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House of Un-American Activities Committee
The committee was put in place to investigate communism. They found the "Hollywood Ten', which they accused of being communist. The committee blacklisted many people, even the innocent. The HUAC eased tensions during the Cold War, because they accused many people of being communist and blamed communist nations. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was put in place to help give economic and military aid to democratic nations that were threatened by communism. Greece and Turkey received the most aid, because Truman believed that communism would threaten their stability.The involvement and aid of the U.S. towards the democratic nations led to the beginning of the Cold War and the problems between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. -
National Security Act
The National Security Act was put in place by the government. It established the Department of National Defense, the CIA, and the NSC. The National Security Act established the framework for policy making for the 40 years of the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was to help rebuild war torn Europe after World War II. Many people hoped it would make communism look less promising. More than $13 billion were spent to help restore European nations. This led to tensions with the Soviet Union and disagreements between Western nations. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a collective defense for the United States and Western Europe. It was the opposite of the Warsaw Pact. This grew tensions between communist and anti-communist nations and worsened relations between them. -
Korean War
The Korean War started after thousands of North Korean soldiers crossed the 38th Parallel, which was the boundary between North and South Korea. American troops started to support South Korea to attempt to stop communism from spreading there. The war went stalemate until it eventually ended with the North and the South in a split. The Korean War was the first major conflict of the Cold War, because the Soviet Union supported North Korea and the U.S. supported South Korea -
Brinkmanship
Brinkmanship was a tactic the United States used to push nations to the verge of war to get them to back down. It was used during the Korean war to get North Korea to back away from South Korea and prevent communism from spreading. The tactic worsened the war, but eventually the war ended with the North and the South being in a split. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was put in place to unite the communist nation of Eastern Europe. The countries were supposed to be mutual and un-involved in other countries affairs, but the Pact became a powerful political tool for the Soviet Union. This looked as a threat to democratic nations and increased tensions. -
Eisenhower Doctrine
The Eisenhower Doctrine stated that the U.S. should defend other nations against communism. This seemed like a good idea, but it got the U.S. into problems that it should not have been in. It also got us involved with the Suez Crisis, which backfired the U.S. because Egypt was playing the U.S. against the Soviet Union. -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the first satellite sent into space. It was launched by the Soviet Union, which embarrassed the United States. This worsened the tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union as well as leading to the Race to the Moon. -
U-2 Incident
The U-2 Incident was when a U.S. spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. It led to the U.S. to increase arms after promising to reduce them. The U-2 Incident was one of the first events to lead into the Cold War and cause problems between the Soviet Union and the U.S. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs was a failed invasion to overthrow Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader at the time. It was led by 1,400 Cubans that had fled to America when Castro took over. Castro had found out about the plan and greatly outnumbered the invaders. The Bay of Pigs gave more power to Castro and made the U.S. even more terrified of the weapons set up there. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
When the Soviet Union placed weapons in Cuba, it worried many people living in the United States. The U.S. tried to get the Soviet Union to remove the weapons without starting a war. The 13 days they had the missiles placed in Cuba was one of the most tense 2 weeks for the nations. -
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the treaty in order to ban testing nuclear weapons above ground. This was in part due to the bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki and the damages it had done. President Kennedy had strongly supported the ban of testing weapons above ground. The U.S. removed its missiles from Turkey and this eased the tensions for a little bit. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall separated East and West Berlin. It was one of the biggest symbols of communism and the Cold War. The wall was built to keep east Germans from fleeing the communist side of Berlin. The Berlin Wall created problems for those living in Berlin and led to the U.S. involvement of helping those stuck in east Berlin.
