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NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed by the United States, Canada, and 10 other countries. They were a military alliance that pledged to help one another if any one of them were attacked. -
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Nuclear Arms Race and Detente
Nuclear bombThe United States were the only ones with nuclear weapons. By 1949 the Soviet Union had also developed nuclear weapons. 1953, both sides developed hydrogen bombs. Each side wanted to beat each other so they kept racing to match each other. -
Korean Conflict
Korea had split up into North and South Korea after World War II. North Korea had attacked South Korea and then the United States had helped South Korea. China had then helped attack South Korea then the war turned into a stalemate. in 1953 they both signed an armistice to end fighting. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union responded by forming its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact. It included the Soviet Union and 7 satelites in Eastern Europe. It cemented the division of Europe into "eastern" and "western" blocs. -
Soviet Union Falls 2
Central economic planning led to inefficiency and waste. The economics of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union stagnated. People saw little improvement. -
Soviet Union Falls
Stalin's Soviet Union emerged from WWII as a superpower with an Eastern European sphere of influence. However victory had brought few rewards to the Soviet people. Under Nikita Khrushchev Soviets enjoyed greater freedom of speech. Soviet Union had rebuilt the shattered industries using equipment stripped from Germany after WWII. The Soviet Union still faced severe problems. Collectivized agriculture remained so unproductive that Russia had to import grain to feed it's people. -
Communist Cuba
Castro led his army to victory and set out to transform the country. He sought for the Soviet Unions help. He nationalized businesses and put most land under government control. He restricted Cubans' political freedom as well. The United States had tried to help. 1961, John F. Kennedy supported an invasion. -
Berlin Wall
In the 1950's West Berlin became a showcase for West Germany prosperity. East Germans, unhappy with communism, fled into West Berlin. To stop the flight East Germany built a wall that sealed off West Brelin. -
Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union sent nuclear missiles to Cuba. Kennedy responded by a naval blocakade that prevented further Soviet shipments. Kennedy demanded the Soviet Union remove its nuclear missiles from Cuba. Finally the Soviet Premier Nikita Khurshchev agreed to remove the Soviet missiles. -
Vietnam Conflict 2
in 1968, guerrilla forces came out of the jungles and attacked American and South Vietnamese forces in cities all across the south. The assault wa unexpected because it took place during Tet, Vietnamese New Year. Communists lost many of their best troops and didn't hold any cities against Americans. -
Vietnam Conflict
South Vietnamese raided North Vietnamese islands in the Gulf of Tonking. The next day Nort Vietnamese attack a U.S. Navy destroyer. President Johnson reported the attacks to Congress. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonking Resolutoin on August 7, 1964. After the resolution passed the U.S. began bombing targets in North Vietnam. America faced a guerrilla war. Supplies for the guerrillas came from the north and in response, American aircraft and ground troops rossed the borders of these nations. -
Chinese Civil War
Mao Zedong was a communist. He led a program known as the Great Leap Forward. The Great Leap Forward was a faliure. Led to useless goods, neglected the food, food shortages and famine problems. In 1966 Mao launched the Great Prolectarian Cultural Revolution. He had finally had the army restore order. -
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Nuclear Arms Race and Detente
DetenteIn 1968 many natioins signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. These nations agreed not to develop nuclear weapons. American and Soviet arms control agreements led to detente relaxation of tensions, in the 1970's. In 1979 the era had ended. -
Soviets in Afghanistan
Soviet Union becomes involved in a long war in Afghanistan. Battling mujahedin, Muslim religious warriors, in the mountains of Afghanistan proved as difficult as fighting guerrillas in the jungles of Vietnam had been for Americans. Like America's Vietnam War the struggle provoked a crisis in morale for the Soviets at home. -
Eastern European Independence
When the Soviet Union crumbled Eastern Europeans demanded and end to Soviet domination and had gotten it. East Germany's government blocked Soviet publications. However East Germany could watch television and were now aware of how much freedom was out there. They demanded freedom.
