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Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought between the Greek State and the Communists. The United States and Great Britain supported the Greek State due to their policies of containing communism and stopping it from spreading in Europe and Asia. The final victor of the battle was the Greek State, which defeated the communists and secured a non-communist government. -
Division of Germany/Postwar Occupation
After WWII, Germany was split among the four allies of the war; the United States, France, Great Britain, and the USSR. Each country was given a portion of Germany and allowed to rule it accordingly. The USSR received East Germany, however, and implemented communist regimes. This caused the other three countries to unite their sectors of Germany to create a much larger democratic part of Germany. -
Enactment of Marshall Plan
After World War II, the majority of Europe was left destroyed and in remains. The United States was unscathed on the mainland, however, and decided to send resources and relief to European nations affected. This became known as the Marshall Plan, which sent over $13 billion to help rebuild Europe post-WWII -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
After the unification of Eastern Germany by the non-communist allies, Germany decided to block all supplies and relief entering Eastern Germany. This was referred to as the Berlin Blockade. The U.S responded to this by airlifting supplies and dropping them from planes in Eastern Germany. After multiple times of doing this, the USSR finally seized the blockade into Eastern Germany -
Chinese Communist Revolution
This period was when China underwent a political and social revolution. The previous Democratic country saw an uprise in communist support and eventually became a communist-controller nation. The newly formed communist China was led by Mao Zedong -
Korean War
The Korean War was a Civil War fought between communist North Korea and democratic South Korea. It first began when the North invaded the South. Later in the war, the U.S backed the South due to their policy of containment. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was the uprising against the former government of Cuba. The leader of this uprising was Fidel Castro, a supporter of a communist government. After overthrowing the government, Cuba officially became a Communist government and a prominent figure on the world stage. -
Formation of the Eastern Bloc
Also known as the Warsaw Pact, the Eastern Bloc was an alliance amongst the Eastern European countries during the Cold War. Members included the former USSR, Czechoslovakia, Eastern Germany, Albania, etc. The point of this alliance was to rival NATO, which was the alliance amongst Western Countries, and help spread communism throughout the world. The USSr wanted to spread its communistic sphere of influence, and by protecting members of this pact it could do so and ensure the use of communism. -
Vietnam War
This was another Civil War in Asia, with the other being the Korean War. The North was the communist sector, and the South was democratic. The North was supported by allies such as China and the USSR, due to them supporting the expansion of communism. The South was supported by the U.S due to their effort of containment in Asia and Europe. The war ended after the Fall of Saigon, where the North overpowered the South. This finally resulted in Vietnam becoming a communist government. -
Hungarian Uprising
The Hungarian Uprising was a political and social movement carried out in Hungary by the USSR during the 1950s. The main goal was to abolish any independent ideologies that began to surface, threatening the continuation of communism in Eastern Europe. By using force and military action, the Soviet Union was able to dissolve all possible uprising against the communist-regime. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs was a failed invasion carried out by the United States and previously exiled Cubans. The United States hoped to overthrow the newly acquainted Fidel Castro and the communist government he brought with him. The United States hoped to gain support along the way from Cubans but actually was not. This failure was the first for newly elected President Kennedy, who was at risk of losing support from the United States public. -
Construction of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built by the USSR in the early 1960s in order to contain East Berlin residents from fleeing to the democratic West. The wall symbolized the divide between the U.S and the Soviet Union during the cold war. After almost 30 years, the wall was officially destroyed in 1989 upon the initial collapse of the USSR -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This event was one of the closest conflicts between the USSR and the U.S during the Cold War. The United States had received information about the USSR shipping missile supplies to Cuba, in order to assemble them and possibly launch them upon the United States. Upon learning this, the U.S responded by blockading the island from further shipments being received. The ultimate result was the Soviets seizing the shipments and withdrawing supplies as long as the U.S did the same in Turkey. -
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political tension between the USSR and Czechoslovakia. These two nations were part of the Warsaw Pact, however, Czechoslovakia wanted to leave the pact and become a non-communist state. This caused the Soviets to respond by sending military and armaments to suppress the rebellion, showcasing the USSR's desire to deprive all Eastern-European nations of achieving a non-communist state of government. -
Overthrow of the Allende Government in Chile
The overthrow of the Chilean government was a coup carried out by the United States in order to ensure democracy continued to exist and flourish in the country. Prior to this, there was a rumor that the President, Salvador Allende, would push the country into socialism and terminate all efforts made by the U.S to keep democracy prominent in the world. President Nixon decided to use force, through air raids and bombings, to overthrow Allende and continue with democracy in Chile. -
Soviet War in Afghanistan
The USSR decided to intervene in the Middle East via war in order to further spread its ideas and philosophy of communism. By doing so, they triggered a major 9-year-long war, where the U.S became involved when they backed the democratic Mujahadeen. After long battles using guerilla warfare, an agreement was finally signed where both parties would withdraw troops and become non-aligned members. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
This was a protesting event held in China, where students rose up and fought for the return of democracy. The Chinese government responded by cracking down on it through police violence and "defense". One of the most notable images was the one below, named Tank Man, who symbolized the Chinese population and their desire to peacefully demand democracy. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961, during the peak of the Cold War. This was built by the USSR in order to contain East Germans from fleeing the communist-controller section of Germany to the Democratic West. Due to the beginning of the collapse of the USSR however, the wall was ultimately destroyed. The tearing down of the wall symbolized the ending of the Cold War and the Soviet Union's efforts to spread communism -
Fall of the Soviet Union
After enduring the effects of bankruptcy within the government, the Soviet Union began to collapse in 1989 and ultimately dissociated in 1991. This was met with the resignation of the last leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the installment of President Boris Yeltsin. The fall of this superpower symbolized a major step in the U.S policy of containment and elimination of communism from the globe. -
9/11 Attacks
The September 11th attacks were terrorist attacks on the United States carried out by the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda. The event included both the World Trade Center which were struck and destroyed, the Pentagon, and a plane that was overrun by passengers which was most likely headed for the White House. This event is considered the first conflict that began in the U.S War on Terrorism and its long involvement in the Middle East.