-
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by the U.S. President Harry Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere.Historians often consider it as the start of the Cold War, and the start of the containment policy to stop Soviet expansion. -
Marshall Plan
The American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild a war-devastated region, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again. -
Berlin Airlift
During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control. Their aim was to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin with food and fuel, thereby giving the Soviets practical control over the entire city. -
Creation of NATO
The creation of NATO brought about some standardization of allied military terminology, procedures, and technology, which in many cases meant European countries adopting U.S. practices. The roughly 1300 Standardization Agreements codified many of the common practices that NATO has achieved. -
Korean War
North Korean tropps started the Korean War by invading South Korea. The invasion alarmed Americans: Yet another Asian country was about to fall to communism. When the news of the invasion reached President Truman, he decided to take military action. Truman ordered naval and air support for South Korea. In all 16 nations sent some 520,000 troops to assist South Korea; just over 90% of these troops were American. South Korean troops numbered an additional 590,000. -
Vietnam War
This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist countries.The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. -
Bay of Pigs
1,400 Cuban exiles landed on the island's southren coast at Bahia de Cochinos, the Bay of Pigs. An air strike had carried out two days before it had failed to knock out the Cuban air force. A small advance group sent to distract Castro's forces never reached shore. When the commando finally landed , it faced 20,000 Cuban troops, backed up by the Soviet tanks and jet aircraft. The troops surrounded the exiles, killed some, and took others prisoner. -
Berlin Wall goes up
was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin.The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area that contained anti-vehicle trenches, and other defences. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A 13-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side, and the United States on the other, in October 1962. It is one of the major confrontations of the Cold War, and is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict.It is also the first documented instance of the threat of mutual assured destruction being discussed as a determining factor in a major international arms agreement. -
The Six Day War
The war began on June 5 with Israel launching surprise bombing raids against Egyptian air-fields after a period of high tension that included an Israeli raid into the Jordanian-controlled West Bank.Within six days, Israel had won a decisive land war. Israeli forces had taken control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. -
US invades Grenada
Triggered by a bloody military coup which had ousted a four-year revolutionary government, the invasion resulted in a restoration of constitutional government. It was controversial due to charges of American imperialism, Cold War politics, the involvement of Cuba, the unstable state of the Grenadian government, the illegality under international law and Grenada's status as a Commonwealth realm. -
German Reunification/ Fall of the Berlin Wall
A barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin.Starting that evening and in the days and weeks that followed, people came to the wall with sledgehammers or otherwise hammers and chisels to chip off souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts of it in the process and creating several unofficial border crossings. -
The Collapse of the Soviet Union
The immediate cause of the Soviet collapse was economic, as the Soviet Union lost the arms race and international competition with the West. The United States was able to profit from its imperialist exploitation of other countries, while socialism could only lose economically in that competition. By the end, the ruble collapsed as Soviet consumers turned to imports to satisfy their needs. -
Creation of the Warsaw Pact
Amutual defense treaty between eight communist states of Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War. The founding treaty was established under the initiative of the Soviet Union and signed on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw. The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, the regional economic organization for the communist states of Eastern Europe.
