-
the border that separated the Soviet Union and the communist countries of Eastern Europe from the Western European countries -
-
West Germany, or the Federal Republic of Germany, was officially established in May 1949. West Germany was allied with the U.S., the U.K., and France and became a Western capitalist country while East Germany was allied with the USSR and had communist rules. -
North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union, invaded the south on 25 June 1950, which was supported by the United States. Many countries sent in troops to support the south, including the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and South Africa. -
-
Air attacks made continuing the war too costly for the communists, and they signed an armistice on July 27, 1953.
The end of combat created the famous Demilitarized Zone or "DMZ" as a buffer zone between the two Koreas. This zone has become the world's most fortified international frontier and has been the scene of several small-scale but violent North Korean incursions over the years. -
-
-
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1953-1964. His landmark decisions in foreign policy and domestic planning significantly changed the direction of the Soviet Union, leading to détente with the West and the relaxation of strict domestic controls. -
The war started with a military conflict and evolved into a Cold War confrontation between international communism and democracy. North Vietnam was supported by the USSR, China, and other communist countries while in the south, the US and other anti-communist countries supported them. The US supported the South by sending approximately 2,594,000 US Servicemen. After the US withdrew from the conflict, North Vietnam invaded the South and united the country under a communist government. -
-
-
On May 1, May Day, an American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet airspace. The U-2 spy plane incident raised tensions between the U.S. and the Soviets during the Cold War. -
-
A direct dangerous confrontation between the US and the USSR during the Cold War was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. The United States declared that they would not allow offensive weapons into Cuba and demanded that the Soviet Union dismantle missile bases already under construction or complete and return all offensive weapons. -
-
-
-
-
-
At the end of December 1979, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan and immediately assumed complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country. This marked the only time the USSR invaded a country outside the Eastern block. -
-
-
-
At a press conference on 9 November, East German spokesman Günter Schabowski announced that East Germans would be free to travel into West Germany, starting immediately. He failed to clarify that some rules remain in place and crowds quickly gathered at checkpoints on both sides of the Wall. Germany reunited on 3 October 1990, 11 months after the fall of the Berlin Wall. -
-
As the Cold War intensified, cracks began to appear in its appearance.The collapse of the Soviet Union began in the late 1980s with growing unrest in each of the contributing republics and ended with the Supreme Soviet's resolution to dissolve the Union on December 26, 1991.