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Iron Curtain Speech
Winston Churchill delivers a speech in the United States. He is concerned about Soviet aggression in Eastern Europe. The iron curtain is the division between Capitalist Western Europe and Communist Eastern Europe. He wanted America to take a bigger role in Soviet aggression. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a U.S. policy announced by president Harry Truman in 1947. It provided economic and military aid to free nations, hoping to stop the spread of communism to other counties. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt by the Soviet Union to block Allied access to the German city of Berlin. The city of Berlin was located in East Germany, the section controlled by the Soviet Union. Soviet Union officials decided to block all access to Berlin, in the hopes of forcing the Allies to give them more control of the city. -
Marshall Plan
George Marshall proposed that the U.S. would provide economic aid to European nations to help rebuild their economies. He Hoped that with a stronger economy people would be happy and more likely to resist communism. -
Berlin Airlift
Stalin wanted to rebuild Germany. In 1948, Stalin tried to force the western Allies out of Berlin by sealing off all railroads and highways into the western sectors of the city. U.S. and British planes flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviets blockaded the city. Their success forced the Soviets to end the blockade. -
NATO
Military alliance created in 1949 made up of non-communist countries that supported each other if attacked. The military alliance was between the U.S., Canada, and nine other Western European countries. -
Communist take over China
Mao Zedong took over China in 1949. He wanted to increase industry and shape China. He was supported by the soviet Union and had strong support of peasants by promising land distribution. Mao ordered land distribution to be taken away from the wealthy and redistributed among the peasantry. -
Korean War
Korea was divided at the 38th parallel. The U.S. supported the South and communist counties supported the North. The Korean War began in 1950 when communist North Korea invaded democratic South Korea in hopes of uniting the county under communism. -
Vietnam War
Vietnamese is divide into the 17th parallel after the French loss. North Vietnam is communist led by Ho Chi Minh and the South is democratic lead by Ngo Dinh Diem. Ho Chi Minh invades from the North to unite the country under communism. Democratic could not win the battle and Vietnam became communist. -
Revolt in Hungary
Lack of political rights and poor economic conditions prompted resistance movements. Citizens in Hungary cut a hole in the fence separating communist Hungary from the democratic west. More and more people from Hungary and East Germany defected. Thousand were killed. -
Sputnik
Both the United States and the Soviet Union were working to develop new technology. Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satellite launched by Moscow. It sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. The successful launch came as a shock to the U.S., who had hoped that they would accomplish this scientific advancement first -
Great Leap Forward
Families were moved to communes by Mao to try to meet China's industrial and agriculture problems. They hoped to develop labor-intensive methods on industrialization. The Great Leap Forward was a disaster due to poor planning and inefficiency. Communes falsely reported high production of food, which lead to starvation. -
Apollo Program
The Apollo program was a project by the United States started by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961. The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. Only six of the missions achieved this goal. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A U.S. spy plane flew over Cuba and took pictures of Soviet missiles being assembled. President Kennedy ordered a navel blockade of Cuba. Disaster was avoided when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. -
Cultural Revolution
Reform movement in China lead by Mao Zedong to eliminate anyone against Mao's teachings. Mao encouraged Red Guards to purge on intellectuals and target anyone who they felt was a treat to him. -
Revolt in Czechoslovakia
The Soviet Union led Warsaw Pact troops in an invasion of Czechoslovakia to crack down on reformist trends in Prague. Czechoslovakians protested the invasion. In Czechoslovakia, people felt that they were being oppressed under communist rule.
