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The Cold War
Events
for kids:
The Cold War Presidents
There were nine Cold War Presidents between
1945 - 1991. The names of the Cold War Presidents were Harry Truman,
Dwight D Eisenhower, John F Kennedy, Lyndon B Johnson, Richard
Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H Bush.
Many of the Cold War presidents used the
Policy of Containment to
resolve serious, diplomatic incidents involving the Communist
countries.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: West Germany is
founded (1948)
Summary and Definition: After WW2 Germany was split
into four zones of occupation (the United States, Great Britain,
France and the Soviet Union) and split between the two global blocs
in the East and West. Berlin, the capital of Germany, lay in the
Soviet (eastern) sector of Germany and was also divided into the
four zones. In June 1948, America, Britain and France united their
zones into a new country, West Germany.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the Berlin
Blockade(1948)
Summary and Definition: The dispute over German
reparations erupted into the Berlin Crisis which brought the United
States and the USSR to the brink of war. Joseph Stalin mounted the
Berlin blockade in East Germany. All the entry points to the Western
zones of Berlin by road and rail were closed in an attempt to starve
the Western allies out of the capital and abandon the city.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the Berlin Airlift
(1948 - 1949)
Summary and Definition: The US responded to the Berlin
Blockade by supplying west Berlin by air. The
Berlin Airlift
supplied vital necessities to West Berlin by U.S. aircraft for 318
days, from June 1948 to September 1949. During the Berlin Airlift
a constant flow of some 275,000 planes transported 1.5 million
tons of supplies to Berlin's Templehof airport in order to keep West
Berlin alive and functioning.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of NATO
Summary and Definition:
NATO, the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization, was formed at Washington, D.C. on April 4, 1949
comprising of 12 members to establish a mutual defense pact aimed at
containing possible Soviet aggression and blocking Soviet expansion
into Europe.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Mao Zedong and the
Chinese Communists sign a Treaty with the USSR (1950)
The rise of
Mao Zedong and Communism in China
against the US-backed Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek results
in the spread of the Cold War
beyond Europe into
East Asia. In 1950 the two largest communist nations in the
world formed an alliance when the USSR and the People’s Republic of
China sign a treaty agreeing to mutual defense and assistance. In
1950 China enters the Korean War.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the Korean War (1950 -
1953)
Summary and Definition: The
Korean War was the
conflict (June 25, 1950 – July 27, 1953) between the Soviet-backed
communist North, China who opposed the US and UN-backed South. The war began in
1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea. General Douglas MacArthur commanded the United Nations troops, the majority of whom
were from the United States. Reinforcements from the People's
Republic of China enabled the communist North Koreans to regain lost
territory. With neither side having a prospect of victory, a truce
was signed on July 27, 1953 which formally ended the war in Korea.
North and South Korea remained separate, occupying almost all of the
same territory they had when the war began. UN Casualties losses
totaled 178,426 dead, 32,925 missing and 566,434 wounded fighting
for South Korea. USSR, China and North Korean losses totaled 367,283
dead, est.700,000 missing and wounded fighting for North Korea.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of McCarthyism (1950 -
1956)
Summary and Definition:
McCarthyism was the period of
anti-communist hysteria, investigations and persecution and hysteria
in the US during the early 1950s instigated by Senator Joe McCarthy.
McCarthyism followed the actions of the
Loyalty Review Program and
the investigation model established by the HUAC. McCarthyism refers to the particularly vociferous campaign (1950 -
1956) against alleged communists in the United States making
accusations of treason or subversion without proper regard for
evidence. A famous case of the era involved a prominent US diplomat
called
Alger Hiss. Many of the accused were blacklisted or lost their jobs,
though most did not belong to the Communist Party. People were
afraid to challenge Joe McCarthy for fear of becoming targets
themselves.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of HUAC (House Un-American
Activities Committee)
Summary and Definition:
HUAC was the acronym for the
House Un-American Activities Committee, was originally formed in
1938 to investigate both Communist and Fascist activities in the
United States. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover encouraged HUAC to hold
public hearings on Communist subversion. HUAC investigated and
questioned suspect communists and communist sympathizers. HUAC’s
influence during the Cold War declined, and in 1969 it was renamed
the Committee on Internal Security. Although HUAC ceased issuing
subpoenas, its operations continued until 1975.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of CONELRAD (1951) -
Nuclear Attack Alerts
Summary and Definition:
CONELRAD (Control of
Electromagnetic Radiation) was an emergency broadcasting system,
introduced by the
US government in 1951, for use in the event of a Soviet nuclear
attack on the United States in addition to the existing siren
warning systems.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of SEATO
(1954)
Summary and Definition:
SEATO,
the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, was formed on September 8,
1954 as the Southeast Asian version of NATO to create a mutual
defense pact aimed at containing the spread of Communism by the
People's Republic of China and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
(North Vietnam).
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the Taiwan Crisis (1954
- 1955)
The First Taiwan Strait Crisis,
also called the 1954–1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis, erupted in China
during late 1954. The Communists, the People's Republic of China (PRC),
had taken power in mainland China but the Chinese Nationalists still
controlled some small islands along China’s coast including Taiwan.
The United States considered Taiwan as part of the “anticommunist
barrier” in Asia. The Chinese Communists threatened to invade Taiwan
and President Eisenhower used brinkmanship (the threat to go to the
brink of nuclear war) forcing the Chinese Communists to back down.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the Warsaw Pact (1955)
The
Warsaw Pact
was a military and political alliance between the USSR and the
seven communist nations behind the Iron Curtain consisting of the
USSR, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland,
Romania and Albania. The Warsaw Pact was signed was on May 14, 1955
as a communist alliance to rival NATO in order to support each
other against any foreign aggression from the West
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the Vietnam War (1955 -
1975)
Summary and Definition: The
Vietnam
War (November 1,
1955 – April 30, 1975) was a 20 year conflict during the period of
the Cold War in south-east Asia. The Vietnam War was between
communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong communist guerrillas
(backed by China and the USSR) against the non-communist South
Vietnam (supported by US military aid and involvement). The Viet
Cong (National Liberation Front or NLF) were led by
Ho Chi Minh,
South Vietnam was originally led by the dictator
Ngo
Dinh Diem. The
USA supported a military coup in 1963, during which Diem was
murdered, and put a military government in South Vietnam. The first
US combat troops were sent to Vietnam in March 1965 and left in
August 1973. The
Vietnam War ended with the 1975 takeover
of Vietnam by communist forces.
Cold War Events
For visitors interested in the history of
the Cold War refer to the following articles:
Cold War Events (1948 - 1955)
●
Interesting Facts about Cold War Events for kids and schools
●
Summary and Definition of Cold War Events (1948 - 1955)
●
Cold War Events with important dates and facts
●
Cold War Events (1948 - 1955) with important dates and key
events
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Fast, fun, interesting
facts about Cold War Events (1948 - 1955)
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Foreign & Domestic
policies of the United States
● Cold War events for schools,
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