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Second Red Scare
The Second Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War II, was preoccupied with the perception that national or foreign communists were infiltrating or subverting American society and the federal government. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. -
Berlin Blockade
Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, imposed the Berlin Blockade from 24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949, cutting off all land and river transit between West Berlin and West Germany. -
Creation of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. -
Korean War
Korean War, conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in which at least 2.5 million persons lost their lives. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution (1953-1959) was a social and armed conflict led by Fidel Castro to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista. -
Creation of the Iron Curtain/Warsaw Pact
The Iron Curtain was a barrier that divided capitalist and communist nations. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a long conflict in Southeast Asia. It began in 1954, after the country of Vietnam was split into two parts, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam wanted to reunite the country under Communism, its political and economic system. South Vietnam fought to keep this from happening. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion was an abortive invasion of Cuba in April 1961 by some 1,500 Cuban exiles opposed to Fidel Castro. The invasion was financed and directed by the U.S. government. -
Berlin Crisis of 1961
Berlin crisis of 1961, Cold War conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States concerning the status of the divided German city of Berlin. -
Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia
On August 20, 1968, the Soviet Union led Warsaw Pact troops in an invasion of Czechoslovakia to crack down on reformist trends in Prague. -
Soviet-Afghan War
The Soviet invaded Afghanistan, Soviet troops had been air-dropped into Afghan cities, heavy artillery had breached the border, and the KGB had poisoned the Afghan president and his ministers. The invasion sparked a bloody, nine-year civil war. -
Chernobyl Disaster
On April 26, 1986, a sudden surge of power during a reactor systems test destroyed Unit 4 of the nuclear power station at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the former Soviet Union. The accident and the fire that followed released massive amounts of radioactive material into the environment. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall was the first step towards German reunification. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
In August 1991, communist hardliners and military elites tried to overthrow Gorbachev and stop the failing reforms in a coup but failed.