Cold War events

By haizeagonzalez

  • the Greek Civil War.

    Greece 1946 – 1949
    The civil war resulted from a highly polarized struggle between left and right ideologies
    Fought between the Greek government army (supported by the United Kingdom and the United States) and the Democratic Army of Greece.
    The kingdom of Greece won the war. The defeat of the Communist revolt in Greece, in which more than 50 000 people died and 1,000,000 people were temporarily relocated during the war., marked the end of the spread of Soviet influence in Europe.

  • The Berlin Blockade

    It was an attempt in Berlin, 23rd June 1948 by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of the United States, Great Britain and France to travel to their sectors of Berlin.
    The Soviet Union won. Despite dire shortages of fuel and electricity, the airlift kept life going in West Berlin for 11 months, until on May 12, 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade.
    As a result, the people of West Berlin were left without food, clothing, or medical supplies.

  • The Nuclear Race (MAD)

    Between the United States, the Soviet Union. While American experts had predicted that the Soviet Union would not have nuclear weapons until the mid-1950s, the first Soviet bomb was detonated on August 29, 1949, shocking the entire world.
    Both countries continued building more and bigger bombs.
    This lasted until the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Act in July 1991.

  • The Vietnam War

    • Vietnam (1954–1975)
    • America belived that communism was threatening to expand all over south-east Asia.
    • North Vietnam (communists) vs. government of South Vietnam with the US
    • The end: On April 30, 1975, the last few Americans still in South Vietnam were airlifted out of the country as Saigon fell to communist forces.
    • North Vietnam won the war.
    • Consequences: 2 million Vietnamese civilians, killed, North Vietnam lost 70% of its industrial and transportation infrastructure.

  • The Hungarian Uprising

    Hungary, 23 October 1956.
    It was a nationwide revolution against the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies.
    The basic cause of the Hungarian revolution was that the Hungarians hated Russian communism.
    On November 4, 1956, Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest to crush, once and for all, the national uprising.
    Thousands of Hungarians were arrested and imprisoned. Russia stayed in control- no other country tried to get rid of them until Czechoslovakia in 1968.

  • The Berlin Wall

    Berlin; August 13, 1961- November 9, 1989.
    Divided Berlin in two: West Berlin controlled by the Western Allies and East Berlin controlled by yhe Soviets.
    It was built to stop a migration from the eastern, communist part to the more prosperous west.
    The Wall fell in 1989.
    consequences: marked the end of the Cold War and the start of the fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe.
    Thousands of Germans crossed from the East to the West, marking the collapse of the Wall.

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis

    It was a confrontation in October 15, 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union
    It began when the Soviet Union began building missile sites in Cuba. The Cuban Missile crisis comes to a close in October 28, 1962 as Soviet leader Nikita agrees to remove Russian missiles from Cuba in exchange for a promise from the US to respect Cuba's territorial sovereignty. USA won the war.
    The immediate effects was that United States secretly agreed to withdraw its missiles from Turkey.

  • The invasion of Czechoslovakia

    20–21 August 1968 in Czechoslovakia.
    Czechoslovakia vs Warsaw pact ( Soviet Union, Poland, Bulgaria...). Soviets invaded to crack down on reformist trends in Prague.
    September 20, 1968 ended this invasion and the warsaw pact won. Although the Soviet Union's action successfully halted the pace of reform in Czechoslovakia, it had unintended consequences for the unity of the communist bloc.
    70,000 Czechoslovak citizens fled to the West, and 400 people were killed during the invasion.

  • The Invasion of Afghanistan

    Afghanistan (December 24, 1979 – February 15, 1989)
    The Soviet Army invaded Afghanistan in order to prop up the communist government of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
    Mujahideen (supported by USA,UK...) vs. Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government.
    Mujahideen won the war. Gorbachev realized the war was costing Soviet troops. He signed a peace treaty to end the war.
    2,000,000 civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees.