Korean War - 1950-53
The Korean War took place from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. Korea had been divided after World War II, when Japanese control ended. The northern part was occupied by Soviet troops until 1948 and the southern part by Americans until 1949. Efforts to reunify Korea failed, and the divided regions became independent countries. The Korean War began when communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950 and captured the capital Seoul. The United Nations Security Council voted to aid South Korea, and the United States led the peacekeeping forces. China and USSR supported North Korea. Although 20 other nations eventually became involved in the war, the Koreans saw it primarily as a civil war between the north and south. The armistice line north of the 38th parallel along the battle line ended the fighting, but Korea has remained divided into North Korea and South Korea for decades since.
Hydrogen Bomb Created / Arms Race - 1952
The hydrogen bomb was built because it is more powerful than the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb was the type used on Japan and as bad as those were, hydrogen bombs are even more powerful. Nuclear weapons are very controversial. Most countries want them but they don't want anyone else to have them. The US claims the reason they developed such powerful weapons is a deterrent. The idea is no one will dare attack you if you have such weapons.The reason that the cold war never went hot, in other words all out fighting between Russia and the West was because both sides had loads of nuclear weapons of all kinds pointed at each other. This was known as "mutually assured destruction". In other words if one side started something they could destroy the other but would be destroyed themselves.
Warsaw Pact - 1955
Warsaw pact was offensive and defensive military force that was under control of Soviet Union. The USSR had pretty much thorough control of the organization and there was never equal footing or partnerships. The territories of the Western Warsaw Pact members, Czechoslovakia, Eastern Germany and Hungary, was intended as a staging area for the Soviet troop build up and carry invasion into the heart of the Western Europe while the socialistic countries would provide necessary logistics and supplies lacking permanently in the USSR. At the same time, the treaty obligated to suppress any country desire to leave a communist paradise as it had happened to Czechoslovakia in 1968. Either way, the existence of the Warsaw pact unified Red Army military control over various local state military that had various degree a loyalty to the cause of communism and the USSR all together.
De-stalinization - 1956
Stalin was succeeded by a collective leadership after his death in 1953. The central Soviet strongmen at the time were Lavrentiy Beria (in charge of the Ministry of the Interior), Nikita Khrushchev (First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party) and Georgi Malenkov (Premier of the Soviet Union). De-Stalinization spelled an end to the role of large-scale forced labor in the economy. The process of freeing Gulag prisoners was started by Beria, but he was soon removed from power. Khrushchev then emerged as the most powerful Soviet politician. At a speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences to the closed session of the Twentieth Party Congress of the CPSU, February 25, 1956, Khrushchev shocked his listeners by denouncing Stalin's dictatorial rule and cult of personality. He also attacked the crimes committed by associates of Lavrentiy Beria. The worldwide culmination of de stalinization process came on November 1, 1961, when cities, institutions, everything associated with Stalin's name was renamed to its original names.
Sputnik - 1957
This spacecraft, the first of a series of spacecraft used to investigate the means for manned space flight, contained scientific instruments, a television system, and a self-sustaining biological cabin with a dummy of a man. The spacecraft was designed to study the operation of the life support system and the stresses of flight. The spacecraft radioed both extensive telemetry and prerecorded voice communications. After four days of flight, the reentry cabin was separated from its service module and retro rockets were fired, but because of an incorrect attitude the spacecraft did not reenter the atmosphere.
U-2 Incident - 1960
The United States had a small fleet of 'spy planes' which were essentially flying cameras which flew at high altitude over potential 'enemy nations' taking photographs with cameras using film. This was in an era when satellites with such a purpose as telecommunications were basically a dream. During one of several flights over the Soviet Union one of these planes was shot down. The United States military, while being tight-lipped about this event at the time, actually indicated they believed the plane was flying at too high an altitude for a defence system to shoot down using any ground based device. It was actually believed there was the possibility the missile hitting the plane may have been an attempt at a space shot which just happened to collide with the plane. There was an outcry from the USSR due to the fact the United States had been caught initiating unwelcome flights over Soviet airspace.
Berlin Wall - 1961
The Berlin wall was built because East Germany was hemorrhaging people, especially skilled workers, professional people and the educated. The wall was to keep them, and people from other satellite countries from fleeing. The enemies of the people were flooding into the East Germany with a view to destabilise it. They were causing anti-communist agitation among the workers and the brave soldiers of the fraternal countries. The capitalists were also attempting to flood East Germany with worthless Deutschmarks, the wall was built to keep out these currency speculators.
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