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The Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution occurred in 1917 when the Bolsheviks stole power from the imperial Czar, turning Russia into the Soviet Union. This revolution imposed communism across Russia. -
Potsdam Conference
Conference in July-August between the U.S.A, USSR, and U.K. to decide how to administer Germany after their unconditional surrender. The meeting was between Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin. -
The Atomic Bomb
August 8th, America drops two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, to force them into unconditional surrender to end WW2. -
Iron Curtain
A division of Europe between the East and West after WW2 that had the Soviet Union and it's satellite states on the East, and NATO and it's allies on the west. The USSR created the iron curtain in order to have buffer states for protection of invasion from the West. It ended with the Cold War in 1991. -
Long Telegram
February 22, 1946 George Kennan, an American diplomat in The Russian Embassy, sends an 8000 word telegram to the United States concerning his views on the Soviet Union, with information on how to beat them. -
Molotov Plan
The Soviet's Marshall plan, designed to provide aid and better trade agreements to Eastern European satellite states to the Soviet Union, so they would not rely on American aid and instead reorganize Soviet trade. -
The Hollywood 10
October 1947, 10 members of the american Hollywood film industry who slammed HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) and refused to cooperate with the investigative hearings. They believed the hearings went against their civil rights. They all received jail time. -
Truman Doctrine
The American foreign policy created by Andrew Truman which sole purpose was to counter Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe, with economic and military aid. Truman also promised to contain the communist threats in Greece and Turkey the following year. -
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt from the Soviets between 1948-1949 to starve out all sectors of Berlin including The British, French, and American owned sectors by making it impossible to enter by land. -
Alger Hiss Case
The case began when an ex-communist named Whittaker Chambers testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He charged Alger Hiss with being a communist in the 1930's and 40's. -
Marshall Plan
An American bill passed, officially called the European recovery Program, which granted Western European countries $12 Billion in assistance to rebuild the losses of WW2 and resist communism. -
The Berlin Airlift
The western allies organized strategy to supply and feed their sections of Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded them. The airlift lasted from June 26th 1948 to September 30th 1949. The allies made over a million flights into the city, and the airlift was massively successful, until the Soviets lifted the blockade in 1949. -
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which consists of 29 countries from North America and Europe, which means we will defend each other in a time of war. -
The First Soviet Bomb Test
August 26th, 1949, the Soviet Union shocks the world by successfully testing their first atomic bomb, far faster than the world predicted possible. The test was code-named "First lightning", and code-named Joe 1 by America. -
The Chinese Communist Revolution
The revolution began in 1946, after the second Sino-Japanese war. It was led by the Communist Party of China and Mao Zedong. This created the People's Republic of China. -
Korean War
The war began June 25th 1950 when 75,000 North Korean soldiers cross the 38th parallel line that separates the North communist-controlled from the democratic South Korea. This attack marks the beginning of the cold war. A treaty was drawn, ending the war on July of 1953. -
The Rosenburg Trial
In 1951, an electrical engineer named Julius Rosenburg and his wife were tried and convicted for espionage by giving the Soviet Union classified info about the Manhattan Project that probably helped the Soviets develop the Atomic Bomb. In 1953 the Rosenburgs were executed. -
Army-Mccarthy Hearings
April-June 9th, 1954 Mccarthy argues that the United States Army is harboring communists. Mccarthy loses popularity during the investigation, career ends. -
Warsaw Pact
May 14, 1955, the Soviet union and its satellite states sign the Warsaw Pact treaty which gives mutual defense and gives the Soviet Union control over the armies of Albania, East Germany, Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary -
Hungarian Revolution
Was a leaderless uprising against soviet policies lasting from October 23rd until November 10th. It began as a peaceful student protest in Budapest but once fired upon it quickly became a violent revolt. -
U-2 Incident
May 1960, an international emergency ensued when the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy plane and captured the pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Dwight D. Eisenhower had to admit that the U.S. had been spying on the USSR for years with the planes, and trade a Soviet spy to get back Francis. -
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
April, 1961, the CIA send 1400 American-trained Cubans to invade and overthrow the island of Cuba. America wanted to push Fidel Castro out of power because when he took over he immediately tried to reduce American influence on the island. -
The Berlin Wall
1961-1989, the Berlin Wall was a large concrete barrier that separated East and West Germany. It was heavily guarded, and also ran through West Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
October 1962, The Soviet Union and America are in a military and political standoff for 13 days because The Soviet Union installed nuclear missile silos in Cuba, an island 90 miles away from America. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
November 22nd, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding a motorcycle in Dallas, Texas while campaigning. -
The Invasion of Czechoslovakia
On August 20th, 1968, The Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia with Warsaw Pact troops in an effort to end reform trends in Prague. -
Nixon visits China
1972, Richard Nixon visits the People's Republic of China that was seen to help the US relations with Mainland China and years of diplomatic isolation -
Reagan elected
1980, republican, Ronald Reagan beats Jimmy Carter in the 49th election. One of his policies/goals is to destroy communism, this brought him much popularity. -
SDI announced
March 23rd, 1983 Reagan announced a Strategic Defense Initiative, a proposed missile defense system which used ballistics and submarines. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
November 19th, 20th, 1985, President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Geneva Switzerland. They met to speak of the arms race, and cut nuclear weapons on both sides. -
Tear down this Wall speech
June 12th, 1987 President Ronald Reagan called out to Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall separating East and West Germany. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
November 9th, 1989, The wall separating Western democratic Germany from Eastern communist Germany.
