Berlin Wall

eastern bloc

Term used to refer to countries in Eastern Europe that were under direct Soviet control. These nations were "behind the Iron Curtain".

world power

a state powerful enough to influence events throughout the world

Why was the berlin wall built

to prevent East Germans from escaping to democrate West Berlin.

cold war

A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted eachother on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years

red scare

A period during the Cold War where the American public was terrified of Communists and the spread of Communism.

iron curtain

A term popularized by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe the Soviet Union's policy of isolation during the Cold War. The Iron Curtain isolated Eastern Europe from the rest of the world. Its most poignant symbol was the Berlin Wall.

western bloc

Alliance of western european states and USA.

Containment

American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world

berlin blockade

April 1, 1948 - Russia under Stalin blockaded Berlin completely in the hopes that the West would give the entire city to the Soviets to administer. To bring in food and supplies, the U.S. and Great Britain mounted air lifts which became so intense that, at their height, an airplane was landing in West Berlin every few minutes. West Germany was a republic under Franc, the U.S. and Great Britain. Berlin was located entirely within Soviet-controlled East Germany.

fidel castro

Communist dictator of Cuba

berlin wall torn down

December, 1989, this event marked the symbolic end of the cold war

The Berlin Wall

East Germany and East Berlin part of Communist Party. About 2.5 million fled to W.G. for freedom. Nikita Khrushchev demanded border to be closed. August 12-13 1961 E.G. govt. began building Berlin Wall. Kennedy unwilling to go to war with S.U. Wall stood as a symbol of Cold War for three decades., 1961 - The Soviet Union, under Nikita Khrushev, erected a wall between East and West Berlin to keep people from fleeing from the East, after Kennedy asked for an increase in defense funds to counter Soviet aggression.

german reunification

East and West Germany unified after the Cold War, Once the Communist government opened its entire border with the West, East Germans crossed the border to reunite with family and friends. Civilians from both sides and eventually the government, tore down the Berlin wall and Germany was officially reunified on October 3, 1990.

bay of pigs

In April 1961, a group of Cuban exiles organized and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency landed on the southern coast of Cuba in an effort to overthrow Fidel Castro. When the invasion ended in disaster, President Kennedy took full responsibility for the failure.

superpower

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Cuban missile crisis

..., an international crisis in October 1962, the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR. When the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island; the Soviet leader Khrushchev acceded to the U.S. demands a week later.