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The Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was a "barrier" that the Soviet Union placed between itself and other countries. They wanted to seal themselves from the Central European allies and open contact and other non-communist areas. They became a communist country and had very strict rules. -
Truman
He was the 34th president of the U.S., who face both foreign and domestic affairs. He made some of the most crucial decisions in history including the battle against Japan and the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II. It was enacted in 1948 and provided more than $15 billion to help finance rebuilding efforts on the continent. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Alliance was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War. Its purpose was to secure peace in Europe, promote cooperation among its members, and guard their freedom. All of this was in the context of countering the threat posed at the time by the Soviet Union. -
North Korean Invasion
The tensions had already been high for five years. In June North Korea's army invaded South Korea in a coordinated general attack at several strategic points. -
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Korean War
Who: A War between North Korea and South Korea, also known as between the U.S and the Soviet Union
Where: Located on the 38th parallel, which divided the two Koreas
Why: North Korea aimed to military conquer South Korea and unify them under a communist regime. -
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong was a Chinese Communist who founded the People's Republic of China. His goal was to modernize the country's agricultural sector using communist economic ideologies. -
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. Both countries wanted to be the first on the moon and everything, including developing all of this new tech to outlast each other. -
Khrushchev
He was the first Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers. He didn't follow Stalin's orders and embarked on a policy called de-Stalinization. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization (also known as the Warsaw Pact) was a political and military alliance established on May 14, 1955, between the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries. This was created in response to the other countries created NATO as a defense system. -
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Vietnam War
Who: North Vietnam (Communists) vs South Vietnam and the United States
Where: Vietnam and places close to that area like Cambodia
Why: North Vietnamese ships torpedoed two U.S. ships causing the U.S. to fight back. This was also to stop the spread of communism. -
Sputnik Launch
The first satellite to orbit Earth was created by the Soviets. It created even more tension in the Cold War when it was launched and successfully orbited the Earth. This was the start of the Space Race with the United States. -
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward was a five-year economic plan executed by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party, began in 1958 and was abandoned in 1961. The goal was to modernize the country's agricultural sector using communist economic ideologies. -
Non-Aligned Movement
NAM has sought to “create an independent path in world politics that would not result in member States becoming pawns in the struggles between the major powers.” It had the view to advancing the interests of developing countries in the context of the Cold War confrontation. In its first three decades, the Movement played a crucial role in decolonization, the formation of newly independent states, and the democratization of international relations. -
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a wall crafted out of the strongest materials in the middle of the night, dividing Berlin in two, one side ruled by the Soviet Union and the other side by America, Great Britain, and France. The Soviets wanted to keep Western "fascists" from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
It was a thirteen-day period in October when the world waited seemingly on the brink of Nuclear War. The Soviets had been building missiles in Cuba. They had to come to a peace agreement to stop the missiles. -
Vietnamization
Vietnamization was a strategy that aimed to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. The increasingly unpopular war had created deep rifts in American society. -
1st Man on the Moon
The United States successfully got a spaceship to the moon and Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to the Moon. The moon landing taught us about the composition of the moon. It gave us the first perspective of the Earth from Space. Overall, there are many technologies that we now use in our daily lives that we would not have if scientists did not continue to explore space. -
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution of 1977-79 was the first in a series of mass popular civil insurrections which would result in the overthrow of authoritarian regimes in dozens of countries over the next three decades. It led to the toppling of the Monarch in the Islamic Republic. -
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Soviet-Afghan War
Who: Afghanistan rebels and the soviets
Where: In Afghanistan
Why: The Soviets, under the command of Leonid Brezhnev, had militarily intervened in, or launched an invasion of, Afghanistan to support the local pro-Soviet government that had been installed during Operation Storm-333 -
Common Wealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is an intergovernmental organization created in 1991 among the former countries of the Soviet Union. It is a regional intergovernmental organization focused on cooperation on political, economic, environmental, humanitarian, cultural, and other issues between a number of former Soviet Republics.