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Soviets begin the Berlin Blockade by cutting off all road, rail, and canal links between West Germany and West Berlin. In response, U.S. and British planes supply Berlin with supplies, forcing Stalin to lift the blockade.
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With Korea divided, the North invades the South. The U.S. helps push the South back up to the Chinese border, which causes the Chinese to fight back. This war is an important event because it was the first battle of containment that the U.S. won against the Soviet Union.
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The Soviet Union and the Communismt nations of Eastern Europe form an alliance known as the Warsaw Pact. This pact was in response to the United State's NATO, which was also an alliance.
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The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite. It was a great threat to the United States, so it began to advance as well. America began to focus on advancing its technology thanks to this crisis.
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Tension between the Soviet Union and the U.S. increase when Soviets directly shoot at a U.S. soldier and keep him as a prisoner. Of course, this only caused more tension.
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The U.S. and Soviets come very close to direct combat when a U-2 spy plane discovers nuclear missile sites in Cuba. The situation is avoided when Khrushchev withdraws the missiles from Cuba on October 28th. The fact that both countries had enough nuclear power to damage each other increased the tension even higher.
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The Non-Proliferation Treaty comes into effect. This treaty helps prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. This was important to the Soviets and the U.S. because no longer would they fear an attack of that sort, as they had before.
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Mikhail S. Gorbachev becomes general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and launches his nation on a new course. Because of his program of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness), in only five years, Gorbachev brings an end to the Cold War. His ideas not only changed the Cold War, but also the world.
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Shabowsky announces that East Germans could "freely use all border crossings to permanently exit the nation." As word spreads and people cross, the wall ceases to function and is eventually knocked down. This became a symbol representing the end of the Cold War.
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The Soviet government ceases to function. Republic after republic declares independence and causeds the once-mighty Soviet Union to finally fall. The Cold War was finally over in every sense.
