-
Period: to
Cold War
-
Berlin Airlift
The United States began airlifting supplies to West Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded the city. Stalin believed this would pressure the Western Allies into withdrawing from West Berlin, though Stalin's plan proved unsuccessful. The airlifts were bringing in more supplies per day than had been brought in via train prior to the Soviet blockade of the city. This signals the begining of Cold War tensions between the West and the Soviets http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-airlift -
Soviets get the Bomb
After years of spying on the American’s Manhattan Project, the Soviet Union successfully detonates its first atomic device. In the Kazakhstan SSR a team of atomic physicists discharges the atomic bomb codenamed First Lightning. This even makes the Soviet Union the second nation in the world to possess atomic weapons and marks the beginning of nuclear tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-explode-atomic-bomb -
War in Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea, led by its Communist leader Kim il Sung, invades South Korea in an attempt to unify the peninsula under one government. Kim’s invasion is supported by the Soviet Union and China, while the United States and the United Nations support South Korea. This is the first of many proxy wars between the U.S. and the Soviets. Proxy wars would become a dominate feature of the Cold War. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX58.html -
Brown v. Board of Education
This landmark decision by the Supreme Court over turned the long-standing president of “separate but equal” set forth by Plessy v. Ferguson, in terms of public education. The justices unanimously ruled to strike down segregation in public schools throughout the United States. This decision would eventually help end racial segregation in the South and the entire nation. http://www.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1952/1952_1/ -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The U.S. under the newly elected Kennedy administration decided to form a counter revolutionary army made of Cuban exiles to depose Castro’s new Communist regime. The invasion was an utter failure due to inadequate intelligence, reconnaissance, and U.S. air support. The failed coup pushed Castro’s allegiances even closer to the Soviet Union and marked a huge failure for President Kennedy. http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1765.html -
Building the Berlin Wall
The German Democratic Republic or East Germany began constructing a wall around the Western city of Berlin where the West German government was in control. East Germans had been crossing into West Berlin to escape the oppressive Communist regime in the East. East Germany lost many of its skilled and young labor force to defection and saw the wall as a way to prevent further escapes. The Berlin Wall would come to be a symbol of Cold War tensions.
http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wal -
Brink of War: Cuban Missile Crisis
In response to U.S. nuclear weapons in Turkey, the Soviets placed nuclear warheads in Cuba. The U.S. discovered the warheads and formed a blockade around Cuba. Neither the Soviets nor the Americans altered on their courses as Soviet ships headed for the U.S. blockade. For several days, the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. Eventually, Khrushchev ordered the Soviet ships to turn around, preventing a nuclear holocaust. http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Cuban-Missile-Crisis.aspx -
March on Washington D.C.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organized this event to speak for better economic opportunities for Black Americans in the nation’s capital and the rest of the nation. Dr. King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial as thousands of people listened. Dr. King’s protest was successful in pressuring the Kennedy administration to take on the cause of civil rights. http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_march_on_washington_for_jobs_and_freedom -
Tonkin Gulf Incident
A U.S. warship was supporting a South Vietnamese attack in the gulf of Tonkin when North Vietnamese ships fired on the U.S. warship. The U.S. called in air support fearing the North had submarines in the area, but found none. President Johnson used the attack as an excuse to increase U.S. involvement in Vietnam, drafting the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. This incident allowed the U.S. to fully commit to the Vietnam War. http://www.usni.org/magazines/navalhistory/2008-02/truth-about-tonkin -
Voting Rights Act
President Johnson pushed Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act to secure voting rights for all Americans, but particularly disenfranchised Blacks in the South. The act prevents obstacles to voter registration and voting, including discriminatory practices like poll taxes and literacy tests.
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/voting-rights-act -
Vietnam Intensifies: the Tet Offensive
The North and South Vietnamese agreed to a temporary ceasefire to celebrate the Vietnamese New Year. The North broke the agreement catching the U.S. and South off guard, resulting in great territorial gains for the NVA. The North captured several strategic villages and the Vietcong attacked the U.S. embassy in Saigon. This event signaled to the American people how unprepared the U.S. was and a change in strategy was needed. http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/tet-offensive -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
James Earl Ray, a known White supremacist, assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee outside of his hotel room. Dr. King’s assassination triggered riots throughout the nation as people learned of King’s violent death. The civil rights movement suffered a great loss with king’s assassination as America’s focus shifted from civil rights to the war in Vietnam. http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_kings_assassination_4_april_1968/ -
The Moon Landing
The United States with the ingenuity of NASA is the first nation to bring a manned mission to the moon. Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, said his now famous quote, “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” This event marked the end of the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. https://www.nasa.gov/content/former-astronauts-recall-historic-first-moon-landing -
Watergate Scandal
The Democratic National Convention Headquarters at the Watergate hotel had been broken into and evidence of wiretapping was discovered. The Nixon administration attempted to cover up any pieces of evidence that could incriminate Nixon or his administration. The anonymous source called “Deep Throat” alerted the media to the Nixon administration’s involvement in the scandal. Nixon eventually resigned as a result of the scandal. http://watergate.info/ -
U.S. Withdraw from Vietnam
The United States withdrew from Vietnam as the Paris Peace Accords went into effect and North Vietnam began returning U.S. Prisoners of War. This signaled the end of large-scale assistance to South Vietnam and an end to America’s war with the North Vietnamese and Vietcong. Two years later the South’s capital, Saigon, would fall to the North Vietnamese, ending the conflict and marking America’s first significant military defeat. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-withdraws-from-viet -
Nixon Resigns
After the Watergate scandal and the enormous amount of negative press the House of Representatives organizes to impeach the President. Nixon, on national television, told the American people he had chosen to resign as President of the United States. Nixon resigned just before the House was to vote for his impeachment. Richard Nixon is the only president in U.S. history to have resigned. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/080974-3.htm -
Soviet-Afghan War
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in an attempt to preserve the Communist government against the U.S. backed Mujahedeen. This war has been called the Soviet’s Vietnam, as the conflict was a guerilla war, drawn-out, and unpopular in the Soviet Union. Eventually the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan allowing Islamic extremists to take over the nation. This event showed the dwindling strength of the Soviet Union. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1977-1980/soviet-invasion-afghanistan -
Gorbachev: Reformer of the Soviet Union
When Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he set out to reform the old polices and structure of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev’s plans were Perestroika and Glasnost, which were designed to give the Soviet people greater economic opportunity and a more democratic system. This was yet another sign of the Soviet Union’s impending collapse. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/perestroika-and-glasnost -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Government of East Germany was facing economic, political, and civil unrest just like many other Eastern Bloc nations in the late 1980s. The East German government decided to open the border with West Germany resulting in the mass exodus of East Germans to the West. People climbed over boarder crossings and the Berlin Wall. This event marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War as Communist states began opening up to the West. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/places/berlin_wall -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
By this time the Soviet Union was a shadow of its former self; the Eastern Bloc’s Communist governments had fallen and the all but one SSR had declared its independence from the Soviet Union. On Christmas day Gorbachev declared the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics officially dissolved. This marked the end of the Cold War era, leaving the world with only one super power – the United States. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fall-of-soviet-union
