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The Truman Doctrine
Soviet-backed Communists were threatening the governments of Greece and Turkey. The Truman Doctrine was a pledge created by President Truman to provide economic and military aid to oppose the spread of communism. The U.S. Congress agreed to send hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Greece and Turkey. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was named after U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall. It provided 13 billion dollars for rebuilding Europe and helped Europe make a fast recovery from the war. It also helped preserve political stability. -
The Berlin Blockade
The Soviets blocked off all land, rail, and water routes into West Berlin and as a result the 2 million residents of Berlin were no longer able to import food, coal, and other supplies. The Soviets hoped that this would force the West to leave Berlin. -
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was a massive effort to supply West Berlin by air. Cargo planes were taking off from or landing in Berlin every 30 seconds. This caused the Soviets to call off the blockade. -
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
As a result of the Berlin Airlift, the U.S., Canada, and most Western European countries joined together into a military alliance. NATO was created to counter Soviet power in Europe. -
The Korean War
After WWII the Soviet Union and the United States agreed to temporarily divide the country in half. The Soviets established a Communist government in the northern half of Korea and in the south the U.S. supported a non-Communist government. In 1950 the North Koreans attacked South Korea hoping to unite the country under a Communist government. -
The Arms Race
The arms race was a struggle between nations to gain an advantage in weapons. The U.S. had a lot more nuclear weapons than the Soviet Union, but a nuclear attack by either side would lead to a lot of devastating destruction. -
Sputnik
The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik which was history’s first artificial satellite. Americans always believed that they had better technology, but this made Americans fear the idea that Soviet military technology was getting better than their own. -
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
In Cuba Fidel Castro created a Communist government and the U.S. government wanted to overthrow Castro. They secretly trained an invasion force of about 1,500 Cubans who had escaped Castro’s government and the force went ashore at Cuba’s Bay of Pigs. However the invaders were quickly defeated. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. The Soviet leaders removed the missiles when the U.S. agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey and promised not to attack Cuba.
