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The Iron Curtain Speech
The Iron Curtain Speech was the speech given by former Prime Minister of England, Winston Churchill, after he failed reelection in 1945. The speech started with a praise of the United States, and proceeded to warn against the Soviet Union's expansionist policies. He described an Iron Curtain that was all around Eastern Europe, referring to the communist spread. -
The Truman Doctrine
On March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman announced his "Truman Doctrine". The was an American foreign policy created to counter the spread of communism by the Soviet Union. Later in July of 1948 year, it was developed to include the protection of countries endangered from soviet threats, including the financial support of Greece and Turkey who were aiming towards communism. -
Hollywood Ten Hearings
The HUAC, who investigated possible communist activities in America during the Cold War turned their attention to the Hollywood industry in 1947. They forced people to call witnesses and give testimonies who they thought may be communist. 10 of the people refused to testify, as they thought it was a violation of their civil rights and liberties and became known as the Hollywood 10. They were convicted to a year in prison and had a 1000 dollar fine as well as their career destroyed. -
The Marshall Plan
George Marshall, once a General of the US Army became Secretary of State and introduced his Marshall Plan, which became effective on June 3, 1948. His plan was for America to aid devastated Western Europe after WWII witch $12 billion dollars. American would rebuild the destroyed regions, remove trade barriers, and modernized the industries to make Europe successful again. However, the main goal in all these action was to prevent the spread of communism to poor countries in need. -
The Berlin Blockade
During the Berlin Blockade, which lasted from June 1948 to May 1949, the Soviet Union blocked all the Western Allies' accesses into their sectors of Berlin under Western control in an effort to control all of Berlin for themselves. The allies responded with the Berlin Airlift, and after it succeeded, the blockade was lifted. -
The Molotov Plan
Similar to the Marshall Plan, the Molotov Plan was a Soviet Union system in which they aimed to help rebuild the eastern European countries that they had government influence in. After the Marshall Plan was rejected by the Soviets, the Molotov plan was created as a symbol of that rejection. The Plan allowed the European countries to rely on the Soviets instead of the United States. -
NATO
NATO or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a military alliance which was created on April 4, 1949. Because of the communism expansion by the Soviet Union, the United States and many other countries were prompted to create the alliance. The alliance was made to stop the spread of communism by defending each other from the possibility of Soviet overtaking. In 1955, the Warsaw Pact was created to counter NATO which included the Soviet Union. NATO is still intact today. -
The Berlin Airlift
Following WWII, Germany was rebuilt into four sections, and although Berlin was in the Soviet section, it was also split up into four zones. The Soviet Union wanted all of Berlin so they closed it down so no one could leave or get supplies. The Berlin Airlift was an effort by the US and it's allies to supply their parts of the city from the air. The airlift started June 24,1949 and lasted until May 12, 1949 and allowed 2.3 million tons of supplies to be shipped shipped into Berlin, Germany. -
Soviet Atomic Bomb Test of 1949
On August 29, 1949 the Soviet Union exploded their first atomic bomb in Kazakhstan, in a test code named "First Lightning." Around the site, Soviets set up buildings and other structures as well as animals near the bomb site to test the effect of the bomb as well as nuclear radiation. Those who has helped to create the bomb were honored with achievements, but if they had failed they would have been executed or imprisoned. The United States first picked up on the radiation less than a week later. -
Alger Hiss Case
In 1948, Alger Hiss, an American government official, was accused of being a Soviet Spy (during communist hysteria in America). He was convicted of perjury in 1950 and sentenced to five years in prison of which he severed 3 years and 8 months. -
Korean War
When Soviet based North Korea invaded "Westernized" South Korea at the 38th parallel in an effort to spread communism. The Korean War was the first military action of the Cold War. United States backed South Korea as the war was against forces of communism. Out of fear of WWIII, the war was ended in July 1953 after 5 million soldiers/civilians were killed. North Korea and South Korea remained divided. -
Rosenburg Case
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were Soviet Spies in the US who shared top secret military technology related to the Atomic Bomb. They were tried and convicted, and eventually executed with an electric chair. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu between the French in the valley and the Viet Minh on the mountains. With unexpected heavy artillery and Chinese aid, the Viet Minh eliminated the French airfield and overran the base. This caused the French government to end the fighting by which they signed the Geneva Accords of 1954. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
The Army-McCarthy hearings were held from April-June 1954 to explore the accusations the US Army gave involving Joseph McCarthy who they thought have gotten influence to get preferential treatment for a former senator who was drafted. McCarthy counter charged claiming the army was trying to derail his investigations of army security through blackmail.The hearings were on television, and eventually lead to Senator McCarthy being highly disproved of.The word McCarthyism stems from this incident. -
Geneva Conference
To resolve problems in Asia, including French-Vietnamese War a conference was held. The French agreed the withdraw their troops from North Vietnam, and then Vietnam would be divided in half at the 17th parallel, the US would influence the south, and Soviets, the North. -
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact, which started on the 14th of May 1955 was a collective defense treaty which included the Soviet Union and their government influenced countries including Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Albania. It was created in response to NATO, but did not come in contact directly. The Warsaw Pact's biggest operation was the Invasion of Czechoslovakia. The treaty was dissolved on July 1, 1991. -
The Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution was a nationwide revolt against the Soviet policies residing in the Hungarian Government. It was the first threat to communist Russia since they defeated Germany. During the revolution, the government collapsed, Pro-Soviets were executed or imprisoned, and former political leaders imprisoned by the Soviets were released. To end the revolution, the Soviets drove tanks into Budapest and arrested thousands of Hungarians. -
U-2 Incident
In May 1960, the USSR shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet air space and captured Francis Gary Powers, the pilot. Following, President Eisenhower had to admit the CIA was spying on the Soviets for many years. The Soviets sentenced the pilot to 10 years in prison, but the was released after 2 years after being swapped for a soviet spy. The event raised tensions between USSR and the US. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
On the first day of 1959, Cuban nationalist Fidel Castro brought his guerrilla army into Cuba's capital and overthrew Cuba's American-backed president. The CIA tried to removed Castro from power and eventually started a full scale invasion n 1961 of Cuban by 1400 Cubans trained by Americans, but they were outnumbered. -
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was started in 1961 by East Germans, who were then controlled by the Soviet Union. Their goal was the create a barrier between the communist controlled Germany and the West, which was controlled by NATO countries. In East Germany, the wall was named an "Anti Fascist Protective Wall" which was propaganda, as it referred to NATO countries being like fascists. East Germans could not go west, and as a result many families were split up, and jobs were lost.The wall was opened in 1989. -
Berlin Wall
In 1961, communist Easy Germany began to build the Berlin Wall which would separate them from West Germany in order to keep fascists from entering. It served the, "objective of stemming mass defections from East to West." It stood until November 1989. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, a 13 day standoff between the US and USSR started after nuclear Soviet missiles were placed in the neighborly country of Cuba. The US launched a naval blockade around Cuba, and many people feared nuclear war. The standoff ended when the Soviet leader agreed to removed the missiles if the US did not invade Cuba as well as President Kennedy secretly agreeing to remove US missiles from Turkey. -
Assassination of Diem
On November 2, 1963, President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was captured alongside his brother and killed by South Vietnamese soldiers. His death caused a celebration in South Vietnam, and lead to political chaos. After his death, the US became more involved in Vietnam to help the South Vietnamese government beat communist rebels. The US did not claim responsibility for the death of Diem, but later it was revealed that hey dead meet with the generals that committed the act and encouraged them. -
Assassination of JFK
On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy as assassinated in Dallas,Texas in his open-top convertible. At 12:30 pm, Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots from the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building fatally wounding President Kennedy and injuring Governor Connally. Vice President Lyndon Johnson became the 36th president. Lee Harvey had tried to become a citizen of the Soviet Union and married a Soviet Woman. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
After the US destroyer Maddox was fired upon by North Vietnam and apparently reported to be fired upon the next day, President Johnson had an excuse for military expansion in the Vietnam War and authorized retaliatory air strikes against North Vietnam. Johnson then submitted to the Senate the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in which the Senate let him take, "all necessary measure to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression," which Congress approved. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was a strategic bombing campaign in which US aircraft carried out massive bombing on targets in North Vietnam. The goal was the reduce North Vietnam's ability to continue the war against the US. Some believe it was almost successful while others believe it was not very effective. -
Tet Offensive
On January 31, 1968 the Tet offensive began with 70,000+ North Vietnamese/Viet Cong in which fierce attacks on 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam began. The goal was to instigate rebellions among South Vietnamese and cause the United States to pull out military support. News coverage of the offensive shocked America and steered their support away from the war. -
Assassination of MLK
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. After leading the civil rights movement for more then 10 years, he achieved great advances for African Americans. his death angered black Americans and caused a national mourning. James Earl Ray was suspected as the sniper after his fingerprints were found on the rifle. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison and died in 1998. -
Kent State Shooting
After Richard Nixon announced the US was invaded Cambodia and needed to draft 150,000 more soldiers, large-scale protests started. In Ohio at Kent State, protesters set fire to the ROTC building and 900 national Guardsmen were sent to the campus. On May 4, 28 guardsmen fired on a crowed which killed four students. As a result, 500 colleges were shut down or disrupted by protests. A grand jury indicted eight of the guardsmen but charges were not given. -
Assassination of RFK
On June 5th, 1968 Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in LA after winning the California presidential primary. Sirhan confessed to the murder, and received a death sentence, but due to the invalidation of death penalties in California in 1972, he spent his life in prison. Hubert Humphrey ended up running against Richard Nixon for the presidency but lost. -
The Invasion of Czechoslovakia
On August 20, 1968, four Warsaw Pact nations lead an invasion of Czechoslovakia and stopped Alexander Dubcek's "Prague Spring," liberalization reforms that were happening in the communist country. Protesters were out to counter the invasion, more than 100 shot to death, and eventually Dubcek and other political leaders were captured and taken to Moscow. Seven days later, Dubcek returned to Prague and agreed to reduce his reforms. -
Riots at Democratic National Convention in Chicago
At the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic Party fell apart as thousands of Vietnam War protesters battled police in the streets. 12000 police officers and 15000 state and federal officers came to calm to protests. Americans came out to declare the war was pointless, as they did not want to give the power to continue the Cold War at the concern for the safety of US citizens. -
Election of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon won one of the closest presidential elections in history, defeating Hubert Humphrey in 1968. Nixon promised to, "bring us together again," after the anti-war and civil-rights protests. He also promised to find a way to "peace with honor" in Vietnam. As president, Nixon oversaw Detente and visited China. -
Nixon Visits China
In an attempt to start normalizing relations with China, Nixon traveled to Beijing for a week of talks and began re-establishing diplomatic relations with them. Nixon surprised America as they had stopped recognizing China as a country after the communist revolution in 1949. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
A ceasefire in Vietnam went into affect on January 28, 1973. However the South Vietnamese army still received US aid afterwards. Both sides eventually violated the ceasefire, taking back villages and trying to get more territory. This created a chain of retaliations (2980 combat incidents a month). -
Fall of Saigon
On April 30, 1975 the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon was captured by the Viet Cong. North Vietnamese tanks crashed into the gates of the Presidential Palace. It was the end of the Vietnam war, and start of the reunification of Vietnam under the Socialist Party. -
Election of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan, previously an actor and California governor was elected president in 1980. He was popular as he cut taxes, increased defense spending, negotiated a nuclear arms reduction agreement with USSR and helped bring an end to the Cold War. -
Announcement of SDI
In March of 1983, Ronald Reagan address America and proposes that the United was develop and antimissile technology to counter any nuclear missiles. They program was known as the Strategic Dense Initiative or 'Star Wars'. The Soviet Union could not keep up with the spending United States was doing (30 billion) and as a result their country began collapsing. -
1st Geneva Conference
At the 1st Geneva Convention, President Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev met for the first time. Gorbachev wanted to negotiate an arms reduction if Reagan abandoned Star Wars, but Reagan did not agree. In private Reagan and Gorbachev started a beginning of a personal relationship that would transcend ideology, geopolitical differences and the Cold War itself. Geneva provided a historic breakthrough between US and USSR. -
'Tear Down This Wall' Speech
In 1987, Reagan traveled through West Germany to seek common ground on human rights. In front of the Berlin wall he made his appeal stating for Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall if he seeks peace. Two years later, East and West Germans broke down the barrier. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
After the cold war began to dissolve, on November 9, 1989, a spokesman for East Berlin announced citizens were allowed to cross the country's borders into West Germany at midnight. Two million plus people from East Berlin visited West Berlin that weekend and had a great street party. On October 3, 1990, East and West Germany were reunified.
