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Period: to
Cold War
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"Iron Curtain" Speech
Churchill gave his now famous "Iron Curtain" speech to a crowd of 40,000. In this speech, Churchill gave the very descriptive phrase that surprised the United States and Britain, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." -
The Marshall Plan
A U.S.-sponsored program put into effect following the second world war to aid European countries that had been destroyed as a result of the war. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. It lasted until May 12th, 1949. -
Formation of NATO
NATO had begun in 1949 as a defensive military alliance between the United States, Canada, and several European nations to thwart possible Soviet expansion into Western Europe. -
USSR Get the A-Bomb
The Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb on this date. President Truman responded by reevaluating the United States position in the world and called for the United States to build up its conventional and nuclear weapons to halt the spread of Soviet influence around the globe. -
Communist Revolution in China
Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People's Republic of China. -
McCarthy Witch Hunts
Lasted until about 1956. It was the attempt to get rid of communists in the government. -
Korean War
A war between the Republic of Korea (South Korea), supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), at one time supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union -
Rosenberg Executions
A married couple who was charged with Espionage was executed. Espionage is the practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments. -
Warsaw Pact
A mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. -
Beginning of the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War began on this day against the U.S. -
Hungarian Uprising
The first major threat to Soviet control since the USSR's forces drove out the Nazis at the end of World War II. -
Sputnik Launched
The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik. -
Bay of Pigs
An unsuccessful attempt by the U.S. to overthrow the Cuban government. -
Berlin Wall
It separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
It was a 13-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side, and the United States on the other. It's generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict. -
Kennedy Assassination
Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. -
Gulf of Tonkin
The name given to two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States. Where the USS Maddox was torpedoed. -
Iranian Hostage Crisis
A group of Iranian students seized control of the American embassy in Tehran for 444 days. -
Soviet/Afghanistan War
The end result of the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan was a destabilized and tumultuous governmental system that allowed for the extremist group the Taliban to consolidate weaker groups and take power in 1994 -
Gorbachev introduces Glasnost and Perestrokia Policies
Perestroika refers to the reconstruction of the political and economic system established by the Communist Party. The term “Glasnost” means “openness” and was the name for the social and political reforms to bestow more rights and freedoms upon the Soviet people. Its goals were to include more people in the political process through freedom of expression. -
Iran Contra Affair
A political scandal in the United States. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
President Kennedy paid a visit to Berlin to challenge Soviet oppression. When the wall fell, it was like a cork exploded. It was the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War went with it. -
End of the Warsaw Pact
The military alliance between the Soviet Union and its eastern European satellites.
