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Period: to
The Cold War
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The End of WWII
The end of World War II marked the beginning of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. Even though the end of WWII brought economic growth to the U.S., the Cold War negatively affected the U.S. with threats of a possible nuclear war. End of WWII -
Formation of NATO
12 Western countries, from North America and Western Europe, joined together in Washington D.C. to sign the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This treaty basically entailed that an attack on one of the twelve countries would be an attack on them all. This was a strategic defensive move to make during the Cold War against the USSR. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/formation-of-nato-and-warsaw-pact -
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was the response of several communist countries regarding the forming of NATO. The Warsaw Pact entailed basically the equivalent of NATO but on the Soviet side of the war. Countries that signed the Warsaw Pact were banned together in an alliance. If anyone were to declare war with one of the countires, they would be declaring war with all of them. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/formation-of-nato-and-warsaw-pact -
The Launch of Sputnik
The Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, began, what became known as, the "space age." The United States' efforts to catch up to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik became known as the great "space race." This was a contributing factor to the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Sputnik -
The Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs caused even more strife between the Soviet Uniot/Cuba and the United States. Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government and had a close relationship with Soviet Leader, Nikita Khrushchev. The U.S. invasion of Cuba on the beach named the Bay of Pigs, ultimately failed when Cuba shot down U.S. planes and held soldiers captives for 20 months. -
Construction of the Berlin Wall
The Communist government of the German Democratic built a wall that divided West and East Germany. They did this in order to keep the Western "fascists" and cutlure out of their socialist state. This split families apart in order to protect what the GDR saw as what would undermine the socialist state. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A United States spy plane took pictures of a nuclear missile site being built in Cuba by the Soviet Union. President John F. Kennedy, created a blockade around that he referred to as a "quarantine" so supplies could not go into building the site. The Soviet Union and the U.S. came to agreement that nuclear war would be absolutely devastating and the site was dissembled on the precendence that the U.S. would not invade Cuba. http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Cuban-Missile-Crisis.aspx -
China Explodes First Atomic Bomb
With the assistance and materials provided by the Soviet Union, China exploded its first atomic bomb. However, after the success of this, the Soviet Union refused to provide further assistance and took away all help and materials previously given. -
Richard Nixon Visits China
President Richard Nixon visited the People's Republic of China on the first official visit from the U.S. This event was significant because the U.S. was trying to improve relations with a Communist country during the Cold War. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_nixchina_1.html -
South Vietnam Falls to Communist Forces
With the strong advancement of the North Vietnamese, South Vietnam collapsed. Even though the U.S. had promised assistance to South Vietnam if communist forces took over, that promise was not fulfilled. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/south-vietnam-surrenders -
U.S. and China Establish Diplomatic Relations
The U.S. and China both set up liaison offices in each other's countries and established relations with one another. This led to them establishing stable, and normal bilateral relations with each other as well as political, trade, economic, and military relations. http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zmgx/ocusr/t946195.htm -
U.S. Invades Grenada
President Ronald Reagan ordered marines to invade Grenada and secure the safety of over 1,000 American students. The Marxist regime run by Maurice Bishop threatened American presence in Grenada considering they had such close relations with Cuba who also had relations with the Soviet Union. Soon, by the week's end, Grenada's government was overthrown. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-invades-grenada -
Destruction of the Iron Curtain
The entire year of 1989 brought down European communist governments one after another. Poland became the first soviet state to have a non-communist Prime Minister. Protests and riots began in other European countires and soon spread throughout all of them. http://www.english-online.at/history/collapse-communism/1989-collapse-of-communism-in-eastern-europe.htm -
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The checkpointts were opened, due to the East Communist Spokesman's allowance of it, and Eastern along with Western Berliners were free to go to and from East and West Berlin. They were then allowed to personally destroy using hammers and picks. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall -
The End of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union dissolved into 15 different countries which marked the end of the Cold War. The U.S, considered this as a victory of democracy over totalitarianism also showing that communism was more powerful than socialism. http://www.coldwar.org/articles/90s/fall_of_the_soviet_union.asp
