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Russian Revolution
The period in 1917 when the Russian Empire was overthrown by the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin. -
Potsdam Conference
The Allied powers, Winston Churchill of Britain, President Roosevelt of the US, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union met to establish a system of governments through postwar Europe, especially Germany. -
Atomic Bomb
To end World War II, the US engineered the first ever nuclear weapon. On August 6, 1945 the US dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and 3 days later the bomb on Nagasaki was dropped. A day later the Japanese surrendered. -
Iron Curtain
The metaphorical, and in some places literal, divide between Europe of communism government on the East and democratic government on the West. The term was brought into use in Prime Minister Churchill's speech at Fulton, Missouri. -
Truman Doctrine
The American foreign policy at the time of the Cold War that documented that the US would stop the spread of communism by providing political, military, and economic assistance to any democratic nation threatened by soviet rule. -
Marshall Plan
The US proposed this plan to support Europe financially to rebuilt. If countries rebuilt quickly, there was a lessened chance of them accepting communism. -
Molotov Plan
A plan proposed to rebuild Eastern Europe in a way that was aligned with their communist ideals. -
Hollywood 10
A group of the film industry who refused to answer questions during interrogation by the HUAC under the 1st ammendment. -
Berlin Airlift
When the US airlifted supplies including food, water, and medicine to West Berlin because the Soviets had blockaded the remainder of Berlin. This helped prevent Berlin from becoming totally controlled by the Soviet Union after WWII. -
Berlin Blockade
The Soviet Union isolated and pillaged Berlin which was deep in the Soviet sector of Germany. They attempted to starve the Allies out of West Berlin by blockading all supplies. -
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization formed during the Cold War to safeguard the nations involved by means of political and military force and combat against communism. Some major nations involved in NATO are the US, Belgium, Canada, UK, and France. -
Soviet Union Bomb Test
Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb. This came much earlier than Americans expected. -
Alger Hiss Case
The hearing of a communist spy working in the US state department. This case was a pivotal moment that began the Red Scare in America. -
Rosenberg Trial
The couple convicted of passing nuclear bomb secrets to the Soviet Union. They were both executed via electric chair. -
Korean War
The resulting war from communist North Korea invading South Korea, thus, calling the US to defend South Korea. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The first battle of the Indochinese war where French troops occupied the Dien Bien Phu Valley. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
A series of hearings held to investigate Soviet spy accusations of people working for the US government and US Army prompted by McCarthy. The highly publicized hearings exposed him as a fraud. -
Geneva Conference
The event in which several nations including US, USSR, China, France, and Great Britain met in Switzerland to discuss Indochina & Vietnam. -
Warsaw Pact
The group of defense that consisted of the Soviet Union and it's satellites that mimicked NATO. -
Hungarian Revolution
The people of Hungary revolted against the Moscow appointed government that revoked all their wealth and subsequently had yielded harvest shortages and fuel shortages. -
U-2 Incident
The Soviet Union shot down a US spy plane that was sent to secretly take pictures of Russian military sites. The pilot, Francis Gary Powers was captured and held for propaganda. -
Berlin Wall
A physical barrier that divided Berlin into East (communist, controlled by USSR) and West (democratic and free). It prevented migration between the two parties -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The 13 day standoff when the Soviet Union installed nuclear missile sites in Cuba, which sits 90 miles off the shore of the US. President JFK began a naval blockade to make clear that the US was willing to use military force. -
Assassination of Diem
Personnel change of South Vietnam due to military intervention. The democratic leader appointed by the US was receiving a lot of protest from his citizens. -
Assassination of JFK
The President of the US was assassinated in a motorcade while he was campaigning for Texas. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
When the USS Maddox was fired upon in international waters by the Vietnamese, LBJ went to congress and acquired the "Blank Check" which was authorization to wage war because it gave him power as he saw fit. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
The response the US had to a Vietnamese raid on an American air base. US bombed Vietnamese targets for 3.5 years to put military pressure on the North. -
TET Offensive
US retaliation against the Vietcong after they launched a major attack on almost every American station in South Vietnam. -
Assassination of MLK
The civil rights movement leader was shot dead in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. This event triggered many riots and outbreaks in major cities. -
Assassination of RFK
Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in LA. He had just won the California presidential primaries and was believed to be the only one that could unite the American people at this time of unrest. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia to reinstall normalization of the country. They interrupted the period of calm and peace the country was having. -
Riots of Democratic Convention
Many Vietnam War protesters showed up to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and cause trouble with the police. This event inspired many Americans to rethink the war. -
Election of Nixon
The republican nominee Richard Nixon was elected as the 46th president of the US. He was favored because he promise "law and order" to a severely divided country. -
Kent State
In response to the invasion of Cambodia, students at Kent State protested the Vietnam War. The National Guard open-fired on a crowd of students during the protest and shot 4 dead. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Backed by American CIA, they trained 1400 Cuban exiles to invad Cuba to push Fidel Castro from power. It failed badly because they were badly outnumbered. -
Nixon Visits China
To normalize relations, President Nixon visited the People's Republic of China as the first president to visit since it was established in 1949. He wished to -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
Saigon controlled much of the land and people in Vietnam after the ceasefire. The US provided a lot of aid to South Vietnamese escaping persecution. -
Fall of Saigon
When the South Vietnam capitol city of Saigon was captured by the North Vietnam communist people. -
SDI Announced
President Reagan created an American defense plan that lasers would zap Soviet nuclear missiles out of the atmosphere before reaching US soil. Its full name was Strategic Defense Initiative was nicknames Star Wars. -
Reagan Elected
President Ronald Reagan was a republican politician who wanted to achieve "peace through strength" -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
Ronald Reagan met with new Russian leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to establish a solid relationship. -
'Tear Down this Wall' Speech
President Reagan spoke to the people of West Berlin at the Berlin Wall to urge Gorbahev to knock the wall down and unite the Berliners. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The leaders of the East Berlin Communist party allowed free migration across the border (Berlin Wall). People began to tear down the wall and cross the border as they pleased.
