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Chinese Communist Revolution
From 1927-1937 Communist tried to gain power in China. After World War 2 and Japan surrenders and China goes back to a civil war. In 1949 Communist leader Mao Zedong declared a new socialist nation. -
The Greek Civil War
German forces had evacuated Athens six weeks earlier. Weak British forces and Greek police struggled to have order. Angry civilians marched towards the central square. The civilians opened fired and that resulted in the police open firing as well. -
Formation of the Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc were eastern European countries. They were aligned militarily, politically, economically, and culturally with the Soviet Union. This lasted from 1945-1990. The Soviet Union served as aid for these countries. -
Postwar Occupation and Division of Germany
After World War 2 the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union divided Germany into four occupation zones. Each country gains control of a part of Germany. The Western side being democratic and the Eastern side being communist. The divided Germany was weak and dependent on the countries to send them resources. -
Enactment of Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was designed to rebuild Europe. They planned to relieve the food shortages. They wanted to rebuild the European industrial complex. They wanted to bring unity to the continent. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin cutoff all land and river transit between West Berlin and Western Germany. In response the Allies had a massive airlift to come to West Berlin's aid. The blockade showed the ideological differences separating East and West. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. This war broke out internationally. The United States joined on the side of the South Koreans and the Soviet Union joined the North Koreans. The fighting ended in 1953 and Korea was still divided into two states. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was led by Fidel Castro. Their goal was to overthrow the government. They were unhappy with the social and racial inequality, along with the corruption, and lack of justice in the Batista's regime. They wanted to regain their democracy. -
Vietnam War
The war was between the communist government of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The North wanted to unite everyone under Communism. The United States joined and were allied with the South. The war ended and the Communist forces ended up taking control of South Vietnam. -
Hungarian Uprising
The new freedom of debate and criticism was a rising tide of unrest in Hungary broke out into active fighting. The rebels won the first phase of the revolution. Imre Nagy declared Hungarian neutrality and went to the United Nations for support. The Soviet Union invaded Hungary to stop the revolution . The Stalinist-type domination and did not return and Hungary experienced a slow evolution. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
1,400 Cuban exiles launched an invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast of Cuba. Fidel Castro came to power in an armed revolt. The U.S. government distrusted Castro and was wary of his relationship with the Soviet Union. Kennedy authorized the invasion plan. The invasion was a fail. -
Building the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall became a symbol of the Cold War. It represented a tangible manifestation of the world's separation in two different ideological blocs. The wall was built by the German Democratic Republic. The wall was built to keep people from escaping West Berlin and fleeing to East Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had an agreement with Cuban leader Fidel Castro to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. This was to discourage any future invasion attempts by the United States. A United States aircraft took several pictures that clearly showed the sites of the missiles. Kennedy turned to his closest advisors to come up with a solution. Kennedy issued a naval blockade of Cuba and when Soviet ships met U.S ones they turned back around. -
Rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization was a political organization that claimed to represent the world's Palestinians. It was formed to centralize the leadership of various Palestinian groups that had operated as clandestine resistance movements. It had engaged in a guerrilla war against Israel. -
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a brief period of economic and political liberalization in Czechoslovakia. It was an attempt by Dubcek to grant rights to the citizens of Czechoslovakia. Some freedoms would be loosening of restrictions on the media, speech, and travel. -
Soviet War in Afghanistan
The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in late December. The Soviets supported the Afghan communist government in the conflict against the anti-communist Muslim guerrillas. The new government forged close ties with the Soviet Union and launched ruthless purges of all domestic opposition. Uprising between individuals and the government caused the Soviets to invade the country. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
The Tiananmen Square Massacre was a series of protests and demonstrations in China. By the spring of 1989 there were growing sentiment among university students and others in China about political and economic reform. By the mid 1980's the government had encouraged some people to assume a more active political role. On April 22 tens of thousands of students gathered in Tiananmen Square demanding democratic and other reforms. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Political changes in Eastern Europe and civil unrest in Germany put pressure on the East German Government. They wanted to loosen some of its regulations on travel to West Germany. At a press conference on November 9th a spokesman announced that East Germans would be free to travel into West Germany. The media had inaccurately reported that the border had opened and crowds quickly gathered at the checkpoints. The fall of the Berlin Wall weakened the already unstable East German government. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
A sequence of events led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. There are 5 broad factors that caused the Soviet to fall. Those being political, economic, military, social, and nuclear factors. The former superpower was replaced by 15 independent countries. -
9/11 Attacks
The attacks on 9/11 resulted from multiple factors. Islamic extremism turned anti-American because of the U.S. support for Israel. Social pressures were created by rising birthrates and limited economic opportunities. Extremist thinking embraced violence because there was no other options for peaceful, democratic reform. A Saudi nationalist Osama bin Laden organized a group called Al-Qaida, where he declared war on the U.S. He and his allies created a series of terrorist attacks on the U.S.