Cold War: The Cold War got its name because The United States and The Soviet Union never officially declared war on each other.
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Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil war was a two part conflict during which Greek communists attempted to take control. The first part of the conflict began just after the Nazi occupation of Greece ended. In 1946 the second part of the conflict began but was ended in 1949 when the United States assisted the Greek Army in defeating the communists by providing them with supplies and strengthening their military force. The Greek Communists were unsuccessful in their attempts -
Formation of the Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc was a force created by the Soviet Union which was originally intended to oppose Nazi Germany. This force was a group of unified communist countries annexed by the Soviet Union. Although the original intent was opposing Nazi Germany, as World War II concluded, the Soviets became more interested in spreading their communist influence. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese Communist Revolution culminated with the Chinese Civil war between the CCP (communists) and the KMT (Nationalists). -
Post war occupation and division of Germany
When World War II concluded, Germany was divided into four zones, Great Britain in the northwest, The United States in the South, France in the southwest, and the Soviet Union in the east. Berlin, Germany's capital city, which was in Soviet territory was also divided into four zones. -
Enactment of the marshall plan
President Truman signed the economic recovery act. This act became known as the marshall plan, named after Secretary of State George Marshall, who proposed that the United States provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe. -
Berlin Blockade and airlift
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt in 1948 by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of the United States, Great Britain and France to travel to their sectors of Berlin, which lay within Russian-occupied East Germany. The United States responded by airlifting supplies to their sector from allied airbases. -
Korean War
The Korean war was a conflict between The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North) and the Republic of Korea (South). At least 2.5 Million people lost their lives in the war which reached international proportions. -
The Cuban Revolution
Fidel Castro, a Cuban lawyer and activist, petitioned to overthrow the tyrannical Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista. When Castro's constitutional attempts were unsuccessful he launched an armed revolution. -
The Vietnam war
The Vietnam war was a long and devastating conflict between the communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam alongside it's sole ally the United States. This conflict was only intensified by the ongoing conflict between the United States and The Soviet Union known as the Cold War. -
Hungarian Uprising
The Hungarian Uprising was a nationwide revolt against the Communist Soviet Union and the policies it imposed. The revolution was unsuccessful. -
Bay of pigs invasion
1,400 Cuban exiles launched a botched invasion at the Bay of Pigs in South Cuba. This was a result of the armed revolt to overthrom Cuban Dictator Fulgencio Batista led by Fidel Castro who came to power in 1959. -
Building of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was a barrier consisting of many defenses, that divided Germany from 1961 to 1989. The wall was constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to "fascists" of West Germany from entering East Germany where the GDR resided. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a tense military and political standoff between The Soviet Union and the United States. The standoff lasted 13 days. This conflict was a result of the Soviet Union's installation of Nuclear missile silo's in Cuba. Due the Cuba's close proximity to the United States the U.S. government saw these missiles as a threat. During this conflict it was believed that the U.S. and the Soviets were minutes from nuclear war. -
rise of the palestine liberation organization
The PLO was founded with the purpose of liberating Palestine. -
Prague Spring
The prague spring was a period of mass political protest in Czechoslovakia. The protests were an attempt to democratize the Czech government and combat communism. -
Solidarity Movement in Poland
A broad anti-authoritarian social movement dedicated to using civil resistance to advance the cause of worker's rights., -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
In 1989, many people became inspired by those who preached what were known as "people-power movements". Students of these teachings begab protesting in Tiananmen Square against the slow pace of reform. On April 15 1989, Protestors attempted to block military advances from advancing through Tiananmen Square. This was met with the military firing on the protestors and massacring them. This massacre killed thousands and wounded thousands more. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
5 days before the Berlin Wall fell, over half a million people gathered in a mass protest in East Germany. The German people's unity was the most essential event in bringing down the Wall. -
Fall of The Soviet Union
President Gorbachev resigned from his post leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the new Russian state, free of Communism -
9/11 attacks
A terrorist organization known as al-quaeda led by Osama bin Laden, planned a series of attacks on U.S. soil. The goal was to hijack planes and crash them into prominent U.S. buildings to inflict as many casualties as possible and cause major damage. The hijackers successfully crashed a plane into each of the world trade centers in NYC and a third plane into the Pentagon. These attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.
