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Period: to
Berlin Airlift
Soviet forces blockaded all road, rail, and water routes into Berlin’s Allied-controlled areas
Stifled the vital flow of food, coal, and other supplies
U.S. and UK forces took to the skies to get supplies to the Allied sectors -
Creation of NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Created by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations
Provide collective security against the Soviet Union -
Period: to
Korean War
Fought between North Korea and South Korea
North Korea invaded South Korea
Following clashes along the border and rebellions in South Korea -
Creation of Warsaw Pact
Signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics of Central and Eastern Europe
Formally known as the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance
Immediately after the accession of West Germany to the Alliance -
Period: to
Vietnam War
Conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
The second of the Indochina Wars
Officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam
The U.S. entered the Vietnam War in an attempt to prevent the spread of communism -
Spunik
Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik (Russian for “traveler”)
the world’s 1st artificial satellite
1st man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit. -
Construction of Berlin Wall
Barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic, enclosing West Berlin
The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989
Construction of the wall was commenced by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) -
Cuban Missile Crisis
35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union
Escalated into an international crisis when American deployments of missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of similar ballistic missiles in Cuba.
Defining moment in national security and nuclear war preparation.
The closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. -
Moon landing
“That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
2 U.S. astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin
The first human beings to walk on the moon -
Destruction of Berlin Wall
The Peaceful Revolution
Pivotal event in world history
Marked the falling of the Iron Curtain
Series of events that started the fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe
Preceded by the Solidarity Movement in Poland