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Chinese Communist Revolution 1945-1950
Communist in China had started a war against Chinese Nationalist. They wanted to overthrow China's current government and become a communist government. They won the war, with help from the Soviet Union, and China became a communist country. -
Formation of the Eastern Bloc
It was when a group of nations allied with the Soviet Union. These were that countries that were a part of the Warsaw Pact. These nations were puppets of the Soviet Union, and were cushions in case of an invasion. -
Post War Occupation and Division of Germany: August 2, 1945 - 1952
After World War II, Germany was dived up between France, Britain, United States, and Soviet Union. Each country got their own section of Germany, and could do whatever they want with it. The city of Berlin also got split up between the four countries. -
Greek Civil War: March 30,1946 - Oct 16, 1949
The war was fought between the Greek government army and the Democratic Army of Greece. The Democratic Army of Greece was communist and had the backing of Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria. The Greek government weren't communist and had the backing of the U.S. and U.K. The Greek government won the war and stopped the spread of communism in their counrty. -
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Cold War
The Cold War was a state of tension between the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union. It is called a "cold" war because there was no actual fighting. The two countries tried to show they were superior through other means like proxy wars. A proxy war is a war that is instigated by major powers but does not itself become involved. The U.S. and Soviets used these proxy wars to try to show off their power of each other. -
Enactment of the Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to help Western Europe rebuild after World War II. The U.S. gave 13 billion(130 billion today) to help Western European countries. One main goal of the plan was to stop the spread of communism by making the countries they rebuilt into a democracy. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift: June 26, 1948 - May 12, 1949
The Soviets tried to block the Allies from entering West Berlin. They set up a blockade in an effort to control all of Berlin. The Allies decided to airlift supplies to West Berlin to get by the blockade. -
Korean War: June 25, 1950 - July 27, 1953
A war between North Korea and South Korea. Communist North Korea with the help of the Soviets tried to invade South Korea. The U.S. and U.N. helped South Korea drive them back. Eventually there was a stalemate between the two and an arms peace signed, but the war hasn't officially ended. -
Cuban Revolution: July 26, 1953- Jan 1, 1959
Fidel Castro leads an armed rebelling against the current government of Cuba. The U.S. tried to intervene at the Bay of Pigs to stop the spread of communism, but they failed. The government surrenders and Castro becomes the leader of the new communist government. -
Vietnam War: Nov 1, 1955 - April 30, 1975
The U.S. sends thousands of troops in an effort to help South Vietnam invade and capture communist North Vietnam. The U.S. suffers tremendous losses in a war that they thought would be easily won. The U.S. eventually withdraws troops, which leads South Vietnam to fall to the North and become communist. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion: April 17, 1961 - April 19, 1961
The U.S. secretly funded an armed invasion of Cuban rebels in an effort to take over Cuba. The Cuban rebels wanted to take over Cuba and make it democratic before it became communist. The rebels lost the invasion and Fidel Castro became ruler of the communist government. -
Building of The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built by the Soviets Union. They wanted to keep the communist people of East Berlin from fleeing to capitalist West Berlin. The wall was a symbol that represented capitalism vs. communism. -
Cuban Missile Crisis: Oct 16, 1962 - Oct 28, 1962
A 13-day confrontation between the Soviets and the United States. The U.S. discovered that the Soviets were building nuclear launch sites in Cuba. For 13-days there was a possibility of all out nuclear warfare. Eventually the countries came to an agreement: The Soviets remove missiles from Cuba and the U.S. removes missiles from Turkey. -
Prague Spring: Jan 5, 1968 - Aug 21, 1968
It was a time in Czechoslovakia when they politcally tried to get rid of the Soviet Union's influence in their country. They granted their citizens new freedom: Freedom of speech, media, and travel. The Soviet Union, in response, sent in half a million troops to take control of the counrty. There was small rebellions from the Czechoslovakians, but no major battles. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
For about a month Pro-democracy protestors were protesting the government in Tiananmen Square. The Chinese government sent their military in to disband the protestors using any means possible. The number of people killed ranges from a prediction of three hundred to a thousand. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Around the beginning of the1990's the cold war started coming to an end. The U.S. and Soviets began to have more and more peace talks to solve the conflict. The power of the communists in the Soviet Union began to decline after they gave their people a taste of freedom. Eventually the Soviets allowed East and West Berlin to be one city again. Thousands of people flocked to the wall and started tearing it down. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, had made so many reforms that gave people more and more freedom. The people wanted more and more, so they started a revolution. Eventually states controlled by the Soviets broke away and became independent countries. The Soviet Union's government was torn apart and changed into a democracy. Gorbachev resigned and the Soviet Union was gone.
