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The Russian Revolution
(1918-1922)
The U.S. disliked that communism provided a lack of civil rights, personal property and belongings, and that all became equally distributed, as well as opposing the treatment they would give to enemies of the government (those who oppose communism). During the civil war in Russia, where Lenin revolted democrats, America gave aid to Russia's enemies, as well as later talking about "strangling" communism before it grew more powerful, angering Lenin, and pushing him to oppose the U.S. -
The Potsdam Conference
(July 17, 1945- August 2, 1945)
The Potsdam Conference was the third and final meeting between world leaders, during World War 2, with the purpose of deciding what to do with post-war Europe. Truman and Churchill wanted security, democracy, and freedom for Europe. Stalin wanted Communism in Europe, and to kill all Germans. Tensions arose due to the disagreements they had. -
The Atomic Bomb
The development of the atomic bomb served not only the purpose of winning the war with Japan, but it also provided leverage with dealing with people such as Stalin. On the first day of the Conference, the Manhattan project was proven successful as they tested the bomb in New Mexico. Truman gave the final go ahead to drop the bomb in Hiroshima. Stalin was not surprised, as he had spies in the Project and knew America's intentions, but Truman's willingness to use the weapon concerned Stalin. -
Nagasaki
After Hiroshima, America later dropped a bomb on the Town of Nagasaki. -
The Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political, military, and ideological barrier put up by the soviet union after World War Two to seal it and its allied countries off from the West and non-communist areas. -
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan was the system created by the Soviet Union, to provide aid and rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically taken over by the Soviet Union. -
The Hollywood Ten
The Hollywood 10 were a group of screenwriters, directors, and producers who appeared before the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) and refused to answer questions regarding their possible communist affiliations, citing protection under the First Amendment. They spent time in prison for contempt of congress, and were blacklisted by most of the Hollywood studios. -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was the appeal that allowed the U.S. to support and aid any country that was being forced into communism. He wanted the money to support Greece and Turkey. The only ones who refused money from the U.S. were the Soviet Union and their satellites. Along with money, they provided countries with food, machinery, technical supports, construction equipment, and coal. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall plan was a program of massive economic assistance so that Countries wouldn't fall to Communism as a seemingly better alternative to starving. The United States gave over $13 billion in economic assistance to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II using the Marshall Plan. -
The Berlin Blockade
(Jun 24, 1948 – May 12, 1949)
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. The United States, Great Britain, Soviet Union, and France all divided Berlin and Germany into occupation zones. The Soviets took over east Germany and plundered it, taking equipment in order to rebuild the Soviet Union. They blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control out of spite for the zone's successes. -
Berlin Airlift
(Jun 24, 1948 – May 12, 1949)
During the post-war division of Germany, Soviets who wanted to have Berlin to themselves decided to close highways, railroads, and canals from Western occupied Germany into Western occupied Berlin. Their intent was to drive Britain, France, and the US out of Berlin. The US and their allies supplied their sectors from the air. It carried more than 2.3 million tons of cargo into West Berlin, within 300,000 flights. On May 12, 1949, the Soviets lifted the Blockade. -
NATO
N.A.T.O. (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was created as a united offense against Soviet aggression. It was joined by the U.S and 11 other countries. -
Soviet Bomb Test
At a test site in Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, the USSR successfully tested their first and own atomic bomb, also known as "First Lightning". Later, in September, President Truman announced to America that the Soviets, too, had a bomb. This came as a shock to American citizens because they thought that Soviets were years behind where they really were in bomb development. The progress was accelerated by a German physicist who passed bomb secrets to the Soviet Union. -
Alger Hiss Case
During the Communist hysteria (or Red Scare), Hiss was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948 by Whittaker Chambers, an admitted former Communist and Government worker. The house committee was prepared to dismiss the case for lack of conclusive evidence, but Nixon pushed the case on and on, and he was convicted. He served nearly 4 years in jail. -
The Korean War
The war began when 75,000 North Korean soldiers went over the 38th parallel, the boundary between Soviet-backed democratic people's republic of Korea and the Pro-Western republic of Korea, becoming the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops entered the war on South Korea's behalf. As far as they were concerned, it was not a border dispute but instead a step in the Communist campaign. Although it was a short war, it took over 5 million lives. Korea is still divided today. -
The Rosenberg Trial
The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg began in the New York Federal court. They were accused of being connected to a plot to send U.S. bomb secrets to the soviets. They plead to being victims of Prejudice against Jews, but it did not help their case. They were arrested in July of 1950 and both were executed on June 19, 1953. Because it was a conspiracy, their conviction required no tangible evidence. -
Battle of Bien Dien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the decisive engagement in the first Indochina War. French forces occupied the valley in late 1953, and commander Vo Nguyen Giap collected troops and placed heavy artillery in caves of the mountains by the French camp. With Chinese aid, Giap mounted assaults on the opposition’s strong points, taking away use of the French airfield. Forces overran the base, prompting the French government to seek an end to the fighting with the signing of the Geneva Accords. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
Joseph McCarthy exploited the red scare and created McCarthyism, which defined an entire era of political persecution. He claimed he had a list of 205 communist's names in the political and state departments, which landed him in a political juggernaut. He started a hysteria in America, losing people's confidence in the government. The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of hearings to investigate conflicting accusations from McCarthy and the Army in relation with his petty tactics. -
Geneva Conference
In an effort to resolve problems in Asia, including the war between the French and Vietnamese nationalists in Indochina, representatives from the world’s powers meet in Geneva. The conference marked a turning point in the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. -
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization (pact) was a military and political alliance between the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and more. Made to counterbalance the NATO made in 1949. It is a mutual defense putting the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. Members would become obliged to defend any member attacked by an outside force. It remained in act until 1991. -
Hungarian Revolution
In October of 1956, thousands of Hungarian protesters took the streets demanding a more democratic political system and freedom from Soviet Oppression. Rebels won the first phase of the revolution, and Imre Nagy became Premier, agreeing to establish a multiparty system -
The U-2 Indecent
In this international diplomatic crisis, the USSR shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet airspace and captured Francis Powers, the pilot. This caused President Eisenhower to admit that the US had been flying spy missions over the USSR. Powers was convicted on espionage charges and had an early release in the first ever US-USSR 'spy swap". This raised tensions between the two. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Fidel Castro, a young Cuban nationalist, drove his Guerrilla army into Havana to overthrow General Batista, the nations Western-Backed President. The CIA spent the next two years trying to push Castro from power. In April of 1961, they finally launched a definitive strike in the form of an invasion of Cuba. The American-trained troops were overpowered and outnumbered and surrendered after just 24 hours of fighting. -
Berlin Wall
West Berlin had a loophole in which thousands of East Germans fled to the democratic West. In response, the Communist East German authorities built a wall that totally encircled West Berlin. It was thrown up overnight. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union was attempting to put missile sites in Cuba in order to get closer to the US. Our military forces were preparing an attack, possible war, leading to invasion of Cuba. We had minute-men missiles poised to destroy every major city in the Soviet Union. There were some secret diplomatic resolutions dissolving the situation. -
Assassination of Diem
The death of Diem caused celebration among many people in South Vietnam, but also lead to political chaos in the nation. The United States became more involved in Vietnam as it tried to stabilize the South Vietnamese government and beat back the communist rebels that were becoming an increasingly powerful threat. -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the US, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza. Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who was three cars behind President Kennedy in the motorcade, was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States at 2:39 p.m. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
President Lyndon Johnson announced that two days earlier, US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin had been attacked by the North Vietnamese. Johnson dispatched US planes against the attackers and asked congress to pass a resolution to support his actions. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the name given to America's sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was started in an effort to demoralize the North Vietnamese people and to undermine the capacity of the government in North Vietnam to govern. -
TET Offensive
The General Offensive and uprising of Tet Mau Than by North Vietnam was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. North Vietnamese and communist Viet Cong forces launched a coordinated attack against a number of targets in South Vietnam. The Tet Offensive played an important role in weakening US public support for the war in Vietnam. -
Assassination of MLK
Clergymen and civil rights leader, Martin Luther King JR, was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. MLK was known for impassioned speeches and nonviolent marches and protests to fight segregation for civil rights for African Americans. His assassination led to an outpour of anger among black Americans, as well as a period of national mourning. -
Assassination of Robert F Kennedy
After winning the California Presidential Primary, Senator Robert Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He was shot by 22 year old Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan after announcing that the Country was ready to end its divisions. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Warsaw pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, officially known as Operation Danube, was a joint invasion of Czechoslovakia by five Warsaw Pact nations, the Soviets, Bulgaria, East Germany, Poland, and Hungary. -
Riots of Democratic convention
Following the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, many thousands of Vietnam War protesters battled the police in the streets, while the democratic party fell apart over an internal disagreement concerning the same war being battled over. -
Election of Nixon
In the 1960 election, Nixon lost to JFK. Just two years later he lost again to Edmund G. Brown when running for governor of California. He sufficiently restored his political standing in the Republican party when he became a candidate for president. He successfully beat Hubert H. Humphrey in the 1968 election, becoming president of the United States. -
Kent State
When students protesting the bombing of Cambodia by the United states military forces clashed with the Ohio National Guardsmen on the Kent State campus, the Guardsmen shot and killed 4 students. The Kent State shootings became the focus of the Nation, still deeply divided by the Vietnam War. -
Nixon Visits China
Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China was an important and strategic diplomatic overture that marked the culmination of the Nixon administration's resumption of harmonious relations between the United States and China. The US was seeking to improve relations between the Communist country during the Cold War. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
US President Richard Nixon ordered a ceasefire of the aerial bombings taking place in North Vietnam. The decision came after Dr. Henry Kissinger, the National Security Affairs Advisory to the President, returned to Washington from a trip to Paris, bringing back a draft of a Peace Proposal. -
Fall of Saigon
Nixon promised to give American Aid would continue in South Vietnam, as well as that the US would respond with full force if the communists violated ceasefire. In the Nixon administration's congress, hearings revealed that Nixon and his staff waged an illegal war on the home front, against political opponents. -
Reagan Elected
Reagan served as the 40th US President from 1981 to 1989. During his terms, he cut taxes, increased defense spending, negotiated a nuclear arms reduction agreement with the Soviets and is credited with helping to bring a quick end to the cold war. -
SDI Announced
The Strategic Defense Initiative, known also as Star Wars, proposed US Strategic defense system against potential nuclear attack as originally conceived, from the Soviet Union. The SDI was first proposed by Reagan in a Nationwide TV address. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
The Geneva conference of 1985 was a cold war era meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. It was held in November, and attended by US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet General secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The two leaders met for the first time to hold talks on international diplomatic relations and the arms race. -
"Tear Down This Wall" Speech
"Tear down this wall" is the most popular line from a speech made by US President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin, calling for the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open up the barrier between West and East Berlin. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was a tangiable symbol of the suppression of human rights in Eastern Germany during the Cold war. East Berlin's communist party announced a change in the city's relations with the West. This began the "Thaw" of the cold war.
