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Division of Berlin
On the 3rd of July of 1945 the United States, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union divided and occupied 4 sections of Berlin. The western states wanted to revive the German economy by combining the three zones however the Soviet Union built a wall that would prevent citizens from crossing over. This would ultimately start conflicts between the nations. -
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The Cold War
The Cold War was a period of political tension between the Soviet Union and the United States that last for 45 years and costed millions of lives. -
End of World War 2
On september 2, 1945 World War ll came to the end as General Douglas Macarthur accepted Japan's surrender. -
Berlin Airlift
On June 24, 1948 the Soviet forces placed blockades on all roads, rails and water routes that led to Berlin. This stifled the vital flow of supplies to the Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. However they could not block the Allied airspace, so the U.S and UK forces supplied their areas by planes. -
Korean War
The Korean war began on June 25, 1950, when 75,000 Northern soldiers crossed the boundary between the Soviet-backed North Korea and the pro-Western South Korea. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea’s behalf and as far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism. By July 1953, the Korean War came to an end and 5 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives. To this day the Korean peninsula is still divided. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War took place from 1954–1975 and was the period of the Cold War when the United States and other members of the SEATO joined the forces with the Republic of South Vietnam to fight communist forces that included the Soviets. Although this key did not involve a direct battle between the U.S and the USSR it did serve as a proxy war and were looking for ways to indirectly fight each other. -
Sputnik Crisis
The Sputnik crisis was America's reaction to the success of the Sputnik program. It was a key event of the Cold War that began on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite. The launch of Sputnik I rattled the American public because it could be capable of shooting a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the world in minutes. -
The U-2 Incident
The U-2 incident was an international diplomatic crisis during the Cold War that erupted after the USSR shot down a U.S U-2 reconnaissance plane piloted by Gary Powers that was flying over the Soviet Union. They then imprisoned F. Gary Powers the for claiming to that his mission was to collect Soviet intelligence. This would cause the collapse of the summit conferences in Paris. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a 13-day political and military standoff over the installation of nuclear weapon on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. However the disaster was avoided as the U.S. agreed to the Soviets to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba and also secretly agreeing to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey. -
Berlin Wall Falls
The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the GDR could cross the border. That night, crowds swarmed the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War. -
Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Non-Proliferation Treaty, is an international treaty which was put in place to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology. The NPT was very important during the Cold War because both the U.S. and the Soviets agreed to not use nuclear weapons. This was huge because it somewhat eliminated the constant fear of being nuked. It is one of those important events of the Cold War that left a lasting effect in our modern world.
