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Russian Revolution
During the time of the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks who were led by Vladimir Lenin, obtained power and overthrew traditional csarist rule. Later, the Bolsheviks became the Communist party of the soviet union. -
Potsdam Conference
On July 17- August 2, 1945, the heads of the United States, Britain, and Germany held a conference in Berlin to disscuss issues that were happening at the time. The three leaders (President Harry S. Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin) talked about/ came to agreements on subjects such as the German economy, punishment for war criminals, land boundaries, reparations, and unconditional surrender from Japan. -
Iron Curtain
The iron curtain was a barrier dividing Europe issued by the Soviet Union after WWII. The Soviet Union wanted to seal itself and other communist allied countries off from the west and other noncommunist areas. The iron curtain remained from 1945 until the end of the cold war in 1991. -
The Atomic Bomb
On the date of August 6, 1945, and American B-29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. The two bombs together killed an estimated amount of 120,000 people. After the two a-bombs, the Japanese leader at the time anounced the country's unconditional surrender. -
Molotov Plan
The Molotov Plan was the USSR's version of the Marshall Plan. The Molotov Plan was a system created in 1947 by the Soviet Union in order to rebuild Eastern European countries politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union. -
Truman Doctrine
On March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman proposed the Truman Doctrine. This was an American Foreign Policy agreement whose purpose was to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an act of aid when $13 billion was given to Western Europe by the U.S. This was to help rebuild western europe after the end of WWII. -
Berlin Blockade
During the Cold war, the Soviet union blocked off railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. This was was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. -
Berlin Airlift
In response to the soviets blockading off Berlin from the rest of Germany, the Western Allies organized the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin Airlift was important because it provided the innocent people of Berlin with food and other supplies such as fuel during their time of need. -
NATO
NATO or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a military alliance between several North American and European countries. -
Soviet Bomb Test
In 1940- 1949, the soviets developed a classified research and development program that was authorized by Joseph Stalin. This is important because the soviets were able to develop nuclear weapons much more quickly than expected due to spy activity which came as a surprise to America. -
Korean War
The korean war was the first military action of the cold war. During this war, the Western allies were fighting with south korea in attempts to take over and unify with north korea which was controlled by the communist Soviets. Unfortunatly, Korea is still divided today. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger Hiss was an American government official who was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948 and of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950. Alger Hiss died in 1996. -
Rosenberg trial
The Rosenberg trial was a trail against Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. The Rosenbergs were accused of selling nuclear secrets from the US to Russia and committing espionage. The Rosenbergs were later executed in April and we now know today that the accusations were true. -
Hollywood 10
During the Cold War, the US had a great fear of communism. The House Un-American Activities Committee or the HUAC was created with the intent of stopping any activities that were seen as un-american, including communism. The Hollywood 10 were a group of 10 hollywood actors and movie directors that stood before the HUAC and refused to answer the members when questioned about being involved in the communist party. The people were later blacklisted for refusing to answer the HUAC. -
Army-McCarthy hearings
The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations (April–June 1954) to investigate conflicting accusations between the United States Army and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy was later uncover to be a fraud and his popularity along with McCarthyism declined greatly. -
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu consisted of a struggle between French and Viet Minh (Vietnamese Communist and nationalist) forces for control of a small mountain outpost on the Vietnamese border near Laos. The Viet Minh victory in this battle effectively ended the eight-year-old war. -
Geneva Conference
In order to try to resolve some of the problems hapening in asia such as the war between the French and Vietnamese nationalists in Indochina, representatives from the US, the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, France, and Great Britain came together in Geneva to try to resolve the issues. This marked the first turning point in US' involvment in Vietnam. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense agreement signed by the Soviet Union and seven Soviet satellite states of Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War. The warsaw pact was the equivilant to NATO but for the soviet union and other satellite countries. -
Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution was a nationwide revolt against the communist government of the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. This was the first major threat to soviet control since USSR's forces drove Nazi Germany from its territory at the end of World War II. -
U2 Incident
The u2 incident occurred during the Cold War on 1 May 1960. This incident occured when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down while in Soviet airspace. The pilot was captured and the soviets found out that the planes purpose was of military nature along with spying technology and photos of military bases in the Soviet Union taken by the aircraft. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA. This event was important because this allowed other countries specifically the Soviets to see the US as a weak target and make threats in the benefit. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. This blockade was put in by Soviet power in attempts to starve out the people of Berlin because they did not agree with American ideology. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The cuban missile crisis was a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, 90 miles from U.S. shores. -
Assassination of Diem
Following the overthrow of his government by South Vietnamese military forces the day before, President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother are captured and killed by a group of soldiers. The death of Diem caused celebration among many people in South Vietnam, but also lead to political chaos in the nation. -
Assassination of JFK
President John F Kennedy was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. in Dallas, Texas while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dealey PlazaKennedy was riding with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife, Nellie, when he was fatally shot. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
In early August 1964, two U.S. destroyers stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam radioed that they had been fired upon by North Vietnamese forces. In response to these reported incidents, President Lyndon B. Johnson requested permission from the U.S. Congress to increase the U.S. military presence in Indochina. Congress soon passed the resolution and allowed the president to take the measures that he believed were needed. -
Operation Rolling ThunderOperation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the codename for an American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War. U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam from March 1965 to October 1968. The bombardment issued by the US had intentions of putting pressure on Northern Vietnam's communist leaders and reduce their influence in the war. -
Tet Offensive
The tet offensive was an organized series on north vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outputs in southern vietnam. The offensive was meant to intimidate south vietnam and influence the US to scale back their involvement in the war. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was an influencial Baptist Minister who fought for equal/civil rights in the african american community. Shockingly, MLK was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, an event that sent sadness around the world. -
Assassination of RFK
On June 5, 1968, presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy was mortally wounded due to gunfire at the Ambassedor Hotel in Los Angeles after he has just won the election. -
Riots of Democratic convention
in 1968, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters battle police in the streets, while the Democratic Party falls apart over an internal disagreement concerning its stance on Vietnam. Over the course of 24 hours, the predominant American line of thought on the Cold War with the Soviet Union was shattered. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
5,000 tanks and 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia on August 20, 1968. Czechoslovakian protesters tried to stop the invasion with non-violent methods and public demonstrations but those failed. many were killed. -
Election of Nixon
Presidental candidate Richard Nixon was elected as president of the US on Tuesday, November 5, 1968.The Republican nominee, former Vice President Richard Nixon, defeated the Democratic nominee, incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey. -
Kent State
In response to the US bombing Cambodia, there were many violent protests around the country. One of the protests at Kent state university in Ohio resulted in four students being shot to death by 28 guardsmen. this situation stirred lots of controversy. -
Nixon visits China
President Richard Nikon visited the People's Republic of China on February 2, 1972. Officials in North Vietnam were afraid that the United States and China were going to make a deal in secrecy. Their fears were confirmed when Nikon had promised to reduce United States military force in Taiwan. -
Ceasefire in Vietnam
On January 15, 1973, President Richard Nixon of the USA ordered a ceasefire of the aerial bombings in North Vietnam. The decision came after Dr. Henry Kissinger, the National Security Affairs advisor to the president, returned to Washington from Paris, France with a draft peace proposal. -
Fall of Saigon
The fall of saigon was when the communists of north vietman captured the southern capital of vietnam-saigon. This event marked the end of the vietnam war and transition to the reunification of vietnam. -
Reagan elected
In the 1980 presidential elections, Ronald Reagan had won against his competator George W. Bush. He had recieved 489 electoral votes, carried 44 states, and had 50.7% of the Population voting for him. -
SDI announced
The SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) is also known as Star Wars. They wanted to develop a sophisticated missile system that would prevent missile attacks from other counties. Although the technology for this was far ahead of the time, and we wouldn't have the technology to create it for awhile, the Soviets feared it. -
Geneva Conference with Gorbachev
After eight years, Reagan and Soviet leader, Gorbachev, meet at Geneva for a conference. They came to no agreements but they had engaged in a long, deep conversation that lead them to have a closer relationship. Gorbachev wanted a better relationship with the United States so he was able to pursue his domestic reforms. -
Tear down this wall’ speech
The "tear down this wall' speech was given to the people in West Berlin when Soviet Union leader, Gorbachev, allowed them to get rid of the Berlin Wall that stood standing for almost 30 years. President Nikon delivered this speech in which he stated to "Tear down this wall!" to signify an end to the Cold War. Citizens started to tearing down the walls with any possible materials that they could. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
On November 9, 1989, East Berlins Communist party had stated that citizens were free to cross over the country's border. On both sides, many citizens waited at the wall drinking beer and champagne waiting for the gates to open. More than 2 million East Berlin citizens visited West Berlin when the gates open for a festival in the streets. They used hammers and picks to chip away at the wall. On October 3, 1990 East and West Germany were officially reunited after almost 45 years.
