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Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United States bombed the city of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. This was the strongest bomb in history up to that point. It flattened the city compeltely. Three days later, the United States used an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. It had similar effects and caused extreme tension between the United States and Japan. This event imacted the cold war because it made everyone scared of the United States. No one wants the United States to drop a bomb again. -
Marshall Plan
Because of World War II and the beginings of the Cold War, Europe was extremely poor and the economy was in horrible conditions. George Marshall decided that the United States needed to help Europe get back to normal and this would also help maintain the world economy. This plan donated $13 billion dollars to aid in repair. Because the communistic countries weren't allowed to use the money that the USA gave to Europe, this event caused tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. -
Berlin Blockade
Berlin was split into East Berlin and West Berlin. Stalin cut off all interactions between the two sides. Airlifts took place to disperse supplies and food so that no part of Berlin died off. This event had an impact on the Cold War because it caused tension with the Soviet Union because they were on such strict guard of the two parts of the cities. -
Korean War
In the Korean War, the United States took part in helping South Korea against North Korea. This war was caused by North Korea invading South Korea and trying to take it over. The Soviet Union was helping North Korea as well, so this stirred more trouble between the USA and the Soviet Union. This war was the beging of the big disagreement between the Soviet Union and the United States. It added lots of tension and egged the Cold War on and caused it to be more intricate. -
U-2 Incident
The United States sent a spy plain over the Soviet Union in hopes to secretly get information about what they are doing. While the plain was in the air, it got shot down by Soviet forces. The pilot survived and the Soviets questioned him. This event was a huge embarrassment to the United States. It made even some of the citizens to be a part of the country, because spying on the Soviet Union was almost considered cheating. This ruined our relationship with Soviet Union as well. -
Bay of Pigs
Fidel Castro gathered his troops and lead a revolt against Fulgencio Batista. Kennedy planned to train the Cuban exiles to protect their country in hopes to create a happy relationship between Cuba and the United States. The first set of bombs were sent at the wrong time and the whole plan was messed up. Kennedy was very embarrassed and this mistake made him look stupid. This weakened the United States during the Cold War -
Berlin Wall Built
While the Cold War was going on, Berlin was split into East Berlin and West Berlin. On August 15, 1961, it got to the point where a brick wall was actually built to split the city even further. The wall was eventually 15 feet high with barbed wire on the top to ensure that no one would pass it. This caused more tension in Germany. The country was still recovering from World War II during this time and the wall cost even more money for them. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
President Kennedy, after many long meetings, decided to surround Cuba in a quarantine to stop the Soviet Union from bring more supplies to Cuba. Because of this, Nikita Khrushchev moved the war supplies out of Cuba, but the USA had to agree to move their missiles out of Turkey. This was a big embarrassment to the USA. This event showed signs of tension starting to go away between the Soviet Union and the USA. The fact that these two very different countries made a compromise proves that. -
US Lands Man On The Moon
On July 20, 1969, the first man walked on the moon. The United States sent Apollo 11 up into the sky with Neil Armstrong and he took steps on the moon. This event put the United States ahead of the Soviets and ruined the Soviets morale. It also scared the soviets because if they could send a satellite up to the moon, they could possibly use that as a way to spy on them. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
As communism began to fall in other countries in Europe, the same thing was happening in Germany. Everyone was getting tired of Berlin being seperated in two. A goverment official announced that people could go back in forth between the ports until the wall was destroyed. This event was a sign of the end of the war because everything was changing back to the way it was before. Communism was becoming less popular, which really hurt the Soviet Union.
