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Berlin Airlift
On June 24th, 1948 the Berlin Airlift began. Throughout the eleven months of the Berlin Airlift, U.S and British planes provided West Berlin with 1.5 million tons of supplies, a plane landing every three minutes, day and night. . -
Korean War
On June 25, 1950, the North invaded the south pushing all the way to the tip of the peninsula in a matter of months. The U.S. soon intervened by landing in Incheon, not too far south of the 38th parallel. With the help of the U.S., the South pushed back up to the Chinese border. The Chinese then fought back and pushed back down to the 38th parallel. The rest of the war was fought along this line where an armistice was signed in 1953. -
Sputnik Crisis
The Sputnik crisis was the American response to the success of the Sputnik program. It was a key Cold War event that began on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite. The launch of Sputnik I rattled the American public. President Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to it as the “Sputnik Crisis”. Although Sputnik was itself harmless, its orbiting spiraled, the continual threat the United States watched for from the Soviet Union. -
U-2 Incident
May 1, 1960, the Soviet Union shot down a U.S. U-2 reconnaissance plane and considered the flight an aggressive act. The U.S. opposed Soviet claims that the pilot, F. Gary Powers, had stated that his mission was to collect Soviet intelligence data.Khrushchev, the Soviet leader at this time, declared that the Soviet Union would not take part in a scheduled summit conference with the U.S., Britain, and France unless the U.S. immediately stopped flights over Soviet territory. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
On October 14, of 1962, a U-2 spy plane flying over Cuba discovered nuclear missile sites under construction. The missiles would have been capable of quickly extending to the United States. President Kennedy convened a small group of senior officials to debate the crisis. This group was known as ExComm. The group was cut between those who wanted a military solution, such as an invasion or air strikes, and those who wanted a diplomatic solution to remove the missiles. -
Vietnam War
In 1968 the Viet Cong killed about 3,000 civilians during the Tet offensive which was supposed to be a cease fire. Communists ignored their promise and attacked numerous cities in the south. Eventually, the cost and the death toll turned Americans totally against the war and on April 30, 1975 the last American troops left Vietnam by helicopter as the soldiers of the communist soldiers of the north marched into Saigon. -
Soviet Afghan War
The Soviet War in Afghanistan began in December of 1979 and ended in Feburary of 1989. It was fought between Soviet-led Afghan forces against multi-national rebel groups called the mujahideens. Soviets led the Afghans because they were communist and had good resources. The rebels were backed by the U.S. to combat the Soviets without having to declare war on them. -
Perestrokia and Glasnost
When Mikhail S. Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, he launched his nation on a dramatic new course. His program of perestroika and glasnost introduced huge changes in economic practice, internal affairs and international relations. Within five years, Gorbachev's program swept communist governments throughout Eastern Europe from power and brought an end to the Cold War.Gorbachev's actions also set the stage for the 1991 collapse. -
Berlin Wall Falls
New leader, Egon Krenz, decided against violence and instead ordered a relaxation of travel restrictions to the West in order to try and defuse rising tensions. East Germans could Now freely use all border crossings to "permanently exit" the nation. People gathered at the border crossings. Although the guards had no orders to do so, they reopened the borders with the rest of Germany, allowing people to cross freely. -
Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Treaty Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, familiarly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Is an international treaty whose objective is to avert the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to encourage cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. Countries began signing it in 1968 and it came into effect in 1970. On 11 May 1995, the Treaty was extended indefinitely.
