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February Russian Revolution
In February of 1917, the Russians overthrew Tsar Nicholas ll. They were tired of his reckless ways of ruling and they wanted to bring democracy to Russia. Their success was, unfortunately, short lived. -
October Russian Revolution
In October of 1917, the democratic Russia was overthrown by Vladimir Lenin and his followers. They implemented the form of government now known as Communism. -
The Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam conference was a meeting between Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill. The meeting was to figure out how they were going to rebuild Western Europe after WW2. -
The Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the line dividing Europe and the USSR during the cold war. -
Atomic Bomb, Hiroshima and Nagasaki
America dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, one on Hiroshima and another on Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands of people instantly. Japan surrendered a month later. -
The Molotov Plan
A Russian plan in order to rebuild the countries aligned with them after WW2, could be compared to The Marshall Plan. -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an attempt to help fight the spread of Communism in Greece and Turkey. However it grew into much more than that as the severity of the situation unfolded itself. -
The Hollywood 10
The Hollywood 10 was a group of ten actors and directors who were accused of Communist ideals being put into their movies. They refused to speak in front of the HUAC and argued it was their first amendment right. -
The Marshall Plan
The U.S. plan to rebuild Europe buy supplying them with money and supplies after WW2. -
The Berlin Airlift
After The Soviets block all ground traffic into Berlin, the Americans begin to fly goods into the city. The airlifts lasted until May 12 1949, when Stalin lifted to blockade on the city. -
The Berlin Blockade
Stalin decided he did not want other countries in Berlin, so he cut off their road, canal, and rail access to the western part of the city. The Americans responded with the Berlin Airlift, the blockade was lifted in May of 1949. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger Hiss was a Government official who was accused of being a communist. He appeared in front of HUAC and was charged with two counts of perjury. He was sentenced to five years in prison and server four. -
NATO
Stands for The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Was an international military alliance that was designed to help those involved in the alliance. -
Soviet Bomb Test
The Soviets finally successfully test their first Atomic bomb. This rising tension between the U.S and the Union. The threat of Nuclear war grows dramatically. -
Korean War
A war between North Korea, with support from China and the Soviet Union, and South Korea, with help from the U.S. After fighting for three years the countries were divided at the 38th parallel, which is still at a ceasefire today. -
Rosenburg Trial
The Rosenburg's were arrested a few weeks after the start of the Korean war and were executed one week before it ended. They were charged with a conspiracy to commit espionage. -
Army-McCarthey Hearings
McCarthy was a U.S senator who was accused of blackmailing military figures by the Army. He, Roy Cohn, and David Schine, accused the Army of being in favor of Communism. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
A conflict near the Vietnam border during the first Indochina war, where Vietnamese troops fought the French for control of a small mountain outpost. -
Geneva Confrence
Was intended to solve the issues that were created by the Korean war and the first Indochina war. However no solutions were met about the Korean war. Indochina was split into Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. -
Warsaw Pact
Was the Soviets response the NATO. A pact made up of the Soviet Union and its seven satellite states. It was dissolved in 1991 along with the Soviet Union. -
Hungarian Revolution
The revolt of the Hungarian government and its Soviet influences. The fight lasted over two weeks and was considered the first threat to the Soviets control since WW2. -
U2 Incident
The Soviets shot down an American spy plane over Russian air-space. The pilot was captured and sentenced to ten years in prison for espionage, he was released after two years, in exchange for a captured Soviet spy. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
A failed operation, by the Kennedy administration, that was intended to overthrow the increasingly communist Cuban government led by Fidel Castro. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was erected in 1961 and divided Berlin physically and mentally. It was meant to separate the free parts of Berlin, Germany from the Communist ruled part. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A 13 day standoff between America and the Soviet Union that could have resulted in nuclear war. U.S Spy planes discovered possible Russian missile launch sites in Cuba. It was negotiated that the missiles would be removed if the U.S removed theirs from Turkey. -
Assassination of Diem
The assassination if South Vietnam's president and his brother, Ngô Đình Nhu. They were promised a safe exile after surrendering to the Republic of Vietnam, they were instead killed in while being transported. -
Assassination of JFK
In Dallas, Texas while riding in a limousine during a parade, President John F Kennedy was shot in the head from a tall building on the route. He was rushed to the hospital where he died hours later. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
A bill that allowed President Johnson to take any measures necessary to solve the issues that were alive in Southeast Asia. Also known as the "Blank Check". -
Operation Rolling Thunder
The idea that America could bomb North Vietnam out of the war, without having to use ground troops. They wanted to slow North Vietnam's transportation to the south and hinder their progress. -
Tet Offensive
The largest offensive operation of the Vietnam war, launched by The Peoples Army of Vietnam and Vietcong, they seized major cities and many providence capitals. -
Assassination of MLK
The Civil Right leader Martin Luther King was assassinated at a motel in Texas by James Earl Ray. He was rushed to the hospital, but was pronounced dead and hour after he was shot. -
Assassination of RFK
Kennedy's brother, Robert F Kennedy, was fatally shot during his presidential campaign at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He had just won the California presidential primaries. -
Invasion of Czeckoslovakia
The invasion of Czechoslovakia, also known as Operation Danube, was an invasion by five Soviet countries, Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and East Germany. -
Riots of the Democratic Convention
Tens of Thousands of Vietnam Protesters flooded the streets of Chicago while the Government debates on what to do about the Vietnam war. -
Election of Nixon
Nixon was elected president with a lead of 100 electoral votes. Nixon was warned about the mess that he was walking into and wasn't sure how he was gonna handle it. -
Kent state shootings
During a protest of the Vietnam war at Kent State University, guards fired 67 shots, hitting 13 people and killing four. It changed public view dramatically and the war lost even more support. -
Nixon visits China
Was the first time a President had visited the People's Republic of China. The visit ended twenty-five years of no communication between China and the U.S. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
After Henry Kissinger returns from France with a draft of a peace treaty, Nixon orders a ceasefire on the bombing of Vietnam. It was the first sign of the end to the war. -
Fall of Saigon
The capture of Saigon, South Vietnam's capital, by the North Vietnamese. Every American civilian and military personal was pulled from Saigon, as well as thousands of South Vietnam citizens. -
Election of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan won the Presidency against Jimmy Carter. Reagan was a former actor and governor of California. He won the electoral vote by a landslide and is seen as one of the greatest presidents. -
SDI Announced
The Statigic Defense Initiative (SDI) was the idea of satellites patrolling the atmosphere, shooting any nuclear missiles out of the sky and away from Earth. It was taken as a threat by the Soviets. -
Geneva Convention with Gorbachev
Gorbachev and Reagan met for the first time and became "friends". Although no progress or reform was made, it was important because it established a relationship between the leaders. -
Reagan's Berlin Wall Speech
Reagan's most popular speech, it was said at the Berlin wall in Germany and urged Gorbachev to tear down the wall. It was a breaking point in the war and showed that America meant business. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
After Reagan's speech, people of East Germany began to tear the wall down piece by piece, eventually their were gaps in the wall and people crossed the border for the first time in twenty-two years.
