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Truman Doctrine
Considered to be the declaration of the Cold War, Truman asks Greece and Turkey to assist in stopping the spread of Communism. -
Marshall Plan
AKA the European Recovery Program. Pretty self-explanatory. Europe recieved $13 billion in order to restore its economy due to the war. -
Formation Of NATO
U.S. and 11 other western nations form a treaty due to the spread of communism. Rivaled the Warsaw Pact. -
Korean War
North Korean Peoples' Army invades the Democratic Peoples' Republic Of Korea. America enters war on South Korea's side in hopes of creating peace and preventing a WWIII. After 5 million soldiers and civillians died and no progress was made for either side, the war ended. The Koreas have not made peace yet. -
First Hydrogen Bomb
United States creates and tests first hydrogen bomb. Put them ahead in the race against the Soviet Union. Estimated to be 1,000 times more powerful than the average nuke. -
Formation Of Warsaw Pact
Soviet Union along with seven European nations sign a treaty to work together to oppose NATO. -
Vietnam War
Ho Chi Minh gains power and spreads communism in Vietnam. The U.S. doesn't like this very much and eventually has over 500,000 troops stationed in Vietnam. Over 3 million people (more than half being Vietnamese civillians) died during the war. War was put to an end when Nixon pulled the troops out due to a lot of upset American civillians. Vietnam remains a communist nation. -
Soviet Union Launches Sputnik
Soviet Union launches the world's first artificial satellite. The U.S. would launch their own satellite, the Explorer, the following year. -
Bay Of Pigs Invasion
Fidel Castro overthrows General Batista and takes over Havana. CIA forms a plan sending American-trained Cuban rebels to try and remove Castro from power. Attack fails miserably, rebels surrender within a day. -
Berlin Wall/Reunification Of Germany
East Germany builds a concrete and barbed wire wall to keep western fascists from entering their land. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
Soviet Union aims missles as U.S. from Cuba, ust 90 miles away from the south coast. Nuclear war was evaded when the U.S. promised to the Soviets that they wouldn't invade Cuba. -
Neil Armstrong Walks the Moon
Neil Armstrong becomes first man to walk on the moon. U.S. catches up in the space race, but Soviets are still ahead by a bit. -
1980 Olympic Hockey Game
U.S. Olympic hockey team (college players) defeats the Soviet Union in the XIII Winter Olympic Games. Broke the Soviets 4 time winning streak. -
Reunification of Germany
East Germany announces that citizens are now allowed to cross the barrier, which leads to the destruction of the Berlin Wall. East and West Germany are reunited. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
11 Soviet Republics announce they are dropping out of the Soviet Union and forming independent states. Mostly due to the reforms created by Gorbachev. Gorbachev resigned on Christmas day.