ACTION: 1961 Soviet astronaut Yuri Gargarin becomes the first person to orbit the earth.
ACTION: George Kennan writes a telegram explaining his opinion of soviet goals. The Soviet Union wanted to expand communism over capitalism. He suggested a “long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.”
ACTION: June 25, 1950 North Korean troops, supplied by the Soviet Union invaded South Korea driving back South Korean forces.
ACTION: Chinese Communist forces led by Mao Zedong defeated the US backed Chinese Nationalist. The People’s Republic of China was established in October 1949.
ACTION: 'North Atlantic Treaty Organization' (NATO) is founded by America and Western European nations. The alliance agreed to come to the aid of any member nation in the event of an attack on one nation.
ACTION: October 4th, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, to orbit the earth.
ACTION: Soviet troops blockaded West Berlin.
ACTION: Soviet troops occupy Eastern European nations of Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. These countries became Communist "satellite nations."
ACTION: War-torn nations in western Europe faced economic hardships and starvation in the winter of 1946.
ACTION: The “Big Three” met at Yalta to plan the reorganization of Europe after the war.
ACTION: The United States wanted to spread its system of 'democracy'. The Soviet Union wanted to see other countries adopt 'Communism'.
ACTION: Truman and Stalin met in 'Potsdam' over what should be done with Germany. Stalin wanted more reparations for the Soviet sector of Germany. Truman wanted the Soviets to pay for reparations out of industry from the Soviet zone.
REACTION: Increased tensions between Stalin and Truman. Both leaders decided the other was untrustworthy.
REACTION: Secretary of State, George Marshall, proposed an economic recovery plan called the European Recovery Program or 'Marshall Plan'. Billions of dollars of supplies, machinery and food were given to Western Europe.
REACTION: Soviet leaders and Eastern European nations formed the 'Warsaw Pact' for an Iron Curtain alliance.
REACTION: Truman sees the invasion as a test of the containment policy. He called on the United Nations to send troops to the south.
REACTION: China and the Soviet Union signed a treaty of friendship and alliance. Western leaders feared China and the Soviet Union would back Communist revolutions in other nations.
REACTION: Countries not under direct Soviet control still had to follow policies approved by the Soviet Union. Winston Churchill called this an "Iron Curtain" that separated Eastern Europe from the west.
REACTION: The 'United Nations' was formed. Germany was divided into four occupation zones. Free elections would be allowed in counties freed from German rule.
REACTION: Competing 'ideologies' led to increased tensions in the post-war world.
REACTION: Truman’s administration adopts the policy of "containment." Truman asks congress $400 million to fight Communist aggressions in Greece and Turkey. This policy of fighting the spread of communism worldwide became known as the 'Truman Doctrine'
REACTION: Cargo planes supplied the city for 11 months with food, supplies, medicine and fuel. The 'Berlin Airlift' became a symbol of America’s commitment to containment.
REACTION: Fearing the Soviets had beaten the US in the Space Race, President Kennedy announced that the US will put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s.
REACTION: The US Congress creates the 'National Aeronautics and Space Administration' (NASA) and the 'National Defense Education Act' (NDEA). The education act provided funds for training in math and science.
