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Russian Revolution
The revolution lasted until November 8, 1917. In October, Vladimir Lenin lead a revolution that marked the end of the Russian empire and began the spread of communism, creating the Soviet Union. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam conference was held to determine how to execute the defeat of Nazi Germany after they had agreed to unconditional surrender. Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Harry Truman of the United states attended this meeting in occupied Potsdam, Germany. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
In attempt to put an end to the war, an American B-29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. It instantly vaporized 80,000 people and radiation exposure killed tens of thousands more following. On August 9, just three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing about 40,000. Emperor Hirohito of Japan agreed to unconditional surrender on August 15, as the bombs had caused unbelievable devastation. -
Iron Curtain
"Iron Curtain" is a term coined by Winston Churchill used to describe the boundary separating Soviet controlled East Europe and Russia from West Europe. The Soviets created this border in efforts to block themselves and their satellite states from non-Soviet-controlled areas. -
Truman Doctrine
United States President Harry S. Truman created this doctrine as a new foreign policy for the United States. It pulled the US out of it's isolationist stance on foreign policy, stating that America would give military, political, and economic aid to any country threatened by communism. -
Marshall Plan
Officially known as the European Recovery Program, it gave financial aid to help rebuild Western European countries after World War II. The plan was named after Secretary of State, George Marshall. -
Molotov Plan
Eastern European countries politically tied to the Soviet Union were not able to receive aid from the US under the Marshall Plan without leaving the Soviet sphere of influence. The Soviet Union created their own system, the Molotov Plan, to provide aid for these countries. -
Hollywood 10
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) suspected communist influence in the American Motion Picture Industry. Many individuals in the industry were accused of having communist ties and banned from with major Hollywood studios. The Hollywood ten was a group of these individuals that stood up to HUAC's accusations. They were Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Robert Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbo -
Berlin Blockade
After World War II, both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union occupied Berlin, Germany. In attempt to get the allies to withdraw from West Berlin, the Soviet Union blocked all railway, road, and canal access to West Berlin by Western Allies. -
Berlin Airlift
The US responded to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin by sending massive airlifts of food, water, and medicine to the citizens of West Berlin. The airlifting of supplies lasted for almost a year and sustained over 2 million West Berliners. -
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization: the agreement between several North American and European states for mutual defense against an attack from any outside party. -
Soviet Bomb Test
The Soviet Union secretly detonated their first atomic bomb at a test site in Kazakhstan. On September 3rd, a US spy plane picked up evidence of radioactivity from the explosion off the coast of Siberia. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger Hiss worked for the US State Department and was accused by Whittaker Chambers, former communist, of being a Soviet spy. Hiss was found guilty of perjury after California Representative Richard Nixon investigated his case and sentenced to five years in federal prison. -
Korean War
75,000 North Korean army soldiers invaded South Korea. In July, the United States entered the conflict, backing South Korea. China and the Soviet Union aided North Korea. -
Rosenberg Trial
Married couple Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians. Both Ethel and Julius were convicted and sentenced to death in April. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
French Forces had occupied the Dien Bien Phu Valley of Vietnam in late 1953 and Viet Minh forces came in 1954 and placed heavy artillery and troops over the French camp. This was the first decisive engagement of the Indochina war. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
Joseph McCarthy had become famous for claiming to have a list of State Department employees that were members of the communist party. McCarthy had gone on to accuse members of the US Army, which caused backlash from the Army who took McCarthy to trial and had him exposed. -
Geneva Conference
Taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, the conference was among several nations including the Unites States, the Soviet Union, France, and the United Kingdom that lasted until July 20. The purpose was to settle any remaining issues from the Korean War and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact as a collective defense treaty in retaliation to the creation of NATO. The pact consisted of the Soviet Union and seven Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe. -
Hungarian Revolution
Also known as the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, it was a movement against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic and Soviet-influenced policies. The revolution lasted until November 10, 1956 when Soviet forces put an end to it. -
U2 Incident
CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers was performing photographic aerial reconnaissance in Soviet airspace when his plane was shot down by an S-75 Dvina and crashed near Sverdlovsk. Powers safely parachuted out and was captured. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs was a failed military operation by the United States in attempt to invade Cuba. The goal of the invasion was to use CIA trained Cuban exiles to overthrow the communist government lead by Fidel Castro. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a concrete barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic of East Germany to keep West Berliners out of East Berlin and keep East Berliners in. The GDR referred to it as the "Anti-Fascist Protective Wall" implying that NATO and West Germany were fascists. The Wall blocked all land access to East Germany. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day long military confrontation between the Soviet Union and the US. The Soviet Union had placed nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba, very close to the United States, who was ready to use force to remove the missiles but the Soviet Union came to an agreement to remove them. -
Assassination of Diem
After almost a decade of totalitarian rule in South Vietnam, the CIA supported a successful coup of the South Vietnamese president and his brother. -
Assassination of JFK
President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas while riding in a motorcade. After ten months of investigation, it was determined that Lee Harvey Oswald committed the assassination on his own. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution gave president Lyndon B. Johnson permission to use conventional military force for the expansion of the Vietnam war and ultimately it was created as a joint resolution to promote and maintain international peace in South East Asia. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the 3 year long sustained bombing of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam by the United States. More bombs were dropped during this time than in all of World War II. -
The Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a series of surprise military attacks by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese People's army of Vietnam on the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic. -
Assassination of MLK
Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, was fatally shot in Memphis, Tennessee. This angered many African-Americans through out the country. -
Assassination of RFK
While running for president, Robert F Kennedy was shot and killed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
Four members of the Warsaw Pact conducted the month long invasion in which 108 Czechoslovakians were killed and around 500 wounded. -
Riots of Democratic Convention
During the Democratic convention in Chicago discussing the war in Vietnam, tens of thousands of war protesters battled the police in the streets outside of the convention. Many reporters and delegates were severely beaten. -
Election of Nixon
In the running against Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey, Republican candidate Richard Nixon won the 1968 election. He promised to restore law and order to the Unites States and provide new leadership toward the Vietnam war. -
Kent State
Kent State college students were protesting the Vietnam war when members of the Ohio National Guard shot and killed four of the students and injured nine others. -
Nixon Visits China
President Richard Nixon took an important step in improving relations with China by visiting the People's Republic of China. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
With Saigon controlling 75% of South Vietnam's territory, a ceasefire went into effect in Vietnam. South Vietnam continued to receive aid from the US after the ceasefire. -
Fall of Saigon
North Vietnamese forces finally captured the city of Saigon, marking the end of the Vietnam war and unifying all of Vietnam as a Socialist Republic. Vietnamese fled by the thousands before the city was completely overtaken. -
Reagan Elected
Republican Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election as the 40th president against Jimmy Carter. He promised lower taxes and managing the Iran hostage crisis. -
SDI Announced
SDI or Strategic Defense Initiative was publicly announced in 1983 and focused on strategic defense as opposed to the strategic defense doctrine of mutually assured destruction of the past. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
President Ronald Reagan met with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to discuss international diplomatic relations and the arms race of the cold war. -
"Tear Down This Wall" Speech
President Reagan gave a speech at the Berlin wall calling out for the Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" as the speech later became famous for. -
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Hungary was able to take down its physical border with Austria, allowing 13,000 East Germans to escape through Hungary to Austria. East Germans started a "peaceful revolution" calling for political change. Soon the checkpoint doors of the all were opened and East and West Berliners could celebrate together.
