-
United Nations
This created to avoid military conflict between opposing nations -
Marshall Plan
A plan to help Europe rebuild to further dissuade communism -
Truman Doctorine
Program to encourage nations to resist communist threats. -
Berlin Blockade
Soviet forces block all roads, railway lines, and river routes connecting Berlin to West Germany (15 -
Superpower
The U.S Superpower joins NATO. -
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Goal is to defend Western Europe against any soviet threat. -
Senator Joesph McCarthy
Although the U.S was a non-communist nation as a whole,
there remained few supporters in the country. For example Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were executed for passing secrets to the Soviets; as communist supporters. In 1950 Senator Joseph McCarthy told the US nation that he knew of 205 State Department Employees who were communist supporters. This drew him lots of attention since it seemed as if he had found the communist supporters in the nation. His campaign raised suspicion all throughout -
Korean War
When WWII ended, the U.S and Korea agreed to a temporary division at the 38th parallel of latitude, a demilitarized zone. This means that they territory was neutral and both sides sides were forbidden from military activity . The U.S demanded a non-communist govt. however Korea thought otherwise. Soon a conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. When war broke out, the UN forces(United States) forces were quickly depleted and outnumbered. -
Warsaw Pact
MIlitary alliance established in 1955, of the Soviet Union and
other communist states in Europe. -
Berlin Wall
A symbolic end result of Berlin Blockade -
Cuban Misle Crisis
In 1962, an American U2 spy plane took pictures of the Soviet Union building nuclear missile sites in Cuba, well in range of the US. The US navy set up a quarantine on Cuba to prevent it getting offensive weapons. President John F. Kennedy and Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev both realised the consequences of a nuclear war and made an agreement. Khrushchev agreed to remove the nuclear missiles from Cuba if the US pledged not to invade Cuba as it had done in the Bay of Pigs invasion(continued) -
Cuban Missle Crisis(continued)
(an attempt to oust Fidel Castro from power). Fidel Castro met a man named Che Guevara in 1954 who convinced to him to remove the Cuban Batista from power. To help prevent another threat JFK had NASA help create nuclear missiles. -
Veitnam War Begins
In Vietnam, the north wanted to unite under a communist government and the south wanted to maintain its relationship with western powers. As discontent grew, many joined the Vietcong who opposed Diem.Throughout the 1950s, the US sent military advisors to support Southern Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin incident in which the destroyer USS Maddox was torpedoed by North Vietnamese torpedo boats was considered an act of aggression and prompted the creation of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This ended up -
Vietnam War Begins(continued)
with the US deploying active combat units in Vietnam starting in 1965. -
The Tete Offensive(Continued)
This was also when a third party (the centrists) appeared led by president Ho Chi Minh. -
The Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was the largest offensive attack launched against the US and South Vietnamese by the communist forces. It started when the Viet Cong launched waves of attacks the night of January 30th. It took US forces by surprise and the communists managed to take control of several cities. The Americans eventually won these back making it a defeat for the Viet Cong, but it shocked the US and South Vietnamese forces that the North could launch such a large scale attack.(continued) -
Salt Agreement
The US and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics engaged in negotiations to limit the use of weapons. SALT I was effective. However, the draft for SALT II couldn’t be agreed upon, so the US withdrew from it. This helped develop a detente between the two countries. -
Ronald Regan
In 1981 Reagan takes office and goes on to develop a system called Star Wars that he hoped would be able to destroy Soviet missiles from space. -
Glasnost
Mikhail Gorbachev introduced Glasnost, meaning publicity. It was a Russian policy for more openness and transparency in the government. It worked very well and the Russian population was exposed to everything that was previously censored. -
Communism Collapses
Revolutions began to end the communist system in Russia.The official end of communism was during 1991 and the downfall took a total of 14 years.
