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The Iron Curtain Speech
Winston Churchill made a speech after failing to get re-elected as prime minister that helped bring America and the U.K. together. Churchill's speech was helpful in bringing together an anti soviet power. -
The Truman Doctrine
This made it so that the United States would provide political, economic, and military assistance to democratic nations under attack. This oriented our foreign affairs away from isolationism and made us more willing to get involved. -
The Molotov Plan
Molotov's political strategy to bring aid to Eastern European countries that were aligned. This plan was proposed as a secondary idea to reject the Marshall plan. -
Hollywood 10
10 Hollywood actor publicly denounced what the House Un-American Activities Committee was doing. -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe.The United States gave over $12 billion in economic support to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II. The plan lasted four years beginning April 8, 1948. The goals were to rebuild devastated regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and prevent the spread of communism. -
The Berlin Airlift
In June 1948, the Russians closed all highways, railroads and canals into western Berlin. This would make it impossible for the people who lived there to get food or any other supplies and would eventually drive Britain, France and the U.S. out of the city for good. Instead of retreating from West Berlin, the U.S. decided to supply the city from the air. This was known as the Berlin airlift, lasted for more than a year and carried more than 2.3 million tons of cargo into West Berlin. -
The Berlin Blockade
In 1948, Soviet Russia made their first attempt to block off West Berlin from East Berlin. It was bypassed by the United Sates with supply drops. This was the first sign of trouble between Russia and allied forces. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger Hiss was accused of espionage against the U.S. He worked at Time magazine and wrote a satirical article in it. The case was monumental because the government basically stripped him of his rights. -
NATO
NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which was formed on april 4th 1949. The purpose of the organization was so that any allied countries would help to defend each other if they were attacked -
Soviet Atomic Bomb Test
The first Soviet test of the atomic bomb. This terrified the United States because they did not know that the soviets were even close to having nuclear weaponry. -
Korean War
The Korean war was post World War 2. The war was to keep communism out of Korea and keep it as a free state. The war lasted 3 years and had 137,889 military deaths. -
Rosenburg Trial
Ethel and Julius Rosenburg were tried for selling nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
This was the French's plan to draw out the Vietnamese by over powering them with superior fire power. The French were defeated due to poor decision making and influenced future Indochina negotiations in Geneva. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
These hearings were between the United States military and senator Joseph McCarthy. He was accused for demanding the army to give treatment to a former McCarthy aide over other soldiers. -
Geneva Conference
This conference took place in Geneva Switzerland as a way to help end differences in the Korean Peninsula. -
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty among the Soviet Union and seven other Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War. The Warsaw Pact was created in reaction to the integration of West Germany into NATO in 1955. -
Hungarian Revolution
This revolution was put together by the Hungarian government to stop Soviet control. This was the first real threat to the Soviet control in the cold war. -
U-2 Incident
An American U-2 spy plane was shot down while taking reconnaissance pictures over Soviet airspace. The planes pilot had parachuted out but was captured after landing. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
This was a failed military invasion of Cuba. The CIA sponsored a group of Cuban revolutionaries to attack the Cuban government. -
The Berlin Wall
Built in 1961, this wall separated Soviet-controlled Eastern Berlin from Western Berlin. The wall was guarded by snipers and had few ways to enter and exit. The wall stood until 1989 when citizens were finally able to leave and the wall was torn down. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This 13 day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Nation took place in Cuba. The Soviets moved nuclear missiles to a Caribbean island in range of the United States. -
Assassination of Diem
The assassination of Ngo Diem drastically changed the conflict in Vietnam. Before his death, the United States government was advising the South Vietnamese government. -
Assassination of JFK
John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas. He was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
This gave president Lyndon Johnson full control to take military action without senate. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet offensive was a North Vietnamese invasion of major South Vietnamese cities on the Vietnamese new year. The assault lasted for 77 days and killed 543 U.S. soldiers. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed by James Early Ray in Memphis Tennessee. -
Assassination of Robert Kennedy
Robert Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a 24 year old Palestinian immigrant. He was shot in the Ambassodr hotel and died shortly after. -
The Invasion of Czechslovakia
In 1968, four Warsaw pact nations; Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland; Invaded Czechoslovakia. 250,000 troops invaded the country and killed 108 civilians. -
Election of Nixon
Nixon was elected president after the assassination of JFK. He won the republican vote with 301 electoral votes. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
This operation marked the first sustained assault on Vietnam by the United States. -
Riots of Democratic Convention
At the democratic convention of 1968, 3 news men- Mike Wallace, Dan Rather, and Edwin Newman were assaulted by Chicago police. A group of activists called yippies started riots that got so bad that the national guard was called in. -
Kent State Incident
After Nixon said we needed 150,000 more soldiers for an invasion of Cambodia, Kent State University students set fire to the ROTC building as a form of protest. -
Nixon Visits China
Nixon had made a visit to the republic of China. There he had met the president of China and then ended 25 years of separation. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
The cease-fire started with South Vietnam having 75% of Vietnam, but neither sides followed the cease-fire. The U.S. tried to send in help but did not know about the lack of cease-fire. -
Fall of Saigon
The North Vietnamese forces had gone in and taken Saigon, the capitol of south Vietnam. This event ended the war in Vietnam and started the transition into the control of the Vietnam peoples republic. -
Reagan Elected
Ronald Reagan was elected as president after Jimmy Carter. -
SDI Announced
The Strategic Defense Initiative was a proposed missile defense system to shoot down nuclear missiles. This was similar to mutually assured destruction. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
This was the first meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. This meeting took place in Geneva and helped to bring the United States and the USSR together. -
Tear down this wall speach
This speech, performed by Ronald Reagan, challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to bring down the Berlin Wall. The speech did indeed help to bring the wall down, which took place 2 years later. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall stood for 28 years, until the Soviets finally let citizens pass through and climb over the wall.