-
Formation of the Eastern Bloc
All of the former communist regimes of Eastern Europe were replaced by democratically elected governments. In Poland, Hungary, East Germany and Czechoslovakia, newly formed center-right parties took power for the first time since the end of World War II. -
Postwar Occupation and Division of Germany
Germany was divided into four occupied zones: Great Britain in the Northwest, France in Southwest, the United States in the South, and the Soviet Union in the East. -
Greek Civil War
The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a communist-dominated uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. -
Enactment of Marshall Plan
President Truman signed the act that became known as the Marshall Plan. It provides economic aid to Europe. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese Communist Revolution was a social and political revolution that culminated in the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. -
Korean War
The Korean War was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was the military and political effort to overthrow Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship which reigned as the government of Cuba between 1952 and 1959. -
Overthrow of the Mossadegh Government in Iran
Iranian army-led overthrow of the elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in favor of strengthening the monarchical rule of the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This was a major conflict of the Cold War. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front, consisting of Cuban exiles who opposed Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution, clandestinely financed and directed by the U.S. government. -
Building the Berlin Wall
The SED began to seal off the borders around West Berlin, first with barbed wire and a few days later with walls. It hoped this measure would put an end to the mass exodus to Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis, was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of nuclear missiles in Cuba. -
Rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization
It was conceived at an Arab League summit in Cairo, and backed the use of armed struggle to achieve its goals. The PLO's first meeting occurred in Jerusalem, on May 28, 1964, when 422 Palestinian figures met to elect a leader, Ahmed Shuqeiri. -
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. -
Soviet War in Afghanistan
The war resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000,000 Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees; most externally displaced Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan and in Iran. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
The Tiananmen Square protests, known in China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China. -
Fall of The Berlin Wall
During 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. -
Fall of The Soviet Union
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. -
9/11 Attacks
They were four coordinated Islamist suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on September 11, 2001.