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The G.I Bill
The GI Bill gave a bunch of veterans homes. The homes had low interest rates and 30 year loans. It gave them a year of paid unemployment. -
The Long Telegram
The Long Telegram was a telegram that came from George Keenan. It said that Russia wanted to spread communism. He said that the US should use their resources to attempt to keep communism contained. -
The Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was a wall that divided Europe in half. The term was coined by Winston Churchill. It's important because it divided Europe for a really long time. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine talked about the Domino Theory. It said that the US should fight communism worldwide. It also stated that the US would help democracies all over if they were attacked. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was when Truman flew supplies across the blockade to the west Berlin citizens. Sometimes over 5,000 tons of supplies were flown in. The airlift lasted for a total of 11 months. -
NATO
NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was formed to help protect the US and Western Europe from the Russians. NATO included the US and 14 other European countries. -
Space Race
The Space Race was the Soviet -vs- American attempt to get into space before the other. Russia took the lead- launching Yuri Gagarin into space. The fight eventually ended when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. -
Launch of Sputnik
Russians launched Sputnik, a satellite, on October 4th. It was about the size of a beach ball, and orbited the earth in 98 minutes. This was significant because it meant that the Russians had beat the US into space. -
The U-2 Incident
The Soviets shot down a U-2 spy plane. The plane was piloted by Francis Gary Powers. Kruschev called it an "agressive act" from the US. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was when the Soviets put missiles in Cuba. We then retaliated by putting missiles in Turkey. The US was in so much peril that we went to DEFCON-2.
