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Marshall Plan
This plan was announced on June 5, 1947 and instituted during 1948. This plan sent over $13 billion to Europe to help with economic recovery. The Soviet Union thought that this plan was interfering with the affairs of other states and they decided that they wouldn't take part in it. The Soviets also prevented Czechoslovakia and Poland from doing this even though they wanted to. -
Creation of NATO
U.S. and 11 other western nations joined to help prevent the spread of Communism. Western European had fears of Soviet aggression. This was a defensive military alliance. With all the countries in NATO an attack on one was an attack on all. THis was the first time that the U.S. entered into a peace time military alliance. -
Soviets create & test nuclear bomb
On this day, the Soviets exploded their first nuclear weapon in Kazakhstan. This came as a very big shock to the West. United States intelligence didn't believe that at that time the Soviets were even close to being able to explode a nuclear weapon. This production was sped up due to scientists involved in a Soviet spy ring inside the U.S. nuclear program. This was believed to be the start of the nuclear arms race. -
China becomes Communist
On this day Mao announced the establisment of the Peoples Republic of China. This was when China became Communist. Mao is considered one of the most influential Communists in the Cold War. -
The Korean War
75,000 people from the North Korean Army stormed across the 38th parallel. This wa the first militar action of the Cold War. Ameria entered to help South Korea to prevent another Asian country to fall to communism. North Korea seamed unstoppable. Macarthur launced a counter attack in September which lead to North Korea surrendering. -
US creates and tests the hydrogen bomb
On this day the U.S proudced and tested the bomb with the largest explosion known to man. It is said that the hydrogen is a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb. They tested this bomb on Bikini Island. When tested it was much more powerful than scientists expected and it made the measuring instruments go crazy. -
The Vietnam War
Conflict between the North Vietnamese communists and the South Vietnamese with their primary ally being the U.S.A. When Ho Chi Minh rose to power in North Korea and North and South Korea went to war, it added more communist v. non-communist controversy that was pre existing between the U.S and the Soviet Union. Richard Nixon ordered the withdrawl of U.S. troops in 1973. It killed more than 3 million people. -
Creation of the Warsaw Pact
(p.s.the book didn't say an exact date) This pact was created as a "copy-cat" of NATO. This was formed when West Germany was rearmed and allowed to join NATO again. THis was formed by the Soviet Union and made up by the Eastern European sattellite nations under Soveit control. -
Soviet launch Sputnik
On this day the Soviets succesfully launched Sputnik. This reached new scientifical, political, and technically heights. This single event marked the start of the space race between the United States and the U.S.S.R. This caught everyones attention and from America's standpoint, it definately came out of left field! -
Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba
Fidel Castro established the first Communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Castro was criticized a lot for putting an end to poilitcal and economical freedoms. However, Castro boosted the literacy rate, improved healthcare, and put a handle on racism throughout Cuba. The Cuban and U.S. relations are not on the best terms, which is what the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missle Crisis came about. -
Bay of Pigs
President Eisenhower gave the CIA permission to secretly train Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba. The goal in this was to cause an uprising against Castro that would lead to him getting overthrown. Kennedy was told about this nine days after his election. He questioned it and doubted that it would work but ended up approving it anyway. On April 17, 1961 1400 Cuban exiles landed on the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast of Cuba.The United States failed. Kennedy was left embarassed. -
Berlin Wall Goes Up
The Communists of East Germany began to build a concrete/barbed wire wall that seperated East Germany from West Germany. They did not want the facists from the West to undermine the socialists of the East. Anyone who tried to cross the wire was trampled by guards. This served more as a means of protest than a barrier. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The Soviet Union placed nuclear missles in Cuba, only 90 miles from United States shores. Kennedy made an announcement on Oct. 22, 1962 saying that the U.S. had a naval blockade around Cuba and were prepared to use military action to prevent the threat to security. U.S. made a promise with Khrushchev that they would not invade Cuba if the Soviet Union removed the missles from Cuba. Conflict was resolved. -
German Reunification/Fall of the Berlin Wall
The official purpose of this was was to keep the facists from the west out of the east. The head of the East German Communist Party announced that the German citizens could cross the boarder whenever they pleased. Part of the reason they took it down was due to the protests against it and the way it divided one country. This was one of the most powerful and symbolic things in throughout the Cold War. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
A couple days before this, the 11 representatives of the Soviet Republics said that they didn't want to be part of the Soviet Union any more. They decided that they would establish a Commonwealth of Independent States instead. Parts of the Soviet collapse was the radical reforms that the president had instituted during his term as president. On December 25, 1991 the Soviet flag flew for the last time.
