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The Russian Revolution
Russia had two revolutions that ended imperial rule and moved them towards a communist rule under the Soviet Union. Under the Soviets rule, citizens had their bank accounts, personal items,farms,and businesses taken from them. Lenin was brutal with his ruling,arresting people without reason and imprisoning them without trial. To stop the growth of communistic rule, the U.S. sent troops to support the democratic groups in Russia causing later tension between the two countries. -
The Atomic Bomb
During WW ll President Truman ordered that an atomic bomb be dropped on Japan in hopes to get Japan to surrender. After the second bombing, Japan surrendered ending the war. After war, tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States grew due to the Soviets lack of an atomic bomb. -
The Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam conference was a conference attended by Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, and Harry Truman each representing their countries government. The purpose of the meeting was to debate the future of Germany, post war boundaries for territory,and having a long lasting peace between all the nations. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the name of the boundary that separated Europe into two different sections after World War ll. The Soviets used this as a way to put distance between them and the none Soviet controlled areas in fear of conflict. The so call curtain included: Poland, Eastern Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and the Soviet Union. -
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan was a system the Soviet Union had created in order to provide aid to rebuild countries in Eastern Europe that were associated with the Soviet Union. Since the Soviet Union refused to accept aid from the Marshall plan or allow it's satellites to do so, this was their way of rebuilding the countries economically without American aid. -
Hollywood 10
The Hollywood 10 is a group of individuals that had been put on trial after being accused of being apart of the Communist party. When asked if they were apart of the party, each of the 10 refused to answer stating they were protected under the first amendment. All ten were convicted and sent to prison for contempt of court. -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy created to counter Soviet political expansion during the Cold war. First brought to congress by President Truman when he asked we support Greece and Turkey in order to keep them from turning to Communism. After the Doctrine the Marshall plan was also put into action to offer economic assistance to even more countries. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall plan was American aid of Western Europe after the war in which the U.S. gave over 13 billion dollars in economic assistance to help rebuild Western European economies and prevent Communism from starting in Europe. The Soviet Union and it's satellites refused the aid. -
The Berlin blockade
The Berlin Blockade was when the Soviet Union (Stalin) blocked out Western Allies railways, roads, and canals to sections of Berlin under Western control. Stalin's goal was to starve the city forcing them under his rule. The U.S. however, refused to let Berlin go and started the Berlin Airlift bringing the city all the things they needed by dropping supplies with parachutes from planes. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was the Western Allies way of trying to help the citizens trapped in West Berlin, under the Soviet Union's control. The airlift started in June 1948 in which planes dropped bags, attached to parachutes, carrying supplies to the people of West Berlin so they didn't starve. The airlift was very successful and eventually the Soviet Union lifted the blockade. -
Alger Hiss Case
The Alger Hiss case was when Alger Hiss, a former state department employee, was accused of spying on the United states for the Soviet Union by Wittaker Chambers. Hiss was convicted of perjury in connection with the charge. after the case, people began to fear that Hiss had been part of a communist conspiracy to destroy the U.S. leading many people to stop trusting others. -
NATO
NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was created by the United States, Canada, France,United Kingdom,Italy, Belgium, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark,Iceland, Luxembourg and Portugal. The treaty was a signed alliance against the Soviet Union, in case future issues arose. In response, the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact. -
Soviet Bomb Test
The Soviet Bomb test was authorized by Joseph Stalin in which the Soviet Union tested their first atomic bomb. The United States was shocked by how fast the Soviet Union was able to develop the nuclear weapon since they believed they were way behind U.S. advances. Their quick achievement was due to Russia spies who collected info while Americans developed and tested their first atomic bomb. -
Korean War
The Korean War was fought between North and South Korea in June 1950. The war started when North Korea invaded South Korea, crossing over the 38th parallel which had separated democrats from republicans, leading to several battles along the border. The United States entered the conflict when they saw the war as the North Korea's way of forcing communism onto South Korea. The war ended in July 1953 after 5 million soldiers and civilians had lost their life. The territory is still divided today. -
Rosenberg Trial
The Rosenberg Trial began in March 1951 after the family had been arrested in connections with selling American nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. The evidence showed there was a correlation between the couple and the accusation. They were sentenced to die by electrical chair and despite arguments against it, they were executed June 19, 1953. -
Army-McCarthy hearings
The army-McCarthy hearings were series of hearings that investigated conflicts between the U.S. army and Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy was known for accusing state department workers of being communist. He claimed he had a list of 205 communist working for the government. McCarthy defined the era of political persecution, leaving American citizens with little trust in their government. After the hearings, it was proven that McCarthy was a fraud. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu is the first Indochina War. The battle was fought between the French and the Viet Minh for control over a small mountain outpost on the Vietnamese border. The Vietnamese cut all the roads into Dien Bien Phu making it so they could only get supplies by air. The Viet minh surrounded the base with 40,000 men with heavy artillery to break up the French lines. The Viet Minh took the base over ending the battle on May 7, 1954. -
Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference was a meeting of several nations intended to settle issues resulting from the Korean War and the first Indochina War. The biggest concern was the Indochina War with the communist, and French colonial control over Vietnam. In the end, the French had to withdraw their troops from Northern Vietnam. Vietnam was split at the 17th parallel, temporarily. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a treaty signed by the Soviet Union and it's satellites( Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria) in defense to NATO. The treaty put the soviets in charge of the armed forces making them a unified military command. The pact made it so that all members had to aid any member that had been attacked by outside forces. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian revolution was a revolt against the Marxist-Leninist government of the Hungarian People's republic and the policies imposed by the Soviets. The revolution quickly spread through the country causing the government to collapse, posing a threat to Soviets control. The revolution ended November 10th, 1956. -
U2 Incident
The U2 incident was an international diplomatic crisis that erupted when the Soviet Union shot down an American U2 spy plane in soviet air space. After shooting the plane down, they captured the pilot. In turn, President Eisenhower had to admit that the CIA had been flying spy missions over USSR for years. Tensions between the U.S and the Soviets raised. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was a concrete barrier that divided East and West Berlin. Under control by the Soviets, East Germany built the wall to keep the 'Fascists' out and prevent the building of a socialist state. For the citizens, the wall was like a jail. It wasn't until November 9th,1989 that the wall doors were opened and the citizens could finally cross between the boarders freely. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
On April 17,1961, 1400 Cuban exiles launched an invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast of Cuba. The goal of the invasion was to overthrow Castro and establish a non-communist government. The invasion was a complete disaster, leading the invaders to surrender after less than a day of fighting. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis refers to a time when leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense military standoff over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy informed the public of the missiles explaining his plan to enact a naval blockade around Cuba and use the military if necessary. The conflict was resolved when the U.S. agreed to not invade Cuba and remove U.S. missiles from Turkey in exchange for the removal of Soviet missiles in Cuba. -
Assassination of Diem
Diem was the President of South Vietnam who was arrested, along with his younger brother, by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in an overnight siege on Gia Long Palace in Saigon. The brothers were executed in the back of a military vehicle on their way to military headquarters by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam on November 2, 1963. -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy was assassinated, by gunshot ,on Friday November 22, 1963 while riding in a presidential vehicle in Dallas, Texas. The shooter was Lee Harvey Oswald, who had been on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building when he fired three shots at the President and others in the car. After Kennedy had been pronounced dead, Vice President, Lyndon Johnson, was sworn into presidency. -
Tokin Gulf Resolution
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed by Congress on August 7,1964, authorizing President Johnson to "take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia". Hence the reason the United States got involved in the Vietnam War. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the code name for an American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War in which U.S. military aircraft attacked targets in North Vietnam over the course of 3 years. The goal was to put military pressure on North Vietnam's communist leaders to lessen their capacity to wage war against the U.S. government in South Vietnam -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a series of coordinated attacks on more than 100 cities and outpost in South Vietnam. The goal was to stir up commotion in South Vietnam and start a rebellion. They wanted America to ease back on their involvement in the war. Although the the attacks didn't start a rebellion and there was heavy causalities, the U.S. did withdraw from Vietnam. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis Tennessee. MLK was a civil rights leader known for his use of nonviolence and civil disobedience. After his assassination, King's wife, Coretta Scott King, had carried on his non-violent protest in order to get justice for what had happened. -
Assassination of RFK
Presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated after midnight at the Ambassador Hotel in LA. He had just won the California presidential primaries in the 1968 election before the assassination by Palestinian Sirhan. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
On August 20, 1968, 250,000 Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia in order to stop Alexander Dubcek's liberalization reforms and strengthen the authority of the Communist party. Protesters had tried to stop the invasion with non-violent tactics and public demonstrations, but had been unsuccessful. -
Riots of Democratic Convention
The Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, where thousands of people battled police in order to protest the Vietnam War.. Protesters also came to support McCarthy and his plan to withdrawal U.S. troops from Vietnam and bring them home. The police were brutal and beat up many protesters, cameramen, and doctors trying to help. -
Election of Nixon
John F. Kennedy was elected in 1968 becoming the United States' 46th president after defeating Hubert Humphrey. Although many people had believed Kennedy's political career was over, he was able to prove them wrong and become a favorite of the republican party. -
Kent State
The Kent State shootings, or May 4th massacre, took place on the college campus during a mass protest against the bombing of Cambodia by the U.S. military on May 4.1970. twenty-eight guardsmen opened fire, shooting 67 rounds in 13 seconds. The men killed four students and injured nine others who suffered paralysis. After the incident, a student-lead strike took place which led to the temporary closure of schools and universities across the country. -
Nixon visits China
President Nixon visited the People's Republic of China in February of 1972.Officials in North Vietnam feared that the U.S. and China were going to make a deal behind their back. They were right to fear this, because during the visit , Nixon promised to reduce United States military force in Taiwan. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
On January 28, 1973, ceasefire in Vietnam goes into effect. However before the ceasefire took place, North and South Vietnamese fought, trying to take back villages. 25,000 South Vietnamese died and 45,000 North Vietnamese had died due to the fighting. -
Fall of Saigon
In April 1975, the South Vietnamese president, General Duong Van Minh, surrendered Saigon. After the surrender, the North Vietnamese army took over. They renamed the city Ho Chi Minh to dedicate it to their leader. -
Reagan Elected
In 1980, Ronald Reagan won the Presidency against George W. Bush after he had gotten 489 electoral votes, carried 44 states, and had 50.7% of the population voting for him. -
SDI Annouced
The SDI is the Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as Star Wars. This was Reagan's idea to develop a sophisticated missile system that would prevent missile attacks from other countries using solar technology. The technology at the time was out of our reach, but the Soviet Union still feared it. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
In November 1985, Reagan and Soviet leader, Gorbachev, meet at Geneva for a conference. Although the two didn't come to an agreement, they engaged in a long, deep conversation that led them to become friends. With a good relationship the two leaders were able to discuss matters calmly and efficiently. -
"Tear Down This Wall" Speech
In June 1987, Reagan gave a speech in front of the people in west Berlin calling for Soviet Union leader, Gorbachev, to open up the wall which had divided west and East Germany since 1961. The wall was later opened up and citizens were allowed to pass through West and East Germany whenever they wanted. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
On November 9, 1989, as the Cold war began to come to an end, East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West. The citizens were free to travel back and forth through the border. That year, more than 2 million East Berlin citizens visited West Berlin when the gates open for a festival in the streets. Eventually the wall was completely taken down by cranes and bulldozers in October 1990 reuniting Germany.
