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: Definition of the Suez Crisis (1956)
President Eisenhower’s goal in
the Middle East was to prevent Arab nations from aligning with the
Soviets. To further this goal, and in line with the US policy of
containment, the United States offered Egypt financial support for
the construction of a dam on the River Nile. The deal collapsed when
it emerged that Egypt had purchased weapons from Communist
Czechoslovakia. On July 26, 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel
Nasser announced the nationalization of the Anglo-French Suez Canal
Company and Egyptian troops seized control of the Suez Canal. Nasser
and the Egyptians intended to use the profits from the Suez Canal to
pay for the new dam on the River Nile. British and French troops
responded by invading Egypt. The Soviet Union intervened by offering
to send troops to help Egypt and threatening rocket attacks on
France and Britain. The United States immediately went on to nuclear
alert and to avoid war pressurized France and Britain to call off the
invasion. By offering their support the Soviets had gained a
foothold in Egypt and soon other Arab nations in the Middle East
also began accepting Soviet aid.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the
Eisenhower Doctrine
The
Eisenhower Doctrine
was presented to Congress on January 15,1957 in response to the Suez
Crisis. Inline with the policy of containment, the
Eisenhower Doctrine asserted that countries in the Middle East could
request U.S. military aid or economic assistance if it was under
threat by armed aggression and communism. The Soviet threat of
communist expansion was singled out in the doctrine, as was the
threat to the US supply of oil.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the Secret Speech
(1956)
Summary and Definition: The "Secret Speech" was an
address given to a a closed session of the Soviet Congress by Nikita
Khrushchev on February 25, 1956 in which he denounced the tyranny,
brutality and “abuse of power” perpetrated by the Soviet government
under Joseph Stalin. The "secret speech" was subsequently read to
groups of party activists and “closed” local party meetings and
contributed to the revolts that occurred later that year in Hungary
and Poland. The "Secret Speech" was not made officially public until
1989.
The Cold
War
Events
for kids: Definition of the Hungarian
Revolution (1956)
Summary and Definition: The Soviet Red Army had
invaded Hungary in September 1944. Hungary’s communists were led by
Matyas Rakosi, followed by Erno Gero, adopted a hard-line Stalinist
rule destroying all political opponents with oppression and
violence. Joseph Stalin died on October 16, 1952 and the dictator's
death, and the change of leadership in the USSR, brought people in
many Eastern European countries the hope of freedom. The Hungarian
Revolution began on October 23, 1956 when students in Budapest
staged a demonstration after drawing up a list of 16 reforms and the
demand for a new government. The peaceful demonstration turned into
the Hungarian Revolution as workers, students and soldiers in
Hungary attacked the secret police and Russian soldiers, and smashed
a statue of Joseph Stalin. There was freedom in Hungary for just
five days, until November 4, 1956. The Hungarian revolution ended as
1,000 Russian tanks rolled into Budapest.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the U-2 Incident
(1960)
Summary and Definition of the
U-2 Incident: The U-2 spy plane, designed by
Kelly Johnson in 1954, was high altitude reconnaissance aircraft,
essentially a glider with a jet engine. The U-2 spy plane was so
light it could fly at an altitude of 70,000 feet and travel
distances over 4,000 miles. The U2 incident involved an American U2
spy plane that was shot down over Russia on May 1, 1960. The USA at
first claimed that it was an off-course weather plane, but the
Americans were forced to admit it was a spy plane when the Russians
revealed that much of the plane had survived and produced the
American pilot, Gary Powers. The U-2 incident occurred 13 days before
an important scheduled summit meeting between the US and the USSR to
discuss the problem of Berlin and the Test Ban Treaty. Soviet
President Khrushchev demanded an apology from President Eisenhower
at the summit. When Eisenhower refused, Khrushchev went home, and
the summit collapsed bringing the two nations to the brink of a
nuclear war.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the Bay of Pigs Invasion
(1961)
Summary and Definition: The
Bay of Pigs invasion occurred
on April 17, 1961 when 1400, CIA-backed Cuban exiles, launched a
botched invasion at a beach on the south coast of Cuba called the
Bay of Pigs. The purpose of the CIA funded invasion was to
overthrow Fidel Castro and establish a non-communist government
friendly to the United States. The CIA funded, armed, trained and
transported 1,400 men to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. The Bay of
Pigs invasion was a disaster, 1200 of the invasion force were
captured and President Kennedy was humiliated and had to negotiate a
deal with Castro to release the prisoners. The Bay of Pigs invasion
led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the Cuban Missile
Crisis
(1962)
Summary and Definition: The
Cuban Missile Crisis
(October 14, 1962 – October 28, 1962) was a
major Cold War confrontation between the United States and the
Soviet Union. The Soviet Union began to install
nuclear missiles in Cuba and an American U-2 spy plane captured photographs of
them. JFK decided on a naval blockade, effectively placing Cuba under "quarantine". Khrushchev warned that the Soviets would
see the naval blockade as an act of war. Khrushchev and Kennedy came to an agreement, the Cuban Missile Crisis was over
and a nuclear war was avoided.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: Definition of the Berlin Wall
(1961)
Summary and Definition: The Berlin Wall was the
fortified barrier erected by the East German government in August
1961 to halt the exodus of East Germans fleeing Communist rule. On
the night of August 12, 1961, the borders between East and West
Berlin were closed, along with all the rail stations. Thousands of
East German soldiers guarded the border while workers began
constructing barbed wire fences. The Berlin Wall completely
surrounded West Berlin, which was bordered by East German territory
on all sides. Concrete walls were added to the barbed wire fences
and guard towers were erected at strategic points. The west side of
the Berlin wall was covered in graffiti, the East side was not.
Between 1961 and 1989, the Berlin Wall prevented almost all movement
between the East and the West of the city. The
Berlin Wall divided East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989 and was a
symbol of Cold War division until the
Fall of the Berlin Wall
in 1989.
The Cold
War Events
for kids:
Definition of the Checkpoint Charlie Incident
(1961)
Summary and Definition: Checkpoint Charlie was the
name given to the US-manned gateway on the border of East and West
Berlin. The Checkpoint Charlie incident involved a standoff between
U.S. and Soviet tanks at the gateway. Soon after the construction of
the Berlin Wall, the Checkpoint Charlie incident began on October
22, 1961 over a dispute as to whether East German guards were
authorized to examine the travel documents of a U.S. diplomat named
Allan Lightner, the US Chief of Mission in West Berlin, who was
passing through to East Berlin to see the opera. By October 27, 1961
the incident had escalated into a standoff as 10 Soviet tanks and an
equal number of American tanks that stood 100 yards apart on either
side of Checkpoint Charlie. Leaders on both sides were concerned
that, in all the tension, a nervous soldier would fire his weapon
and start a shoot-out. The standoff ended peacefully on October 28,
1961 as both sides agreed to withdraw their tanks.
The Cold
War Events
for kids: JFK Assassination
Summary and Definition of the
JFK Assassination:
President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on
November 22, 1963.
Cold War Events
For visitors interested in the history of
the Cold War refer to the following articles:
Cold War Events (1956 - 1961)
●
Interesting Facts about Cold War Events for kids and schools
●
Summary and Definition of Cold War Events (1956 - 1961)
●
Cold War Events with important dates and facts
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Cold War Events (1956 - 1961) with important dates and key
events
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Fast, fun, interesting
facts about Cold War Events (1956 - 1961)
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Foreign & Domestic
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