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Chinese Civil War
The Chinese civil war was fought between the communist and nationalist parties. The communist party, after years of conflict, took over the government. -
Creation of the UN
Representatives from 26 countries fighting against the Axis powers convened in Washington to sign the UN into existence. It was created to ensure that no other peace treaties were made, and to promise to help the fight against the Axis powers. The UN is still in operation today and handles international peace, among many other things. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was a barrier separating the communist Soviet Union from the rest of Europe. The Soviet Union captured bordering countries and used them to hide their activities. Winston Churchill coined the term. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was made by president Harry S. Truman. It stated that the US would go to the necessary lengths to contain communism as much as possible. This was created because the US felt threatened by communism -
Marshall Plan
This was an American plan to help support Europe after WWII. Not only was this to restore the US' allies to power, but to prevent the spread of communism. The plan worked in several countries. -
Berlin Airlift
The Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin and cut off supplies. The US and Britain flew supplies in for 11 months until the Soviet Union lifted the blockade on May 12th, 1949. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was a fight led by Fidel Castro to overthrow the authoritarian government in place in Cuba. After years of guerrilla warfare, Castro won and installed a communist government. (War ended Jan 1, 1959) -
Warsaw Pact Signed
The Warsaw pact was signed by several communist countries in response to NATO being signed by anti-communist countries. Albania (until 1968),Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany (until 1990), Hungary, Poland, Romania, and The Soviet Union signed on to this pact. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was fought between communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam. The Soviet Union and China backed the north while US, South Korea, and other allies. The US began to withdrawal after making little progress and North Vietnam won on April 30th 1975 -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the first man-made satellite to orbit earth. The Soviet Union created and launched it. This created fear over the technological advancement of the Soviet Union over western nations -
U-2 Incident
The Soviet Union announces that an American plane had been shot down on May 1st, 1960. The aircraft had been performing photographic aerial reconnaissance. -
Bay of Pigs
This was a failed invasion of Cuba by the CIA. They planned to overthrow Fidel Castro. They used exiled Cubans to execute, and failed miserably. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall divided Germany until November 1991. Germans were escaping to democracy through West Berlin, so the communists erected a wall overnight to keep them in. The Berlin Airlift executed by US-British forces and West Berlin's hatred of being walled in eventually forced the communists to give it up. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
In response to the Bay of Pigs invasion, nuclear weapons were moved from the US to Istanbul and Turkey. Very soon after, the Soviet Union moved missiles to Cuba. This is the closest the Cold War got to nuclear war -
SALT 1
SALT 1 was a treaty between the US and the Soviet Union. This treaty limited the amount of nuclear weapons both nations were allowed to have. SALT stands for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
