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Russian Revolution
Vladimir Lenin and the revolutionaries labeled the Bolsheviks, led the citizens of Russia to revolt against the government of Tsar Nicholas II. After the overthrow of the government, the new concept of communism established the Soviet Union. -
Potsdam Conference
The "Big Three", Harry Truman; Winston Churchill; Joseph Stalin, met up after World War II to negotiate post - war Europe. Harry Truman and Winston Churchill believed Europe should hold a democratic government, whereas Joseph Stalin wanted pot - war Europe to communism. -
Atomic Bomb
During the end of World War II, the United States dropped atomic bombs, nuclear weapons, on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki because they would not surrender unconditionally. -
Iron Curtain
This was the boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas. It symbolizes the Soviet Union's efforts to surround itself with smaller countries under Joseph Stalin's rule of communism in order to avoid contact with countries who opposed communism. -
Truman Doctrine
This doctrine was an American foreign policy created to counter the Soviet Union's expansion during the Cold War. It established that the United States would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations who has the possibility of threat from Soviet Union. -
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan was the system created by the Soviet Union in order to provide aid and to rebuild countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union. -
Hollywood 10
Ten motion - picture producers, directors, and screenwriters who appeared before the House Un - American Activities Committee because they refused to answer questions regarding their possible communist affiliations. They all went to prison for the contempt of the Congress and most were blacklisted by the Hollywood studios. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe following World War II. It channeled over thirteen billion to finance the economic recovery and rebuild the hope and confidence in Europe as a whole. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crisis of the Cold War; the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin. -
Berlin Airlift
In response to the Berlin Blockade, the United States and the United Kingdom sent food, supplies, and medical assistance to its civilians in Western Berlin by aircraft. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was an alliance created by western countries including United States, Canada, and Western Europe because they needed a united defense and security against soviet aggression. -
Soviet Bomb Test
Soviet scientists constructed buildings, bridges, and other civilian structures to test their first nuclear weapon. The Soviet Union ended up testing more than 400 nuclear weapons with the atomic bomb being just as powerful as the atomic bomb created in the United States. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger Hiss was an American government official who was accused of being a communist as well as a soviet spy during World War II. Hiss appeared before HUAC and denied the charges but in the end, he was convicted of perjury. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North Korea, which was communism, and South Korea, which followed a democratic government. Soldiers from North Korea invaded South Korea by way of the 38th parallel but no negotiation was ever met. -
Rosenberg Trial
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, whom were both communists, were accused of having a connection of selling nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union after World War II. The couple were convicted of espionage and sentenced to death in the electric chair. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the decisive engagement in the First Indochina War. It consisted of a struggle between French and Viet Minh forces for control of a small mountain outpost on the Vietnamese border. The Viet Minh victory in this battle effectively ended the eight-year-old war. -
Army - McCarthy Hearings
Joseph McCarthy was a United States senator and "communist hunter" who claimed there were 205 communists working in the state department. He claimed the United States Army was turning to communism, and in return, the army accused McCarthy of accusing other with no regards of evidence. -
Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference was a conference among several nations that took place in Geneva. It was intended to settle issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War. The Koreans ended without adopting any declarations or proposals. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a collective defensive treaty among the Soviet Union and seven Soviet satellite states. The treaty called on the member states to come to the defense of any member attacked by an outside force and it set up a unified military command under Marshal Ivan S. Konev. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution was a nationwide revolt against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies. It was the first major threat to Soviet control since the USSR's forces drove Nazi Germany from its territory at the end of World War II. -
U2 Incident
The USSR shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet air space and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Confronted with the evidence of his nation’s espionage, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was forced to admit to the Soviets that the U.S. CIA had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The CIA launched a full-scale invasion of Cuba by 1,400 American-trained Cubans who had fled their homes when Castro took over. However, the invaders were badly outnumbered by Castro’s troops, and they surrendered after less than 24 hours of fighting. -
Berlin Wall
In an effort to stem the tide of refugees attempting to leave East Berlin, the communist government of East Germany began building the Berlin Wall to divide East and West Berlin. Construction of the wall caused a short-term crisis in U.S.-Soviet bloc relations. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense standoff over the nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba. President Kennedy explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba, but Americans feared a nuclear war. -
Assassination of Diem
President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother were captured and killed by a group of soldiers which caused political chaos in the nation. The United States became more involved in Vietnam as it tried to stabilize the government and control communist rebels that were becoming an increasingly powerful threat. -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas while riding in a presidential motorcade. Kennedy was fatally shot by former Lee Harvey Oswald. An investigation by the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone in shooting Kennedy. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
The resolution authorized President Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States” by North Vietnam. It was passed after an attack on U.S. naval destroyers stationed off the coast of Vietnam. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
It was a sustained aerial bombardment campaign against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The objectives were to boost the morale of the Saigon regime, to persuade North Vietnam to cease its support for the communist insurgency in South Vietnam, and destroy North Vietnam's transportation system, industrial base, and air defenses. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War by forces of the Viet Cong against the forces of the South Vietnamese Army and the United States Armed Forces. It was a campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. King had led the civil rights movement since the mid-1950s, fighting segregation and trying to achieve significant civil-rights advances for African Americans. -
Assassination of RFK
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. After winning the California and South Dakota primary elections for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, Kennedy was fatally shot while exiting through the hotel kitchen. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the German annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions. German leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this action was the alleged privations suffered by the ethnic German population living in those regions. -
Riots of Democratic Convention
At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters battle police in the streets, while the Democratic Party falls apart over an internal disagreement concerning its stance on Vietnam. -
Election of Nixon
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial presidential election. The Republican nominee, former Vice President Richard Nixon, won the election. The election of 1968 was a major realigning election as it permanently disrupted the New Deal Coalition. -
Kent State
The Kent State shootings were the shootings of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard during a mass protest against the Vietnam War at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Twenty-nine guardsmen fired approximately 67 rounds, killing four students and wounding nine others. -
Nixon Visits China
U.S. President Richard Nixon's was an important strategic and diplomatic overture. The seven-day official visit ended 25 years of no communication, nor diplomatic ties, between the two countries and was the key step in normalizing relations between the U.S. and China. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
The South Vietnamese Army was well equipped with last-minute deliveries of U.S. weapons and continued to receive U.S. aid after the cease-fire. South Vietnamese forces continued to take back villages occupied by communists in the two days before the cease-fire deadline and the communists tried to capture additional territory. -
Fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal reunification of Vietnam under the Socialist Republic. -
Reagan Elected
Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Before his presidency, he served as the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975, after a career as a Hollywood actor and union leader. -
SDI Announced
The Strategic Defense Initiative program was to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries. With the tension of the Cold War looming overhead, the Strategic Defense Initiative was the United States’ response to possible nuclear attacks from afar. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
The Geneva Conference was a Cold War-era meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. It was between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The two leaders met for the first time to hold talks on international diplomatic relations and the arms race. -
"Tear Down This Wall" Speech
This speech by President Ronald Reagan to the people of West Berlin was about the Berlin Wall, which referred to by the President, was built by Communists in August 1961 to keep Germans from escaping Communist-dominated East Berlin into Democratic West Berlin. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
Citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country’s borders. East and West Berliners flocked to the wall, as people used hammers and picks to knock away chunks of the wall, while cranes and bulldozers pulled down section after section. Soon the wall was gone and Berlin was united for the first time since 1945.
