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Chinese Revolution
When: 1949 to 1952
Who: Chinese nationalist party, and communist party, Red Guard, Mao Zedong, Sun yet-Sin
What: End of dynasties in China, Failing economy because of Red Guard, Destruction of schools
How: This was like a post-cold war. May have been critical to the success of the civil rights movement in US -
Korean War
When: June 25th, 1950
Who: North Korea, South Korea
What: North Korea did a surprise attack against South Korea
How: UN occupied South Korea and Soviets occupied North Korea -
Sputnik launched (and the space race)
When: Oct. 4th, 1957
Who: Russians, US
What: When Russians launched Sputnik; the US approved funding for another U.S. Satellite project
How: Arms race started to increase rapidly. Tensions grew between US and Russia -
U2 spy plane shot down (Francis Gary Powers)
When: May 1st 1960
Who: Francis Gary Powers-surviving pilot of the U2 plane
What: United States U2 spy plane was shot down while flying over a soviet air space
How: Plane flew over and the soviets failed to intercept it so they shot it down with a S-75 Dvina missile -
Berlin Wall goes up
When: August 13th 1961
Who: German Democratic Republic
What: Put up wall to cut off West Berlin from East Berlin and East Germany
How: Put up a giant concrete wall and barbwire barriers referred to as an Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
When: October 14-28 1962
Who: Nikita Khrushchev
What: Nikita Khrushchev proposed the idea of placing Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt.
How: During a meeting between Khrushchev and Fidel Castro that July, a secret agreement was reached and construction of several missile sites began in the late summer. -
Uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia
When: August 20, 1968
Who: Soviets, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, East Germany, and Poland
What: Soviet Union had led the Warsaw pact troops in an invasion of Czechoslovakia to crack down on reformists
How: Both countries didn’t like communism and it began to inspire other countries -
Russia invades Afghanistan
When: December 1979 to February 1989
Who: Soviet-led Afghan forces against multi-national insurgent groups called the Mujahideen.
What: The decade-long war resulted in millions of Afghans fleeing their country, mostly to Pakistan and Iran. Hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians were killed in addition to the rebels in the war.
How: Due to the interminable nature of the war, the conflict in Afghanistan has sometimes been referred to as the "Soviet Union's Vietnam War" or the "Bear Trap"
