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Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a series of two revolutions in Russia. One was called the February (March in Gregorian calendar) Revolution, focusing on Petrograd and the other was the October Revolution which overthrew the Provisional government. Both lead to the rise of the soviet union. -
Potsdam Conference
A conference held at Cecilienhof in Postdam (occupied by Germany). There, the Soviet Union, United States, and the United Kingdom met up to have civil conversation. We were represented by Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee and Harry Truman. The goal of the conference was post war order, peace treaty issues and countering the effects of the war. -
Atomic Bomb - Hiroshima/Nagasaki
During the end of WW2 the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bomb killed approximately 129,000 people, many of which were civilians. The first bomb was a uranium gun-type (Little Boy) bomb on Hiroshima (Killing about 90,000). The second was on August 9th, using a plutonium implosion-type (Fat Man) dropped on Nagasaki (Killing about 39,000). -
Iron Curtain
The division of Europe into two different parts at the end of WW2. The purpose was for the Soviet Union to block itself and its states from contact with the west. On one side were members of the Warsaw pact and Soviet Union being the leading state. On the other were members of the NATO with the United States as the pre-eminent power. -
Truman Doctrine
An American foreign policy made to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the cold war. It became the foundation of the U.S foreign policy and let to the formation of NATO. -
Molotov Plan
A system created by the Soviet Union made to provide aid and rebuild countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union. (USSR version of the Marshall Plan) -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to help aid Western Europe shorty after WW2. America ended up spending $140 billion to help. -
Berlin Blockade
The first major problem in the cold war. Germany sided with the Soviet Union and cut off the western allies railways, roads, and canal access to Berlin -
Berlin Airlift
Planed by Western powers to provide aid for east Berlin through airdrops. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger was an American government official who was accused of being a Soviet spy because he had secretly been a communist while in federal service and was found guilty. -
NATO
An intergovernmental military alliance between many North American and European states based on the North Atlantic Treaty. -
Soviet Bomb Test
The Soviet Union secretly conducted its first successful weapon test (First Lightning), based on the U.S. design at the Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan -
Hollywood 10
Hollywood Ten is a 1950 American documentary film directed by John Berry. Each member in the Hollywood Ten made a short speech denouncing McCarthyism and the Hollywood Blacklisting. The director was named a communist and was unable to find work in Hollywood again. -
Korean War
The Korean war was between North Korea (with the support of China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (with the support of the United States). -
Rosenberg Trial
A couple was accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians. Many believed they were prosecuted because of their membership in the communist party. The trial finally ended on April 4th with conviction for all defendants -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
This battle was the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries. France wanted to draw out the Vietnamese and destroy them with firepower. France lost the battle -
Army-Mccarthy Hearings
A series of hearing held by the United States Senate's to investigate accusations between the United States Army and the U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. The Army accused Chief Roy Cohn of pressuring the Army to give treatment to General David Schine (a former McCarthy aide and friend of Cohn's) -
Geneva Conference
A conference among several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference was intended to settle issues from the Korean war. Three separate ceasefire accords, covering Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, were signed at the conference -
Warsaw Pact
Also known as the "Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance" was a collective defense treaty signed by the Soviet Union and seven Soviet satellite states of Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War. Its main purpose was to establish a balance of power to NATO. -
Hungarian Revolution
Also known as the "Hungarian Uprising", was a revolt against the government of Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet imposed policies. It was the first major threat to the soviet control since the USSR drove Nazi Germany from its territory. -
U-2 Incident
A United States U-2 spy plane was shot down while in Soviet airspace and crashed near Sverdlovsk. The poliot of the plane was safe from the crash but was captured. They took picutres and technology in the aircraft. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
A failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA. Intended to overthrow the increasingly communist government of Fidel Castro. -
Berlin Wall
A concrete barrier designed to divide Berlin from East Germany. The wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Also known as the "October Crisis". Confrontation between the United states and the Soviet Union concerning the American ballistic missile. The confrontation is considered the closest Cold War came to nuclear war. John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev publicly came to agreement avoiding invasion. -
Assassination of Diem
A CIA backed operation that was an American Succuess -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy (The 35th president of the United States) got assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza by a former U.S. marine named Lee Harvey Oswald. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Used to retaliate and promote maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia -
Operation Rolling Thunder
An Aerial bombardment conducted by the U.S. against Vietnam. The four objectives of Operation Rolling Thunder were to boost the sagging morale of the Saigon regime in Vietnam, to persuade North Vietnam not fall to communism (non violently), to destroy north Vietnam's transportation system, industrial base, and air defenses and to stop the flow of men and material to south Vietnam. -
Tet Offensive
One of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was a campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command to control centers throughout south Vietnam. -
Assassination of MLK
MLK was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennesee by a man named James Earl Ray. -
Assassination of RFK
Robert F. Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel by an immigrant named Sirhan. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
An invasion including five Warsaw Pact nations. The soviet Union, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany and Poland attacked Czechoslovakia with about 250,000. 137 Czechoslovakian civilians died leaving 500 wounded. -
Riots of Democratic convention
Thousands of Vietnam protesters protested against the war in Vietnam during the Democratic National Conference. Democrats began to disagree about the war in Vietnam -
Election of Nixon
President Nixon won other vice president Humphrey. It was a major election because it disrupted the New Deal that dominated presidential politics for many years. -
Kent State
A shooting that took place at Kent State University, Ohio. Many unarmed college students were shot by Ohio National Guard during a protest against the Vietnam war. Twenty-nine guards fired about sixty-seven rounds in a matter of thirteen second killing four students and wounding nine. -
Nixon Visits China
Nixon's arrival in Beijing ended a 25 year streak of no communication between the two countries and was the key step in normalizing relations between the U.S and China -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
President Nixon ordered a ceasefire of the aerial bombing in North Vietnam. The decision was reached after Dr.Henry Kissinger returned to Washington from France with a draft peace proposal. -
Fall of Saigon
The capture of Saigon (The capital of South Vietnam) by the People's Army of Vietnam and Viet Cong. This event marked the end of the Vietnam War. Here was the largest helicopter evacuation in history -
Reagan Elected
Reagan beats Democrat Jimmy Carter. Reagan wants to demolish communism -
SDI Announced
Also known as "Strategic Defense Initiative" was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
An agreement to take out Soviet influence in Afghanistan and that the U.S. would help as a guarantor for Afghanistan and Pakistan -
¨Tear down this wall¨ speech
A speech made by Reagan in front of the Berlin wall demanding Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin wall that separated East and West Germany -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was finally demolished and West and East Germany were now one again. This bought down the Iron Curtain and ended the Cold War.
