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Iron Curtain Speech
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the problem of the Soviet Union's actions in Europe, stating it will divide Eastern Europe with an iron curtain. Considered one of the opening statements of the cold war. -
The Truman Doctrine
An American foreign policy created and announced by President Harry Truman to stop the spread of the Soviet Union and communism. -
Hollywood Ten Hearings
The House Un-American Activities Committee tried many Hollywood movie producers, actors and directors to make sure they did not support communism. During this time ten members of the film industry refused to go on trial; Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole and many other producers and actors. -
The Molotov Plan
Soviet Union created a system to help and rebuild countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned with them. -
The Marshall Plan
American plan to aid Western Europe through economic support to rebuild economy after World War 2. -
The Berlin Airlift
After world war 2, a year long effort by America to provide food and other supplies to Berlin following the Soviet blockade, and carried more than 2.3 million tons of supplies to Berlin. -
The Berlin Blockade
Signaled one of the first major crisis of the cold war, the Berlin Blockade occurred when the Soviet Union blocked one the allies railroad, canal and road access to the sectors of Berlin the Soviets did not control. -
NATO
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO is a military alliance made up of Canada, the US, France, the UK, and many more countries. NATO countries support each other and allie in the face of attack. -
Soviet Nuclear test
The soviets created and tested their first nuclear weapon August 1949, code named RDS-1. America had suspected the Soviets would create an nuclear weapon or atomic bomb, but this was sooner than expected and scared officials. -
Soviet Atomic Bomb Test
The first time the Soviets tested an atomic bomb was in 1949, at the Semipalatinsk test site. It successfully detonated and was code named first lightning. -
Chinese revolution
In 1949 Mao Zedong created a communist party, the people's republic of China which ended a civil war and turned China into a communist nation. -
Alger Hiss Case
The Alger Hiss case began in 1948, when a state department official Alger Hiss was accused of supporting communism and being a communist spy. He was convicted of perjury and served four years before pleading innocent. -
Korean War
North Korea invaded South Korea to gain more land and people after world war 2, creating a civil war. Because the United states decided not to let communism spread, they supported South Korea which was democratic against communist North Korea, backed by the soviet union and china. -
Rosenberg Case
Ethel and Julius Rosenburg were accused of selling nuclear secrets to the soviets that they attained from brother in law David Greenglass. The month long trial found the Rosenburgs guilty and they were sentenced to and executed by electric chair. -
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The confrontation of the French and Viet Minh, the French underestimated the power of the Viet Minh and were defeated. France withdrew forces from Indochina. -
Army-McCarthy hearings
From April to June 1954 Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the US army of supporting communism and tried them. The Army in turn accused McCarthy of blackmail. This series of hearings, which McCarthy lost, ended his era of making wild accusations of Americans being communist. -
Geneva Conference
In Geneva, Switzerland the soviet union, united states, the uk, france and the people's republic of china met to discuss how to settle Indochina. Vietnam was temporarily set into 2 zones, the north, controlled by viet minh and south controlled by the state of vietnam. -
Warsaw Pact
the Soviet Union and seven other European supporters signed the Warsaw Pact, which ensured help from the other countries signing it if one was attacked. -
Invasion of Hungary
The people of Hungary staged an uprising against leaders installed by the Soviet Union, which was crushed by the Soviets in November as they invaded Budapest and other parts of Hungary. -
U2 Incident
A U2 spy plane from America was shot down in Soviet Airspace, and the pilot, Francis Gary Powers was captured. This greatly increased tension between the U.S. and Russia. -
Bay of Pigs
President Kennedy ordered a CIA trained brigade to invade Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro. The operation was to invade at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba but failed due to lack of air support. -
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was built by the German Democratic Republic to divide Berlin from 1961 to 1989. The communists built it and it divided free East Berlin from communist West Berlin. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile crisis was a 13 day long confrontation between the United States and Soviet Union when it was discovered that the soviets were storing nuclear missiles on Cuba. It was a military and political confrontation that threatened nuclear war, but was diffused through diplomacy. -
Assassination of Diem
South Vietnam overthrows the North Vietnamese government, and President Ngo Dinh Diem is captured by soldiers and killed. Many in south vietnam were happy, but political chaos followed. -
Assassination of JFK
In Texas President John F. Kennedy was shot twice while traveling in a convertible by Lee Harvey Oswald. After Kennedy's death, vice president Lyndon Johnson was worn into office the same day. -
Assassinaton of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee on April 4 while on the second floor balcony of his hotel. This set the nation in great mourning but pushed the civil rights act to be passed. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Congress passed the gulf of tonkin resolution, which let President Johnson declare war on Vietnam to maintain peace without any justification or clearance from anyone else. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
The U.S. military decided to run a strategic bombing campaign where military aircrafts bombed targets in North Vietnam, including the Ho Chi Minh Trail. -
TET offensive
70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong invaded more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam. The attacks were fierce and were supposed to encourage the U.S. to back off of Saigon. The U.S. news coverage of the attacks shocked the public. TET offensive marked the beginning of American withdrawal from the war. -
Assassination of RFK
Senator Robert F. Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy's brother was assassinated in Los Angeles after winning the presidential primary in California. He was shot several times by a Palestinian and died a day later. -
The Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Soviet Union and other troops from the Warsaw Pact stormed Czechoslovakia in an effort to crack down on reformist movements in Prague. -
Riots at Democratic National Convention in Chicago
Vietnam war protesters disrupt the democratic national convention in chicago. Police battle them in the streets and riots turn violent, demonstrators were beaten and gassed. -
Election of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon won the 48 presidential election after being vice president for two terms. He ran on the platform that he would help the understated middle class and working class americans. -
Kent Shooting
At Kent State University in Ohio unarmed students were shot at by the National Guard. Students had been protesting the Cambodian Campaign and the national guard fired into the crowd from a hill above, killing four students and injuring 9. -
Nixon visits China
President Nixon traveled to the people's republic of china for a week to discuss a better relationship. Because Nixon traveled to communist china in hopes of better relations, it gave the soviets motivation to work something out with America also. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
Aerial bombings were stopped by President Nixon in North Vietnam. This was supposed to withdraw America from the Vietnam wa. -
Fall of Saigon
The North Vietnamese Army approached Saigon, causing the united states to evacuate, along with many south vietnamese. After Saigon was defeated, communism took over vietnam. -
Election of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan won the 49th presidential election against Jimmy Carter. In the midst of an iran hostage crisis and bad inflation, Reagan's presidency began a realignment of conservative movements in politics. -
announcement of SDI
SDI or strategic defense initiative, was announced by President Ronald Reagan in an effort to win and end the cold war. SDI was dubbed star wars by journalist and was a plan to create a laser grid over united states airspace to protect against nuclear missiles. -
'Tear Down This Wall' speech
In June 1987 Reagan traveled to West Berlin and made a speech right in front of the Berlin Wall calling to Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the soviet union, to tear down the berlin wall. -
the fall of the berlin wall
On november 9, the head of the east german communist party announced that citizens of berlin could freely cross over between east and west germany. Many swarmed the wall and visited with friends and relatives they had not seen in years, while other began tearing the wall down.
