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Formation of the United Nations
Franklin Roosevelt was the first to use the term "United Nations". It happened during WWII when 26 countries formed together. Before the UN, the countries were joined in the League of Nations which was brought together during WWI. -
Iron Curtain descends on Europe
It sybolizes the conflict and boundaries between the different countries of America. It was more specifically used towards the Soviet Union as they shut them selves off from the other countries. The first time the term was politically used was in a speech by Winston Churchill. -
Potsdam Conference
Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Harry Truman met in Potsdam, Germany. They discussed terms for ending WWII. The major problem they had to discuss was how to handle Germany. Inspite of many disagreements, the managed to come to a conclusion by the end of the meeting. -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman decided that the US would provide help to all democratic countries under a threat. It changed the US foreign policy from it's preious stance of staying distance from other countries problems. As soon as Truman passed his new act, Britain pulled away from Turkey and Greece. Once that happened Truman immediately attempted to form allies and assist the newly abandoned countries. -
Formation of NATO
Communist expansion ecouraged 12 western countries to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Soviet Union along with other communist nations created a rival alliance with the Warsaw Pact. The two different pacts caused Europe to split into the same political positions as in WWII. These pacts helped provide the different sides during th Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
Also known as the European Recovery Program, provided economic support from the US to European countries savaged during the second world war. The US had their own idea of a united Europe. The Marshall Plan caused more problems between the US and the Soviet Union. It was named for George C. Marshall -
Creation of Israel
David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, declared the state of Israel in May of 1948. President Truman acknowleded the new nation on the same day. The US had previously made an agreement with the Arabs to ignore any jewish states/nations near the Palestinian nation. Despite this agreement Truman recognized Israel. This caused tension between the Arabs and the US. -
Berlin Air Lift
After WWII, Germany was split between the US, the soviets, France, and Britain. Berlin, Germany's capital, was nside the soviet's zone. Russia wanted Berlin so they blocked all ways to get food and supplies to all the other countries areas. The other countries started having their supplies flown in as a way of defeating Russia. This became known as the Berlin Air Lift. -
Korean War
The war began when North korea invaded South Korea. The UN called for a military defense. The People's Republic of China attacked American and Korean forces. -
Stalin Dies
Stalin died of a heart attack March 5th, 1953. His people knew him as the man who saved them from the nazis during WWII. They also knew him as the slayer of their country because it is roughly estimated that he killed somewhere between 8-10 million of his own people. -
Warsaw Pact formed
The Soviet Union and seven other Eropean countries singned a treaty allying them together. This pact was named the Warsaw Pact because it was signed in Warsaw. The countries that signed this treaty were the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. -
Suez Crisis
The announcement of the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company caused much political tension between Egypt, Britain, and France. Even though Prince Nasser offered compensation towards the company and the British and French governments, they were still angry. The tension between the governments became stronger. The Eisenhower administration was worried about conflict between their NATO allies. They attempted to create a broker between the countries. -
Sputnik I & Sputnik II
Sputnik I was the world's firts satelite launched by the Soviet Union. It was about the size of a beach ball. It was the start of the space race between the soviets and the US. -
NASA is formed
When the US discovered the Soviet Union was close to space they started to "fast foward" on our space program and created NASA. In the begining Senator Lyndon B. Johnson was chairman. During spring of 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law. -
Vietnam War (U.S. involvement)
Vietnam signed a treaty with the US. United States started air raids over North Vietnam. The war involved attacks on more than a hundred towns. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
Before JFK was inaugurated, he was informed of the CIA's plan to use Cuban exiles to attack their homeland and overthrow Castro. They hoped this would turn Cuba into a non-communist country and ally with the United States. Through Cuban informants, Castro learned of the plan to overthrow him ahead of time. The exiles failed were held hostage for 20 months until Kennedy made a deal with Castro. Castro ended up settling for $53 million worth of medicine and baby food in exchange for the prisoners. -
Berlin Wall Constructed
During the '50s and '60s, thousands of people from East Berlin would crossover into West Berlin to rejoin families and escape communist repression. To stop this, the German governement sealed off all points of entrance between East and West berlin. The set up barbed wire and posted sentries. Eventually as time passed, they started building a concrete wall with sentrie towers and mine fields. This became known as the Berlin Wall. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
An American U-2 spy plane found a nuclear missile site in the process of being built by the Soviets. It was found on the island of Cuba. JFK did not want the union to know the US had found the site. After a while Kennedy decided to place a naval blockade around Cuba. He then commanded the Soviets to dismantle and destroy the site and all their missiles immediately. Understandin the danger of what would happen if they disobeyed, the Soviet Union complied. -
Kennedy is Assassinated
He was assassinated while riding in a motorcade through downtown Dallas, Texas. His wife accompanied him as her first extended public appearance since their baby, Patrick, died that August. Kennedy was aware of a feud between some party members in Texas could jepordize his chances for re-election in 1964. His aim for the trip was to bring the party members together. -
Paris Peace Accords
The US started attending peace talks with Paris. 8 months into the talks and they still couldnt agree on anything. Two key topics caused the stalemate. The US wanted all northern troops out of south Vietnam, but Hanoi refused. -
USS Pueblo Incident
North Korea attacked a US Navy vessel called the USS Pueblo. 81 crewmembers were taken prisoner for 11 months. USS Pueblo first the noticed the attack about to happen when a North Korean subchaser on their scanner. Two torpedo ships also attacked them. -
UN Resolution 2758
The UN recognized that the Peoples Republic of China was the only official spokes person for their country. They banned the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from unlawfully trying to represent China in the United Nations. From then on the Peoples Republic of China is one of the five permanent members of the security counsel. -
Nixon visits China
Nixon and Zhou Enlai met and discussed trade options between the US and China. President Nixon was the first contact any country had had with the People's republic of China since the UN resolution. He helped establish the Open Door Policy. -
Salt I & Salt II Agreements
The treaties were meant to curtail the building of nuclear weapons. They each held certain specifications as to what they can and cant build and how many of each. The treaties were ratified by US senate in 1972. -
South Vietnam falls
It officially marked the end of the Vietnam war. South Vietnam threatened the US. On live television, Graham Martin responded with "“I, the American Ambassador, am not going to run away in the middle of the night. Any of you can come to my house and see for yourselves that I have not packed my bags. I give you my word.” -
Iran Hostage Crisis
The Iranian Hostage Crisis lasted for a little under two years. On the 4th a mob of young Islamic revolutionaries took over the US Embassy in Tehran. They took more than 60 americans hostage. They were not let go until after Reagan took office 444 days later. America blamed president Carter for the incident. -
USSR invades Afghanistan
Afghanistan's central government was overthrown. The new government formed new alliances with the Soviet Union against it's people's will. They used domestic oppression and were cruel to their people. -
U.S. & Soviet boycotts of the Olympics
The US boycotted the olympics to help protest against what the soviets were doing in Afghanistan. The head of the games discussed with Carter the possibility of postponing the games, but Carter still said they would be boycotting if the Soviet Union did not remove themselves from Afghanistan. The US was joined in the boycott by Japan, West German, China, the Philipines, Argentina, and Canada. -
Iran Contra Affair
While Iraq and Iran were at war, Iran asked to buy weapons from the US. Despite the embargo of secretly selling them weapons, McFarlane tried to convince Reagan by saying it would improve relations with Iran.Reagan decided to give them arms for a different reason. He decided it was his responsibility to get the 7 American hostages back from Iran and proposed a trade with them. He had to convince himself he was not trading with terrorist in order to do it. -
Korean Airline Flight 007
A Soviet jet shot down a Korean plane over Russian ground and killed 269 people. The plane was heading towards the US and towards the end of the trip started slightly veering off towards Russian territory. The Soviets, not getting response from the plane, shot a heat seeking missile at the passenger plane. This was not the first time this sort of incident has happened and it caused much tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. -
U.S. invades Grenada
Reagan was concerned about what was happening in Cuba. They had a plane they claimed was for tourist but Reagan was convinced it was actually for soldiers and weapons. Reagn didnt trust thei communist government. On October 23rd, a suicide bomber drove into a marine base. That was the last straw for Reagan and he finally attacked. -
Chernobyl disaster
It was caused by a flawed reactor design being used by inadequate personel. 28 people died from radiation poisoning. It was a consequece from not recieving any saftey training due to the isolation of the cold war in the Soviet Union. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Chinese troops attacked the center of Beijing. They killed thousands of pro-democracy believers. Nearly a million young chinese students formed a protest and were killed. -
Dissolving of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union broke into 15 countries. This officially declared the cold war between them and the US to be over. the country was in severe economic trouble and the soviets blamed their final leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. -
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The NPT is meant to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. It's suppose to inspire cooperation to find peaceful uses of nuclear energy. More countries have ratified with this treaty than any other.
