Cold War

The central reason the Cold War was started was over an ideological power struggle between atheistic communism and democratic capitalism. The principle players were the former Soviet Union (Communism) and the United States (Capitalism). The Cold War began in 1948 after Germany was divided between the western allies and the Soviets. In trying to take over West Berlin, Stalin blockaded the roads of East Germany that led to Berlin so as to starve the people into submission. The allies broke the blockade by airlifting hundreds of tons of food and supplies to the people in West Berlin. Since no actual fighting occurred, this became known as a "cold war". The Soviets and Americans would continue to fight many cold battles in Africa and Latin America in an effort to influence the politics of these regions. The cold war turned hot in the Koreas, Vietnam, and Cuba.

In August 1949 the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb. In doing so they showed that their weaponry was on par with the United States. In June 1950, North Korea (who was supplied heavily by the Soviets) launched a massive attack on South Korea. The reason behind this attack was that North Korea wanted to unite the whole of Korea under communism. The United Nations responded to this attack by amassing a great army, led by General Douglas MacArthur of the U.S., to defend South Korea. China threatened that if the United Nations invaded North Korea they would help North Korea fight against the United Nations. When the United Nations ignored the threats and invaded North Korea, the massive Chinese army attacked the UN troops (which were mostly Americans). In April, 1951 the United Nations' armed forces were able to push back the Chinese. On July 27, 1953 an armistice was signed, ending the war.

Stalin died in 1953 and Nikita Khrushchev came to power. Khrushchev desired to expand communism to the island of Cuba, only 60 miles off the coast of Florida, within easy missile range of the US capitol. After talks with Khrushchev, Fidel Castro allied Cuba with the Soviets. The US sponsored an invasion force of Cuban dissidents in an attempt to overthrow Castro. These American trained forces landed in Cuba's "Bay of Pigs" but were immediately defeated. Americans were expelled in 1962 and then Soviet missile launchers were brought to Cuba. On October 14, 1962, after an American U2 spy plane discovered forty-two missile sites, President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade