians .David Greenglass was a machinist at Los Alamos, where America developed the atomic bomb. Julius Rosenberg, his brother-in-law, was a member of the American Communist Party and was fired from his government job during the Red Scare.The trial lasted nearly a month, finally ending on April 4 with convictions for all the defendants. -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on 4 October 1957. It was a 58cm polished metal sphere, with four external radio antennae to broadcast radio pulses.Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on 4 October 1957. It was polished metal sphere, with four external radio antennae to broadcast radio pulses.The Sputnik launch change everything. -
U2 Spylane Incident
An international diplomatic crisis erupted in May 1960 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet air space and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.The Soviets convicted Powers on espionage charges and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.However, after serving less than two years, he was released in exchange for a captured Soviet agent in the first-ever U.S.-USSR “spy swap.” -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion, known in Latin America as Invasión de Playa Girón, was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961.Cuban exiles launched what became a botched invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast of Cuba. In 1959, Fidel Castro came to power in an armed revolt that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.The failure at the Bay of Pigs cost the United States dearly -
Berling Wall- Setup and Demolition.
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic, starting on 13 August 1961.Communist East German authorities built a wall that totally encircled West Berlin. It was thrown up overnight.The Fall of the Wall. On November 9, 1989, as the Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West.
