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The Second Red Scare
The Second Red Scare represented the fear American citizens held over communist ideas, politics, and culture; similar to the first Red Scare during the initial growth of the communist party. Here, red refers to the communist flag- made up of red and yellow. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was established with the intent of the United States providing political, economic, and military assistance to other democratic nations. Originally though, the doctrine started off as a simple speech by President Truman where he announced that America would be withdrawing from assistance from the Greek Communist Party- dissociating the U.S from communism. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt made by the Soviet Union to prevent the United States, Great Britian, and France from traveling to Berlin and Russian-occupied Germany. Soviets blocked all rail, canal, and road access to to the western zones of Berlin, and consequently 2.5 million civilians lost access to food, fuel, medicine, and other necessities that were brought in from other nations. -
Creation of NATO
NATO (or North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was signed with the intent to secure peace as well as attempt to have citizens, mainly those in Europe, fight against the beliefs of the Soviet Union and Communist Party. Essentially working as a safety blanket for the Allies' both politically and by military means. -
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a battle in which the communist government of North Vietnam attacked South Vietnam and in turn attacked the United States. More then 3 million people were killed as a direct out come of war. 58,000 were American soldiers and over half were innocent Vietnamese citizens. -
The Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis began after Israel's armed forces crossed into Egypt and towards the Suez Canal (a water way that controlled nearly 2/3 of Egypt's oil). Britain and France soon joined in on the attempt to gain control over the water way. By December however, the nations withdrew, and Egypt regained control. -
The Space Race
In October of 1957, the Russian satellite "Sputnik" was launched; making it the first man-made object to travel through Earths orbit. The United States, who were eager to further space exploration, took this as a challenge to not only do the same as Russia, but be better then them too. This started the "race to space" where both countries fought to be the one responsible for the first man in space. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was the armed uprising of Fulgencio Batista's government. The leader of the revolution, Fidel Castro, went on to rule Cuba from 1959 all the way until 2008. -
The U-2 Incident
The U-2 Incident was a battle between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviet Union shot down American U-2 planes which proceeded to cause further conflict at a summit conference in Paris, France between the U.S, U.K, France, and of course the Soviet Union. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a attack launched by the Kennedy administration and CIA to seize power from Cuban leader Fidel Castro. However the attempted attack failed because of the outnumbered sides and Cuba's knowledge that troops would soon be attacking from the shore. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day long standoff between the United States and Cuba; just 90 miles away from the U.S shores. Soviet Union officials were holding nuclear missiles on Cuba; a threat of nuclear war. However, with the promise the missiles would be moved, America promised to not invade Cuba and take the missiles by force. -
Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The invasion of Czechoslovakia took place at night where 200,000 Warsaw troops and 5,000 military tanks invaded the city with the intent to stop the liberation against communism. Citizens held non-violent protests in response, however they were little match to the Soviet Union. -
Chernobyl Disaster
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant held four nuclear reactors; each was capable of producing 1,000 megawatts of electric power. However, because of poorly designed reactors and failed experiments, several explosions destroyed the power plant and released dangerous radiation into the atmosphere. 30,000 people attempted to evacuate despite an attempted cover up. 31 to 50 people died because of radiation poisoning and other suffered life long illnesses. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that separated East Berlin from East Germany. Due to political reforms however, the wall was demolished by protesters; taking down the barrier that divided people for almost three decades. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
Originally starting off as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Soviet Union became one of the first well-known and powerful communist countries of the time. However, after the failed coup against Gorbachev, former superpower was liquidated into 15 independent countries.
