Cold War- The term Cold war was used due to the lack of large scale fighting between superpowers, instead they supported opposing sides and fought in a series of proxy wars.
By kschultz837
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Formation of the Eastern Bloc
Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania join together. They join in accordance with Stalin's desire to enforce Soviet domination. Known as the communist/socialist bloc. -
Postwar occupation and division of Germany
Due to Germanys defeat it was divided into 4 occupied zones. Great Britain in the northwest, France in the southwest, the United States in the south and the Soviet Union in the east. -
Greek Civil War
A communist uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. Death squads on both sides murdered thousands of civilians, however, and many more died from brutality, disease, and starvation. Around 158,000 Greeks may have died altogether. -
Enactment of Marshall Plan
President Truman signed the act to provide economic aid to Europe. The Marshall Plan was designed to relieve food shortages in Europe; rebuild the European industrialization; stem the tide of communism on the continent; and bring unity to the continent. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
Joseph Stalin cut off all land, road, and water access to West Berlin from West Germany. The Western Allies, The United States and United Kingdom, responded by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied airbases in western Germany. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese communist party was able to mobilize a massive army with its radical land reform policies. The Communist army came together and gradually started winning battles against the nationalist government. They won three major campaigns causing the nationalist government o retreat to Taiwan. -
Korean War
Conflict between the democratic North Korea and the Republic of South Korea caused North Korea to invade South Korea. The conflict saw shifts in power, with both sides gaining and losing territory. The war involved major world powers, with the U.S. supporting South Korea and the Soviet Union and China backing North Korea. -
Cuban Revolution
Many people in Cuba were unhappy with the social and racial inequality, the corruption, and the lack of justice of Batista's regime. Fidel Castro led an armed revolution to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista. -
Overthrow of the Guatemalan Government
Jacobo Árbenz was democratically elected as the president of Guatemala. The Guatemalan coup d'état deposed the democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz and marked the end of the Guatemalan Revolution. The coup installed the military dictatorship of Carlos Castillo Armas, the first in a series of U.S.-backed authoritarian rulers in Guatemala. -
Vietnam War
A long, costly, and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. Conflict grew worse with the ongoing cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. North Vietnam eventually won the war in1975 and Vietnam became a united communist country. -
Hungarian Uprising
An attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic and the policies caused by the government's subordination to the Soviet Union. The uprising lasted 12 days before being crushed by Soviet tanks and troops. Thousands were killed and wounded and nearly a quarter of a million Hungarians fled the country. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
A failed attack launched by the CIA during the Kennedy administration to push Cuban leader Fidel Castro from power. 1,400 Cuban exiles launched what became a botched invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast of Cuba. These exiles opposed Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution and were financed and directed by the U.S. government. -
Building the Berlin Wall
East German soldiers laid down more than 30 miles of barbed wire barrier throughout Berlin. East Berlin citizens were forbidden to pass into West Berlin, and the number of checkpoints in which Westerners could cross the border was drastically reduced. The Wall was designed to prevent people from escaping to the West from East Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union began to secretly install missiles in Cuba to launch attacks on the U.S. The confrontation that followed became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The two countries came to the brink of nuclear war over the missiles but eventually came to an agreement on the removal of the missiles. -
Solidarity Movement in Poland
Solidarity's example led to the spread of anti-Communist ideas and movements throughout the Eastern Bloc, weakening Communist governments. Solidarity came to play a greater role in other revolutions but eventually its influence faded. -
Soviet War in Afghanistan
An armed conflict fought in the Soviet-controlled Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. The war resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000,000 Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees. The Soviet-Afghan War launched a cascade of devastating long-term and large-scale consequences, including the formation of al-Qaeda, and the rise of the Taliban regime. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
The People's Liberation Army cracked down on a student protest on the square. The protest had the stated purpose of calling for political liberalization and greater respect for human rights. This massacre resulted in many deaths. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions were overwhelmed and discarded. There were misinformed public announcements and many groups of people took it upon themselves to tear down the wall. The wall was torn down and the people could travel back and forth once again. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was dissolved by the Declaration of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, formally establishing the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a sovereign state and subject of international law. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned his post as president of the Soviet Union, leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the newly independent Russian state. -
9/11 Attacks
four coordinated Islamist suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States. 4 planes were hijacked and targeted at important buildings in New York. Two of the planes crashed into the twin towers killing nearly 3000 people.