-
A social revolution in Russia that started in 1917 due to heavy military setbacks from WWI and ended in 1923. Monarchy was abolished and the Soviet Union was established and the old government was replaced with communism.
-
A meeting between the leaders of the Allied powers after the war's end. They were deciding on what to do with defeated Germany, as well as the establishment of postwar order. It ended on August 2, 1945.
-
A new class of weapon that was used as leverage by both the US and the Soviets against each other. It was first used on two Japanese cities, completely obliterating them.
-
A metaphor explaining the USSR's efforts to create a 'soviet sphere' around itself, capturing and using countries in the Eastern half of Europe as a sort of 'buffer zone.' The border that divided Soviet-controlled countries with the Western half of Europe was referred to as the Iron Curtain.
-
A system created by the Soviet Union that was similar to the Marshall plan. It provided aid to help rebuild Eastern European countries under Soviet control.
-
A group of people who declined to answer during HUAC interrogations.
-
A foreign policy designed by Harry Truman to 'contain' communism around the world and halt the spread of it to other countries.
-
A report on the actions and behaviour of the Soviet Union's government to the US. It claimed that Russia was 'insecure' and that while it wouldn't be able to reason, it would respond to force.
-
An American plan that aimed to provide aid for Western European countries in danger of falling into Soviet control. Aid came in the form of coal, materials, food, and other supplies.
-
An event where the Soviet Union blocked the Eastern half of Berlin from the rest of Europe. The Western Allies created the Berlin Airlift to provide much-needed supplies to the starving country.
-
During the Berlin Blockade, the European Allies fed a constant stream of supplies to the starving city with the use of airplanes.
-
Alger Hiss was an American who was accused of being a Soviet spy. The trial declared him guilty, though many questioned the validity of the verdict.
-
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was a mutual defense treaty against the Soviet threat that included many Western European countries, as well as a few others.
-
The Soviets had sucessfully conducted their first test of an atomic bomb, years ahead of expert predictions.
-
After Mao Zedong and his Communist party defeated the Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War, and China fell under Communist rule.
-
As the Communist North Korea (supported by the Soviets and China) began to invade the South, America and some other countries that were a part of the UN supported the South to repel the attack. Eventually, at the end of the war, on 27 July 1953, the border between North and South Korea was placed at almost the exact same place it had been previously.
-
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused of giving secrets about America's nuclear weapons to the Soviets. They were convicted of espionage and sentenced to death, though it was a controversial ruling in the opinions of many citizens.
-
A series of hearings between the US army and Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy had accused hundreds of being communists without evidence.
-
A pact, similar to NATO, between Russia and other Eastern European countries under Soviet control.
-
A nationwide revolution in Hungary that protested the current government and its Soviet-influenced policies. Students marched through Budapest, protesting. They were fired upon, sparking discord throughout the country. However, the Soviets eventually killed the revolution on November 11, 1956.
-
An American spy plane was shot down over Russia. The pilot was captured, and the Soviets recovered surveillance equipment from the crash, leading them to discover the U.S.'s spying. This event further degraded relations between the two superpowers.
-
The U.S. attempted (and failed) to overthrow Fidel Castro by sponsoring Cuban exiles to invade Northern Cuba for them. It lasted only three days before their attempted coup fell to pieces.
-
A concrete barrier that divided Berlin. It finally fell in 1989. 100,000 tried to escape before then, and only 5,000 actually succeeded.
-
The U.S. had discovered Soviet missiles stationed in Cuba. This was the closest that the two superpowers came to a nuclear war during the Cold War, as distrust grew even further and tensions mounted. On the 28th, the Soviets agreed to remove their missiles, and a potential catastrophe was avoided.
-
John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding through Dealey Plaza by Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was killed soon after by another person, Jack Ruby.
-
A joint invasion of Czechoslovakia by countries that were a part of the Warsaw Pact. Some countries refused to join the invasion, and East Germany was told not to join, but the invasion was a success, and it put an end to the Prague Spring.
-
Dubbed "the week that changed the world," president Richard Nixon made a week-long trip to China, which helped promote warm diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China. This also gave the U.S. leverage over the Soviet Union.
-
Ronald Reagan, a Republican, wins the presidential election against Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election. This was the beginning of the Reagan Era.
-
The SDI was a U.S. plan to defend themselves from any intercontinental ballistic missiles that may have been fired upon them. It was nicknamed 'Star Wars' by the American public, and while the weapons researched were never used, it remains a symbol of anti-communism in the U.S.
-
The Geneva Conference of 1985 was a Cold War meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. It was between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet General Secretary. They met to hold talks on international diplomatic relations.
-
A speech by Ronald Reagan in West Berlin that was aimed at Mikhail Gorbachev, specifically calling for the opening of the Berlin Wall that had divided Berlin since 1961.
-
On this date, the Iron Curtain finally fell, after the many years of a divided Europe. This marked the end of the Cold War. Germany was reunified the following year.
