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Berlin Airlift
In June of 1948, the Soviets blocked all routes within West Berlin. Two million residents were without food. Western leaders created a mass effort to supply people with food and other essentails. -
Korean War
The North Koreans attack South Korea in June of 1950. UN forces lead by U.S. Genral Douglas MacArthur pushed back North Korean forces deep into North Korea. In 1951, the war settled into a stalemate, North Korea remained communist while South Korea remained an ally to the West. -
Nuclear Arms Race
Early in 1949, the Soviet Union successfully developed the atomic bomb. Shortly after, scared, the U.S. begun and finished the very first hydrogen bomb in 1952. Both couldn't work on an agreement, thus the arms race began. -
Vietnam War
From 1955 to 1975, the Soviets aided the Vietcon in support for communism, while the United States drew itself into another war. In 1968, as many as half a million U.S. troops were stationed in Vietnam. In 1975, the U.S. withdrew from fighting the Vietcon. -
The Space Race
In October 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik, the very first artificial satelite. Americans belief in the U.S. being the greater super power were in question. In 1958, the U.S. government established the NASA space program. -
Bay of Pigs
After Fidel Castro and his communist regime siezed Cuba, the United States secretly were trainning 1,500 Cubans for invasion. U.S. officials believed the invasion would start a major uprising. As a result, instead the invaders were quickly dispatched. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
In 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union had a confrontation of the placement of nuclear missles in Cuba. Many Americans feared for nuclear war. Two weeks later Soviet leaders removed the missles while the U.S. removed their missles from Turkey. -
Soviet Afghan War
From December of 1979 to February of 1989, the Soviet army fought Mujahideen (Muslim) insurgent groups due to the Mujahideen refusing to share their resources. The U.S. aided the insurgent groups with trainning and weaponry to defeat the Soviet Union. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev withdrew troops from Afghanistan in 1989. -
Berlin Wall Falls
From 1961 to 1989, the Berlin wall divided Germany to communist controlled East Germany and West democracy. In 1989, political protests occured in the East bloc, people waging for freedom from the Soviet Union. The Easten government after several weeks allowed East citizens to visit the west. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Soviet Union itself too was falling apart. Countries like Lithuania had declared independence from the U.S.S.R. in 1990. Eventually, the 15 republic unions had split from Soviet control, ending the Soviet Union's reign of power.
