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Iron Curtain
The notional barrier separating the former Soviet bloc and the West prior to the decline of communism that followed the political events in eastern Europe in 1989. -
Period: to
The Cold War
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The Berlin Airlift
When Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. The United States and United Kingdom responded by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied airbases in western Germany. -
Korean War
North invaded the south pushing all the way to the tip of the peninsula in a matter of months. The U.S. soon intervened by landing in Incheon, not too far south of the 38th parallel. -
Vietnam War
The U.S. and the remnants of the French colonial government in South Vietnam against the indigenous but communist Vietnamese independence movement, Viet Minh, following the latter's expulsion of the French in 1954. -
Sputnik Crisis
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite. The launch of Sputnik I rattled the American public. -
U-2 Incident
During the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the premiership of Nikita Khrushchev, when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down while in Soviet airspace. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1962 over the presence of missile sites in Cuba. One of the highest tension periods of the cold war. -
Non-Proliferation Treaty
An international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy -
Soviet Afghan War
It was fought between Soviet-led Afghan forces against multi-national rebel groups called the mujahideens. The rebels were backed by the U.S. to combat the Soviets without having to declare war on them. -
Berlin Wall Falls
The Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West. Starting at midnight that day, he said, citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country's borders.
