Question

List five major Cold War events that occurred internationally between 1945 and 1965. List five domestic events that occurred in the United States during the same period.

Answer 1

5 International events during the Cold war:

1) Formation of West Germany – West Germany was originally called Federal Republic of Germany. After the Second World War, the west part of Germany had been divided into smaller parts, between France, the United Kingdom, the US, and the Soviet Union. These territories had been agreed through the Yalta conference in which, the winners of the war discussed about the future of Germany.

2) Formation of NATO – NATO was founded in Washington in 1949. It was a defense alliance created upon the agreement between the member-states to help each other is case of an attach from another country. This meant that no aid would be provided is the country was the first one to attack. The States which created the organizations were: the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Italy and Portugal, while Greece, Turkey, West Germany, and Spain had joined later on.

3) Warsaw Pact – The Warsaw Pact was originally called Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, and it was signed on the 14th of May, 1955 in Warsaw, Poland. Members of this pact were: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Soviet Union. It was a defense pact created as a response to the integration of West Germany in the NATO.

4) Built of Berlin Wall – Built by East Germany (the German Democratic Republic), the Berlin Wall had the goal to divide the city from the West Berlin, which was occupied by the Allied forces, as a result of the victory in the Second World War.

5) Beginning of Vietnam War – The Vietnam War was a conflict that begun in 1955, and was officially fought between North and South Vietnam. The Southern Vietnamese army counted on the support of the United States, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and other anti-communist allies, while the Northern Vietnamese army was supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies.

5 US events during 1945 and 1965:

1) Order 9981, 26th of July, 1948 – President Truman announced the Order 9981 stating that an equal treatment had to be established between people of any race, religion, and/or national origin. This executive order had the goal to abolish racial discrimination among the US armed forces.

2) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka – This event is possibly one of the most important turning points in the American constitution. The United States Supreme Court had declared that having separate schools for black and white people was unlawful.

3) Declaration of Constitutional Principles (Southern Manifesto): This document signed in 1956 was an outcome of the Brown v. Board of Education movement, and it represents the opposition of the US congress towards racial discrimination. It was signed by 101 politicians from 11 different States.

4) First US man in Space – 1961 the US has sent the first man into space through the expedition called Freedom 7, just a month after the Russian Vostok expedition which has seen the very first time a human being left planet Earth.

5) J.F. Kennedy’s assassination – on the 22nd of November, 1963, the US president J.F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX. He was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, a worker and ex-military activist, while she was riding the presidential limousine with his wife Jaqueline and politician John Connally.