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Berlin Blockade
In March of 1948 the Allied power decided to bring together their different occupation zones of Germany into a single economic unit. The Soviet representative withdrew from the Allied Control Council in protest. With the introduction of a new deutsche mark in West Berlin, the Soviet occupation forces began a blockade of all rail, road, and water communications between Berlin and the West. June 24: the Soviets announced that the four-power administration ceased and the allies had no rights. -
Korean War
This was a conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). At least 2.5 million people lost their lives. The war reached international proportions in June 1950 when North Korea invaded the South. The UN joined on the side of the South Koreans. After more than a million casualties had been suffered on both sides, the fighting ended July of 1953. -
Vietnam War
This war was a "protracted conflict" that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam. The war was also part of a larger regional conflict and manifestation of the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union and their allies. At the heart of the conflict was the desire of North Vietnam to unify the country under a single communist regime modeled after those of the Soviet Union and China. The South Vietnamese government fought to preserve the Vietnam more closely. -
Space Race
From the very first satellite in 1957, space has been a place of competition. In the beginning it was part of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. THe Space Race started with simple satellites and then continued with human spaceflight and then culminated in the Moon landings. -
Suez Canal Crisis
This was an international crisis in the middle east. Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal. This crisis was provoked by an American and British decision not to finance Egypt's construction of the Aswan High Dam. Nasser reacted to the American and British decision by declaring martial law in the canal zone. When efforts to settle the crisis failed, Britain and France secretly prepared military action to regain control of the canal. -
U-2 Incident
U-2 Incident was a confrontation between the United States and Soviet Union that began with the shooting down of a US U-2 reconnaissance plane over the Soviet Union and that caused the collapse of a summit conference in Paris between the United States, the Soviet Union, The United Kingdom, and France. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a major confrontation that brought the United States and the Soviet Union close to war over the presence of Soviet nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba. May 1960; having promised to defend Cuba with Soviet arms, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev assumed the United States would take no steps to prevent the installation of Soviet medium. -
Yom Kippur War
This war was fourth of the Arab-Israeli wars and was initiated by Egypt and Syria on October 6, 1973, on the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur. The war eventually drew both the United States and the Soviet Union into direct confrontation in defense of their respective allies. This war was launched with the diplomatic aim of persuading Israel to negotiate on terms more favorable to the Arab countries. -
Soviet War in Afghanistan
This war was an internal conflict that began in 1978 between anticommunist Islamic guerrillas and the Afghan communist government. The roots of the war lay in the overthrow of the centrist government of President Mohammad Daud Khan in April 1978. The Afghan War settled down into a stalemate, with about 100,000 Soviet troops controlling the cities, larger towns, and major garrisons. -
Soviets Downing Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Korean Air Lines flight 007; flight of a passenger jet that was shot down by Soviet air-to-air missiles on September 1, 1983, near Sakhalin Island, Russia, killing 269 passengers on board. It was en route to Seoul from Anchorage, Alaska, when it strayed more than 200 miles from its scheduled path and entered Soviet airspace. Soviet authorities claimed the plane was on an intelligence gathering mission for the US.