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Second Red Scare
The Second Red Scare, also known as McCarthyism, was the political repression and persecution of thought to be Soviet Spies. It was also a campaign spreading fear of alleged communists and Soviet influence on American institutions. It lasted from the late 1940's through the 1950's. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. The Soviet Union blocked the Western railways, roads, and their canal access to the areas of Berlin under Western control. -
Creation of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the U.S., Canada, and other western European nations for security against the Soviet Union. -
Korean War
The Korean War started on June 25th, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. The war had ended on July 27th, 1953. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was a military and political attempt to overthrow the Cuban government. It had began after after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state. The Cuban Revolution lasted from July 26th, 1953 to January 1st, 1959. -
Space Race
The Space Race was a competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to achieve superior spaceflight capability. The Space Race lasted between August 2nd, 1955 to July 17th, 1975. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was fought between Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The Vietnam War lasted from November 1st, 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30th, 1975. -
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis was the invasion of Egypt by the British, French, and Israelis. The invasion lasted from October 29th, 1956 to November 7th, 1956 -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs was a failed invasion of Cuba by the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front (consisted of Cuban exiles trained by the CIA). It was covertly financed and directed by the U.S. government. The invasion lasted from April 17th to April 20th of 1961 -
Berlin Crisis of 1961
On the night of August 12-13 of 1961, the East German government started to build a barrier between East and West Berlin. The East German Government was backed by the Soviet Union. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The U.S. deployment of nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by the Soviet Union in Cuba. -
Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Soviet Union and their allies from the Warsaw Pact (the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria and the Hungarian People's Republic) invaded Czechoslovakia on the night of August 20-21 of 1968. They had invaded the Czechoslovakians with 165,000 troops and 4,600 tanks. -
Chernobyl Disaster
On April 26th, 1986 the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant went out of control during a low-power test leading to the reactor exploding that demolished the reactor building, releasing large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. The cause of the explosion was both the design of the reactor and operator error. The disaster was rated a INES (International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale) Level 7. The radiation level was estimated to be around 5.6 roentgens per second. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The German Democratic Republic built the Berlin Wall to keep the citizens of the Soviet Union controlled side of Berlin out of the Western controlled side. On November 9th, 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, after falling, the East and West sides of Berlin celebrated the fall. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics fell on December 26th, 1991. The Soviet Union fell because of Mikhail Gorbachev's (former president of the Soviet Union) decision to allow elections with a multi-party system so when the Soviet Union started the slow process of democratization, Communist control started to destabilize and contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union.