The Cold War 1945-1991

The Cold War1945-1991

• Era of tension and hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union.

• Domino Theory• NATO vs. Warsaw Pact

• Nuclear weapons (Mutual Assured Destruction)

• Sputnik (1957) leads to space race (Apollo 11, 1969)

Major Cold War EventsMarshall Plan, etc…

• Korean War (22 June 1950- 27 July 1953)– Separation of Korean Peninsula

• Vietnam War (1959-1975)– Containment– Search and destroy

• Civil Rights Movement – Martin Luther King

Gulf War2 August 1990-28 February 1991

• Saddam Hussein led Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait.

• Operation Desert Storm (17 Jan.-28 Feb. 1991

September 11,2001• 4 coordinated Al-Qaeda attacks– Osama bin Laden• Support of Israel, presence in Saudi Arabia, sanctions

against Iraq

• Hijacked airliners (2 hit twin towers, 1 Pentagon, 1 crashed in PA)

• 19 Hijackers• Over 2,900 civilian deaths

Operation Enduring Freedom• OEF – Oct. 7,2001-Present– Invasion of Afghanistan to destroy the Taliban and Al-

Qaeda– Kill or capture of Osama bin Laden (May 2,2011)– U.S. Currently engaged in nation building and counter

insurgency

Operation Iraqi Freedom

• OIF – Mar. 20,2003- Dec. 2011• Depose Saddam Hussein • End threat of WMD on U.S.• Insurgency still remains in Iraq- rise of

sectionalism