Cold War (A Cold War is a war that does not have any direct military action but is fought politically.)
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Formation of the Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc was a group of European countries that were aligned militarily, politically, economically, and culturally with the Soviet Union. Members were Albania, Bulgaria, Czech, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. These countries were a "sphere of influence" for the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had high oversight and varying levels of control over the Eastern Bloc. -
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was a conflict in which the Greek communists tried to obtain control of Greece. This conflict emerged soon after the end of World War II. In 1949, the United States supplied and assisted the Greek army in an attempt to clear the rebel armies. Soon, the Greek communists announced the end of the civil war. -
Postwar occupation and division of Germany
After World War II, Germany was divided and parts were given to the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The city of Berlin was also divided into four quadrents and given to those four countries. -
Enactment of Marshall Plan
In the United States, the Marshall Plan provided markets for American goods and assisted in the development of democratic governments within Western European countries. The Marshall Plan was definately important, being a key feature in the formation of NATO, in 1949. By 1952, the final year of the Marshall Plan, the economies of the countries that had recieved it had grown to above that of pre-WWII. -
Berlin blockade and airlift
With Berlin being split between the democratic and communist countries, a concern was Berlin becoming a communist city. On June 24, 1948, the Soviet-controlled portion of Berlin cut off water and rail access to the Allied controlled portion. In order to assist West Berlin during the blockade, the allied powers used U.S. and British planes to transport supplies into the city. This was marked as the largest air relief operation in history, sending more than 270,000 flights of supplies to Berlin. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese Communist Revolution was social and political. In October 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The announcement of the PRC ended the civil war that had broken out right after World War II. In 1949, the Chinese mainland fell to communism. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea. In June 1950, North Korea reached out to the Soviet Union for assistance in invading South Korea. South Korea reached out to the United Nations to assist them. After losing about 2.5 million people, the fighting ended in July 1953. -
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was a political attempt to overthrow the government of Cuba. After the revolution, it had international and domestic repercussions. It changed the Cuban-United States relations. Castro's government began nationalism in Cuba, centralization of press, and transformed the Cuban economy. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a conflict that broke out from the communist government of North Vietnam against the United States and South Vietnam. North Vietnam's goal was to unite an entire country under a single communist regime. By 1969, more than 500,000 United States soldiers were stationed in Vietnam. In 1975, Vietnam became a communist country. -
Hungarian Uprising
The Hungarian Uprising was an attempted revolution against the Hungarian People's Republic. The revolution was against the policies caused by the government's association with the Soviet Union. Soon after the beginning of the uprising, it was destroyed by Soviet soldiers and tanks. This led many Hungarians to flee the country. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed attack launched by the CIA during John F. Kennedy's presidency. The goal was to drive Fidel Castro from power in Cuba. The CIA launched an invasion that ultimately failed because the invaders from the U.S. were outnumbered by Castro's soldiers. -
Building of Berlin Wall
On August 13, 1961, East Berlin, the communist side, began to build a wall. This wall separated the capitalist and communist sides. They did this because the people in East Berlin were learning that the lives of those in West Berlin were much better. This led to many of the people in East Berlin leaving and moving across the border to West Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis was one of the many dangerous events that occurred during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the two countries ever got to a full-out nuclear war. The Soviet Union had planted missiles in Cuba, which was under the control of Fidel Castro, a communist leader. Cuba was almost 90 miles from the Florida coast, which made the United States extremely nervous. -
Prague Spring
Prague Spring was a brief time of economic and political liberalization in Czechoslovakia. When Alexander Dubcek was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, he tried to create additional rights for the citizens of Czech. He oversaw the decision to split the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic. After the Soviet Invasion, the decision to split the two was the only policy of his that remained. -
Rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization was a political organization that promised to protect and represent the world's Palestinians who lived in Palestine before the creation of Israel. After the creation of Israel, the Palestinians struggled to find a new place for them all to be. The PLO had attempted to bring all the Palestinian groups from around the world to come together and embrace their culture. -
Soviet War in Afghanistan
The Soviet Union joined the Afghan war in order to support the Afghan communist government. This was important to the Cold War because it was against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, and allied paramilitary groups that were against the Afghan mujahedeen. Once the war had settled into a stalemate, more than 100,000 Soviet soldiers were controlling the cities in Afghanistan. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
The Tiananmen Square Massacre was originally a student-led protest in Beijing. After many attempts by the Chinese government to find a peaceful resolution, they had to resort to other methods. The government decided to deploy many troops to the square as a way to end the rebellion. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
On November 9th, 1989, the East German spokesman decided that there was no longer a need for the Berlin Wall to restrict border crossings. That day, people from both sides of the wall flocked to the border checkpoints. Quickly, the guards allowed the crowds through into the other side of Berlin. Over the next few days, cranes and bulldozers tore down the wall. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union had been beginning its decline quickly but it began to struggle more in the 1970s-1980s. In the USSR, the citizens had a very difficult time getting food, clothing, or other basic needs. In the 80s, Ronald Reagan began to isolate the Soviet Union's economy from the rest of the world. Soon after, the citizens of the USSR tried to overtake Gorbachev's power, which led him to resign on December 25. On December 31, 1991, the control of the USSR came to a close. -
9/11 Attacks
On September 11th, 2001, the United States was attacked by terrorists linked to "group al Qaeda". This group hijacked four commercial airplanes, two crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City, one hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and one was headed toward the White House. After almost 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush declared a "war on terrorism." This led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the invasion of Afghanistan.