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United Nations Formed
Roosevelt wanted to convince the public that an international organization was the best means to prevent future wars. Senate approved the UN charter on July 28, 1945, and it came to fruition from there. This was an effort to hopefully promote and keep peace in the future. -
Hollywood 10
Hollywood 10 was a group of 10 film industry members that refused to testify to an anti-communist committee hearing during the Second Red Scare era. They were arrested and most served 4-12 months in prison. Later they were blacklisted. -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman established that the United States would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. This was created specifically in light of the civil war in Greece so that we could aid them. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was a U.S.-sponsored program designed to rehabilitate the economies of 17 western and southern European countries. The plan was made to create stable conditions in which democratic institutions could survive in the aftermath of World War II. -
NATO formed
NATO is a security alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe. NATO's fundamental goal is to safeguard the Allies' freedom and security by political and military means. -
Korean War
After five years of simmering tensions on the Korean peninsula, the Korean War began, when the Northern Korean People's Army invaded South Korea in a coordinated general attack at several strategic points along the 38th parallel, which was the line that divided the communist(North) and non-communist-republic(south) sides of Korea. North Korea wanted to militarily conquer South Korea and unify Korea under a communist regime. -
Space Race/Sputnik
The space race was a race to the moon between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Both countries made announcements to launch their first artificial satellite into space, but it was the Soviet Union that brought humanity into the Space Age with their Sputnik satellite, which was successfully launched on October 4, 1957. -
Bay Of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs invasion was an abortive invasion of Cuba by some 1,500 Cuban exiles opposed to Fidel Castro. The invasion was financed and directed by the U.S. government. -
Berlin Wall Goes Up
The 155 Kilometer long Berlin Wall, surrounded West Berlin. The wall was designed to prevent people from escaping to the West from East Berlin. -
U.S. Officials Enter Vietnam War
A major factor that led to President Johnson's decision to have the U.S. intervene in Vietnam militarily was the fear of communism due to Cold War tensions with countries such as China and the Soviet Union. Vietnam was very important to the U.S. in Asia with it being perceived as a western democratic state. -
Soviets Invade Afghanistan
The Soviet Union intervened in support of the Afghan communist government in its conflict with anti-communist Muslim guerillas. This occured during the Afghan War(1978-92) and Soviets remained in Afghanistan until mid-February 1989. -
Berlin Wall Comes Down
The fall of the Berlin Wall was the first step to German reunification. Political changes in Eastern Europe and civil unrest in Germany put pressure on the East German government to loosen some of its regulations on travel to West Germany.