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Red Scare
Till 1950.
The period of paranoia that many communists lived amoung us in America and were conspiring to take over. -
Truman Doctrine
Large sums of financial aid given to Turkey and Greece to fight against communist takeover. This reflected America's new policy of containment against communism. -
Soviet Atomic Bomb Test
In Kazakhstan.
It caught America off gaurd. We didn't think they had advanced so far in nuclear technology. It was a terrifying threat. -
China fell to communist rule
Chinese civil war that ultimately ended with communist victory and Mao Zedong as the leader of the new People's Republic of China. -
Formation of NATO
An alliance consisting of many western European countries and the United States with the purpose of defending each other against communist threats. (Although they did not directly state this as the purpose of NATO.) -
Korean War
Till 7/27/1953.
The war ended with North and South Korea remaining divided. Ultimately the war was fruitless for either side. -
Vietnam War
Till April 30, 1975. America intervened and sent troops to protect south Vietnam from communism but they ultimately failed. This was largely due to their lack of jungle terrain knowledge compared to the native vietnamese and that the Vietcong soldiers had no uniform and were indiscernible from civilians. -
Sputnik Launched
Catalyst of NASA and the space race. -
Cuba fell to communist rule
Fidel Castro took over Cuba's government and assumed communist dictorial leadership. This strengthened ties between Cuba and the Soviet Union. Cuba began recieving finacial aid from them. -
Kennedy became president
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Cuban Missile Crisis
Till 10/28/1962.
Cuba is close proximity to Florida and were preparing missiles with the Soviets that could demolish D.C. in a matter of minutes after launch. -
Nixon became president
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Vietnam fell to communism
The capital of south Vietnam, Saigon, was captured. -
Soviet Afghan War
Till Feb 15, 1989.
Contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union. -
Reagan became president
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Gorbachev became the Soviet Union's leader
Promoted freespeech in stark contrast to previous Soviet leaders. He focused on improving the lives of his people instead of investing so much in spreading communism through military force. -
Nuclear Force Treaty
To improve relations between the Soviet Union and America, Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Nuclear Force Treaty. It promised to restrict missile ownership and to permit inspection to enure that promise was upheld. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
German citizens took the fall of the wall into their own hands. Beginning its demolition using sledgehammers, axes, and shovels. -
Soviet Union Collapse
Revolts throughout the Soviet Union eventualy became too overwhelming and Gorbachev had to resign, breaking apart the union once consisting of 15 republics.