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The Formation of the United Nations
Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers met in Washington to sign the Declaration of the United Nations, pledging to use their full resources against the Axis and agreeing not to make a separate peace. -
Period: to
Cold War
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Potsdam Conference
Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Harry Truman met in Potsdam, Germany to negotiate terms for the end of World War II and finally, Germany surrendered. -
Iron Curtain Descends On Europe
An barrier built by the Soviet Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependent European allies from having contact with the West and other noncommunist areas. -
Truman Doctorine
The Truman Doctorine was a warning to the USSR that the USA would step in to support any nation that was being threatened by an armed minority. -
Marshall Plan
This plan was established to help aid and restore Europe. The United States gave economic support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II. -
Creation of Israel
The head of the Jewish Agency, David Ben-Gurion, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel and Truman recognized the new nation that same day. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was meant for Britain, France, and the U.S. people who were stuck deep in the Soviet-zone to get food. The Berlin Airlift lasted for more than a year and carried 2.3 tons of cargo into West Berlin. -
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This treaty was signed on April 4, 1949 and it has its headquarters in Belgium. NATO was formed after WWII as a threat from Soviet Russia's invasion on Western Europe. This organization has 28 members. -
Korean War
The Korean War was the first armed conflict in the global struggle between democracy and communism. Heavy fighting raged at the 38th parallel, which became the post-war border between the two countries. There were 5,720,000 US troops involved and 33,741 of those men died in battle. -
Stalin dies
Stalin was allied with Adolf Hitler and once Germany surrendered, Stalin prosecuted with a reign of terror, purges, executions, exiles, and presecution in the postwar USSR. Later Stalin died of a massive heart attack. -
Warsaw Pact formed
Eight European satellites sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact which was a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member state. The treaty was signed in Warsaw hense the name The Warsaw Pact. -
Suez Crisis
Israel, France, and Great Britain used the canal as a reason to attack Egypt because all three countries had an issue with Nasser's government at the time. They secretly planned that Israel would attack and sieze the canal while the French and the British would enter as peacekeepers taking control of the canal. -
Vietnam War
This war was a long, costly armed conflict that marked the communist government of North Vietnam and its southern allies against South Vietnam and the US. More than 3 million people, along with 58,000 Americans were killed. -
Sputnik I
NASA successfully launched Sputnik 1, which began the space age. The successful launch shocked the world. This gave the former Soviet Union the distinction of putting the first human-made object into space. -
Sputnik II
This was the second spacecraft launched into Earth's orbit. After reaching orbit, the nose cone was jettisoned successfully but Blok A core didn't seperate as planned causing the orbit of Sputnik 2 to decay. It reentered Earth's atmosphere on April 14, 1958 after 162 days in orbit, -
NASA is formed
NASA was formed so the US could develop a state-of-the-art exploration program that would outdo the Soviet Union's program. The US was in the middle of the Cold War with Russia and wanted to achieve technological dominance. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion begins when tranied group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. The attack faileld. -
Berlin Wall Constructed
The East German authorities built the Berlin Wall to permanently close off access to the West. The wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
After Kennedy secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba, he decided to place a ring of ships around Cuba. The Soviets agreed to dismantle the weapon sites if the US pleged not to invade Cuba. -
Kennedy is Assassinated
As the Kennedy's car was oassing the Texas School Book Depository, gunfire echoed in the Dealey Plaza around 12:30PM. Bullets struck the president's neck and head. At 1 PM JFK was pronounded dead. -
USS Pueblo Incident
Because the Pueblo had been in international waters, the United States began a military build up in the area. This lead to the capture of the USS "Pueblo", a Navy intelligence ship. -
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
International treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the foal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. -
UN Resolution 2758
Recognized the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations and expelled the representatives of Chian Kai-Shek from the place they unlawfully occupy at the UN. -
Nixon visits China
Nixon was seeking to improve relations with a communist country during the cold war. Nixon and Zhou Enlai agreed to expand cultural contacts between their two nations. -
Paris Peace Accords
US agreed to the withdrawl of all US troop and advisors and the distmantting of all US bases within 60 days. North Vietnamese agreed to release all U.S. and other prisoners of war. -
South Vietnam Falls
The last of the US military left Vietnam on March 29. Communists and South Vietnamese were already engaged in the Postwar War. Both sides alleged that the other side was violating the terms of the peace agreements. After Nixon resigned, Congress cut military and economic aid to Vietnam as a resuly of inflation, unemployment, and enormous desertion rate in the army. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
A group of Iranian students took more than 60 American hostages on November 4, 1979. The students set their hostages free on January 21, 1981. Many historians believe that hostage crisis cost Jimmy Carter a second term as president. -
Korean Airline Flight 007
Flight 007 was a scheduled Korean Airlines flight from NYC to Seoul through Anchorage. The airliner serving the flight was shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor near Moneron Island. The 269 passangers and crew were killed. -
U.S. and Soviet Union boycotts of the Olympics
The protest the US made was against the Soviet Union. Before the US boycotted the Soviet Union in the olympics, the soviets had withdraw from afgahnistan within a month before the olympics. -
Iran-Contra Affair
Political scandal in the US that was uncovered by Sheehan and Institute and became national news in November 1986. The affair began as an operation to free the 7 American hostages being held in Lebanon by a group with Iranian ties connected to the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. The affair was planned for Israel to ship weapons to Iran and the US would resupply Israel and receive the Iraeli payment. -
Chernobyl Disaster
Was the result of a flawed reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained people. The resulting steam explosion and fires releaded at least 5% of the radioactive reactor core into the atmosphere and downwind. Two plant workers died that night and 28 people died within a few weeks from radiation poisoning -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Chinese troops and security police stormed through Tiananmen Square, firing into the crowds of protesters who crowded into central Beijing to protest for greater democracy and call for the resignations of Chinese Communist Party leaders deemed too repressive. About 300 protesters were killed and as many as 10,000 were arrested. -
Dissolving of the Soviet Union
The Soviet harliners wanted to take over so they decided to kidnap the governor and have the army come in and arrest or kill any protesters who protested against the Soviet hardliners in charge. Since the army didn't want to arrest or kill their own people, the takeover failed. The governor resigned and the Soviet Union was dissolved, dividing up into 15 seperate independent countries.
