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Truman Doctrine
With the Truman Doctrine, President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. The Truman Doctrine effectively reoriented U.S. foreign policy, away from its usual stance of neutrality to one of possible intervention in far away conflicts. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. -
Berlin Airlift
Process of transporting needed supplies to East Berlin after Berlin was divided at the end of World War 2. -
NATO
Military alliance of 1949 between North American and Western European nations that pledges each will come to the aid of each other if attacked by an outside enemy. -
Korean War
The Korean War was between North Korea and South Korea. The U.S. got involved in the war on behalf of South Korea because we didn't want communism to spread. North Korea wanted to unite Korea unde one communist rule and South Korea wanted a free republic. Neither side won the war; it ended where it started, at the 38th parallel. The cease fire in '53 was technically the end of the war but since no peace treaty was signed the tensions are still ongoing and the war not over. -
The Polio Vaccine
Eradication tool for a dangerous disease that can cause muscles to stiffen and weaken so much that people can become paralyzed -
Sputnik
Russian satellite that initiated the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. -
NASA Established
Established in 1957 as a direct response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik 1 -
Castro’s Cuban Revolution
Castro was a rebel leader in Cuba that rallied forces with the people to overthrow a strict dictator Batista. He himself led many attacks on the military that instilled hope in the rebels and allowed him to claim his own military and politcal power. -
Bay of Pigs
The U.S. government trained Cuban exiles for an invasion of their homeland. They anticipated that the Cuban military would be in support of this and help overthrow Fidel Castro. The ultimate goal was the overthrow of Castro and the establishment of a non-communist government friendly to the United States.On April 17, the Cuban-exile invasion force, known as Brigade 2506, landed at beaches along the Bay of Pigs and immediately came under heavy fire. The invasion was unsuccessful. -
Building the Berlin Wall
Erected to close escape routes for East Germans that were attempting to flee the Communist state -
6-Day War
Israel and Palestine were in conflict of recognizing Israel as a Jewsih state, when it was established during WW2 as a place for Jews to escape the Holocaust and afterwards to escape the anit-semitism. Tensions escalated and Palestine blockaded Jerusaleum in May to force Israel's hand. His goal was to destroy Israel. He pushed to fight on a daily basis. Israel attacked and in a few short days Israel beat Jordanian forces and reclaimed West Jerusalem.
