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Berlin Airlift
Germany was split into four sections with the soviet union owning west germany. In west germany berlin was located. Berlin was split into two zones East and West Berlin with West Berlin being a part of the United Nations and East Berlin being in the Soviet Union's control. The Soviet Union blockaded east Berlin leaving them to defend for themselves, Truman had an ingenious idea of delivering supplies through airplanes allowing for Berlin to survive. The Berlin Airlift ended on May 12, 1949. -
The Soviet Atomic Bomb
The Soviet effort was led by Igor Kurchatov at a secret site known as Arzamas-16. Early efforts were greatly aided by spies inside the Manhattan Project, most notably by Klaus Fuchs. After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the program accelerated into high gear. The Soviets began construction of a near copy of the Fat Man bomb, using the detailed design descriptions provided by Fuchs. Its estimated yield was about 22 kilotons. -
China falls to The Communists
There were two leading parties in China, the nationalist party and the communist party. Chiang Kai-shek was the leader of the Nationalist party. Map Zedong was the leader of the communist. Chiang Kai-shek was backed by the U.S and Mao Zedong by the Soviet Union. Communist and Nationalist began a civil war after WW2 called the Chinese Communist Revolution. The Communist won the war defeating the Nationalist allowing for China to fall to communist hands with Mao Zedong as their leader. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North Korea and South Korea. North Korea was a communist dictatorship. South Korea was also a dictatorship. North Korea invaded South Korea. North Korea then pushed the United Nations and South Korea to the south east corner of South Korea. The United Nations then had an invasion pushing North Korea past the 38th parallel. China joined the war pushing the United Nations back to the 38th parallel in which the war then stalled out. The war ended on July 27, 1953. -
Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg Execution
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were American citizens who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. The couple were convicted of providing top-secret information about radar, sonar, jet propulsion engines, and valuable nuclear weapon designs. The Rosenbergs were the first U.S. citizens to be convicted and executed for espionage during peacetime and their case remains controversial to this day. -
McCarthy Hearings
McCarthy hearings was a government trial in which Senator Joseph McCarthy pointed at the state department, the Us army, and the government’s printing office as communist. He blamed these political figures with communism by using unfair investigation and accusations in order to suppress the opposition. McCarthy lost public opinion and credibility by many of the claims being false along with the continued opposition of the Supreme Court. The McCarthy Hearings ended on June 17, 1954. -
Geneva Accords signed
The Geneva Accords was a document that was used to safe keep Vietnam. Their failure led to war outbreaks. -
Sputnik 1
The Soviet Union launched the earth’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik-1. The success of Sputnik had a major impact on the Cold War and the United States. Sputnik had a diameter of 22 inches and weighed 184 pounds and circled Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. Traveling at 18,000 miles an hour, its elliptical orbit had an apogee of 584 miles and a perigee of 143 miles. On January 4, 1958 it fell back and burned in Earth's atmosphere. -
NASA’s Creation
The U.S. Congress passes legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA was created in response to the Soviet Union’s October 4, 1957 launch of its first satellite, Sputnik I. NASA is a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America’s activities in space. -
Fidel Castro seizes power
Fidel Castro is sworn in as prime minister of Cuba after leading a guerrilla campaign that forced right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista into exile. Castro, who became commander in chief of Cuba’s armed forces after Batista was ousted on January 1, replaced the more moderate Miro Cardona as head of the country’s new provisional government.