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The Iron Curtain
The political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. -
Truman
Harry S. Truman served as the 33rd president of the United States -
Truman Doctrine
Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. -
Marshall Plan
On April 3, 1948, President Truman signed the Economic Recovery Act of 1948. It became known as the Marshall Plan, named for Secretary of State George Marshall, who in 1947 proposed that the United States provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin airlift was a 1940s military operation that supplied West Berlin with food and other vital goods by air after the Soviet Union blockaded the city. The operation lasted from June 1948 until September 1949. -
NATO
NATO was formed to combat the spread of communism. -
Domino Theory
The domino theory is a geopolitical theory which posits that increases or decreases in democracy in one country tend to spread to neighboring countries in a domino effect. -
North Korea Invasion
The Korean War was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following clashes along the border and rebellions in South Korea. -
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The Korean War
Who? The West-the United Kingdom and the U.S., supported by the United Nations—supported South Korea, while communist China and the Soviet Union supported North Korea.
Where? South Korea
Why?The Korean War was a civil conflict that became a proxy war between superpowers clashing over communism and democracy. -
Krustchev
Khrushchev was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. And chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. -
Space Race
The “space race” was a Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop aerospace capabilities, including artificial satellites, unmanned space probes, and human spaceflight. -
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Vietnam War
Who?The Vietnam War was a long, costly, and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States.
Where?The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.
Why?To unify the entire country under a single communist regime modeled after those of the Soviet Union and China. -
Sputnik Launch
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries ran out. -
Vietcong
The Viet Cong, officially the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, was an armed communist organization in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. -
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built by the German Democratic Republic during the Cold War to prevent its population from escaping Soviet-controlled East Berlin to West Berlin. -
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. -
JFK
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, often referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person to assume the presidency by election and the youngest president at the end of his tenure. -
1st Man on Moon
Apollo 11 was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969. -
Warsaw Pact
The warsaw pact was formed to be an answer to the Nato alliance,and to keep the eastern bloc countries in line since most had soviet troops in their countries -
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution, refers to a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. -
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Soviet-Afghan War
Who? The Soviet Afghanistan War was fought between Afghanistan rebels called the Mujahideen and the Soviet supported Afghanistan government. The United States supported the Afghanistan rebels in order to try and overthrow the communist government and to prevent the spread of communism.
Where? Afghanistan
Why?The war began after the Soviets, under the command of Leonid Brezhnev, had militarily intervened in, or launched an invasion of, Afghanistan.