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Russian Revolution
The revolution in Russia, from March 3, 1917 to November 8, 1917 that ended the Tsarist Autocracy and led to the rise of the Soviet Union and communism. -
Potsdam Conference
A conference between the leading powers of the world to decide how to divide up Germany and what to do now that the war was over. July 2, 1945 to August 2, 1945 -
Atomic Bomb
The atomic bomb was developed by the U.S. under the code name "The Manhattan Project". This bomb changed warfare forever by its potential of destruction. When Japan refused to surrender we dropped two of these on them. One at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and one at Nagasaki August 8, 1945. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the "curtain" across Europe that separated communists and anti communists -
Molotov Plan
Russia's plan to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe. -
Hollywood 10
The Hollywood 10 were 10 famous people from Hollywood that refused to talk to congress and say that they were anticommunism. They lost all of their respect and were not relevant in Hollywood again -
Truman Doctrine
The doctrine that President Truman put out in aid of countries that were anti communism. -
Marshall Plan
The plan that the U.S. came up with to rebuild Western Europe -
Berlin Blockade
June 24, 1948-May 12,1949. A wall that the Soviet Unions put up to keep people in East Berlin and to keep them from seeing the freedoms that others had in West Berlin. -
Berlin Airlift
June 24, 1948-May 12, 1949. The help that we sent beyond the wall of Berlin to help those who lived there. Since the Soviets had cut off all supplies to the city the U.S. flew them in. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger Hiss was an accused communist who was prosecuted by the HUAC. This case was controversial because he was an ex-government official. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. An organization between (the United States, France and the United Kingdom. All banded together against communism and against the Soviet Union. -
Soviet Bomb Test
The date of the first successful bomb test that the Soviets had. This was a big day for Americans because it meant that they no longer had an upper hand on the Soviets. -
Korean War
June 25, 1960-July 27, 1953 The war in Korea that we tried to help stop the spread of communism. -
Rosenbergs Trial
The Rosenberg trial was a trial that accused two Americans of selling secrets to the Russians during the cold war. They were found guilty and put to death. -
Battle of Bien Dien Phu
This battle took place between March and May of 1954. The battle was between the French and Vietnamese over the French colonies in Indochina. -
Army McCarthy Hearings
McCarthy was a Senator that declared he had a list of people working in the U.S. government that were secretly communists. Using the fear of the people he used this "list" to gain power but later lost all reputation because he did not actual have a list -
Geneva Conference
This conference took place from April 26, 1954 to July 20, 1954. At this conference they dismantled the French colonies in Indochina that led to North and South Vietnam. -
Warsaw Pact
The pact that communists made in response to NATO. They were afraid of going to war by themselves so they made this pact to have allies. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution was the uprising against the Marxist government that was forced upon them. This was important because it showed the U.S. that there was other countries that did not want communism. -
U2 incident
The U2 incident was when a spy ship was shot down in Soviet airspace. This was important because we were not supposed to spying on the Russians and it exposed us because we were accusing them of doing the same thing. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs invasion was when the U.S. launched an invasion on Cuba to try and overthrow Fidel Castro. This was important because the president would not send military support and we lost a war that we should have won. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built by the Soviet Union to separate the communist parts of Berlin from the democratic parts. This was important because it showed the rest of the world that communism was not that great. The Berlin Wall was standing from 1961-1989. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the threat of nuclear weapons being armed by the Soviets close enough to the U.S. to strike us at any time. This was important because we did not have intercontinental missiles yet so we did not have a way to strike back. -
Assassination of Diem
The assassination of Diem was the killing of the South Vietnamese president that was losing to communism. He was disliked in his own country which made his people want communism and the U.S. did not like this. -
Assassination of JFK
The assassination of JFK was when Lee Harvey Oswald murdered the 35th president of the United States John F. Kennedy. This was important because Lee Harvey Oswald was a marxist and it showed the world what they were truly capable of and what they would do to try and stop the spread of democracy. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Two U.S. ships had been fired upon by North Vietnamese so LBJ asked congress for permission to wage war. When congress granted this to him they gave him a "blank check". This meaning that he could use whatever force he found necessary to fight the North Vietnamese. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the bombing by Americans on North Vietnamese. This was meant to make it so that North Vietnam would not have the self support to continue to wage war on the U.S. and South Vietnam. This operation lasted three years. -
Tet Offensive
This was when the North Vietnamese launched attacks on almost every military and government center in South Vietnam. This was important because it was on the Chinese New Year and usually they took a break from the war but this time the Vietcong did not. -
Assassination of MLK
The assassination of MLK was when James Earl Ray killed a major leader of the civil rights movement in the U.S. -
Assassination of RFK
This was the assassination of John F. Kennedy's brother who was running for president. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The invasion of Czechoslovakia was when five nations from the Warsaw Pact banded together to over throw Czech. They sent a quarter of a million troops in and killed and wounded many civilians in the siege. -
Riots of Democratic Convention
With the antiwar movement increasing in the U.S. thousands of protesters gathered at the Democratic Convention to show their disapproval of the war. This was important because it showed frustration of U.S. and it was violent. -
Election of Nixon
President Richard Nixon was elected after LBJ. This was important because Nixon turned the tides of the Vietnam war. -
Kent State
This was the killing of unarmed college students that were protesting the war. This was important because it showed how high the tension was here in the U.S. over this war. -
Nixon visits China
Richard Nixon visits China to talk to and attempt to mend problems with China. This was important because it was the first communication with China since the communist revolution there in 1949. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
The ceasefire in Vietnam was the U.S. calling off the attacks on North Vietnam. This was important because we said that we would respond with full force if the North Vietnamese broke the ceasefire. We did not respond when the ceasefire was broken and the North took over. -
Fall of Saigon
This was when the North Vietnamese captured the capital of South Vietnam. This was important event because we did not support the Vietnamese like we said we would and also we pulled off the biggest helicopter evacuation in history. -
Reagan Elected
Ronald Reagan was elected to be the POTUS in 1980. He was an important president because he put a lot of pressure on the Soviet Union and helped to thaw the Cold War. -
SDI announced
SDI was Reagan's idea of how to defend against Soviet nuclear weapons. He wanted to put satellites orbiting the Earth with lasers that could destroy the missiles before they could reach the U.S. -
Geneva Convention with Gorbachev
The Geneva Convention was where many nations got together to talk about international affairs. This convention was important because Nixon and Gorbachev had mutual respect and this relationship helped to break apart the Soviet Union. -
"Tear Down This Wall" Speech
This speech given by Reagan put pressure onto the Soviet Union to bring down the Berlin Wall and stop holding their citizens captive. With the relationship they had and the pressure from the whole world the Soviets later agreed to tear down the wall. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall was a key event in the end of the Cold War. This showed that the Soviet Union was willing to change even just the slightest bit, and showed that the pressure we were putting on them was working.
