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United Nations Formed
Formed on October 24, 1945. The United Nations was formed after WWII ended, in hopes of creating world peace. The main objectives of the UN was to maintain international peace and security, and to promote the well-being of the peoples world. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was created on March 12, 1947. President Truman presented this doctrine, asking congress for $400 million in military and economic assistance for Turkey and Greece. Truman did this because he feared that Turkey and Greece would fall into the communist rule, continuing the spread of communism. -
Hollywood 10
Hollywood 10 was made up of 10 motion-picture producers, directors, and screenwriters. In November of 1947 these 10 people refused to answer questions concerning their possible communist relations. They were later convicted in 1948, fined for $1,000 each, and sent to prison for a year. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan became official in April of 1948. In this plan, President Harry Truman wrote to congress about ideas of providing economic aid to Europe. The overall purpose of the plan was to provide aid to European countries to create stable conditions in which a democratic government could survive. -
NATO Formed
NATO was formed on April 4, 1949. NATO was the first peacetime military alliance the US entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere. It consists of 30 European countries and 2 North American countries. NATO was formed to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. -
Korean War
The Korean War began on June 25th, 1950, and ended on July 27th, 1953. The war was between North and South Korea. The North was a communist party trying to invade and take over South Korea---who was non-communist---in hopes of unifying the separate states under communism. The war ultimately ended in a stalemate, and the border remained at the same spot when the war started. -
Space Race/Sputnik
The Space Race was the race to space between the USSR and the United States. It was basically a race between the two countries to see who had the most superior technology to get to space first. The USSR was first to send a satellite into space, Sputnik. Sputnik was the first manmade object to orbit earth. But ultimately the US won the space race since they were the first to land on the Moon. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs was a failed invasion of Cuba by the US CIA in April 1961. The goal was to overthrow Fidel Castro's communist government, but the invasion was a failure which led to the capture or death of many of the invaders. -
Berlin Wall Goes Up
In August of 1961 the Berlin Wall went up. The wall was built to prevent people from escaping to the West from East Berlin. East Berlin was the communist half of the country, while West Berlin was a democracy. East Berlin was controlled by GDR which believed their vision was deemed "free". -
US Officials Enter Vietnam War
In 1965 the US sent US troops to South Vietnam. The US joined the Vietnam war because they were scared of South Vietnam losing the war, and communism spread to all of Asia. The US helped South Vietnam by sending money, supplies and military advisers. Ultimately the US and South Vietnam lost the war, leading to the South being controlled by the communist North. -
Soviets Invade Afghanistan
On December 24th, 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to try and prop up the communists government there, but were met with Muslim Mujahideen fighters, who were anti-communists. In 1989 the Soviets were forced to withdraw from their invasion attempt because of changing political climate. -
Berlin Wall Comes Down
In November of 1989 the Berlin Wall collapsed. The collapse of the Berlin wall was the celebration of East and West Germany reuniting together. They reunited because of economic concern rather than nationalism. The East officially joined the Federal Republic of Germany in the West.