American history 20th century timeline

Gulf of Ton kin Resolution

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression” by the communist government of North Vietnam.

Hotline

A direct quick easy typewriter telegraph communication between the Kremlin in the Soviet Union and the White House. Later the communication between Kennedy and Khrushchev became through the phone. The Line was created in an effort to prevent events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis. which was, in part, due to ineffective and inefficient communication between the two countries. The Russians called it the red telephone.

Warren Commission

The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, commonly referred to as the Warren Commission, was a government investigation, started by newly sworn-in LBJ, to find out the full scale of the assassination. It was headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren. In the end, after a year, it found that Lee Harvey Oswald Jr. assassinated JFK solely, and there was no conspiracy.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Named after communist Vietnamese president, this trail was used to circumvent the U.S. bordered South Vietnam. It went through Laos and Cambodia to move manpower, ammunition, and weapons to make it to ground forces in South Vietnam. In 1965 the U.S. military bombed and attacked multiple sites along the trail including innocent villages and citizens, in an effort to stop the Ho Chi Minh army.

Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe

November 9th, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell uniting formerly separated Eastern Germany and Western Germany, and further represented the border of "communism"and the rest of Europe falling down. It was the culminating moment originating from protests in Poland. It led to more revolutions to oust the totalitarian gov-ts in place.

Berlin Airlift

In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the United States begins a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens. For nearly a year, supplies from American planes sustained the over 2 million people in West Berlin.

Trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

The month long trial over the Rosenberg's espionage, involving them giving details on how to make atomic weapons to the soviets. It was based on one sole confession and once found guilty, led to them both being executed.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 35 day nuclear-charger military stand-off in Cuba between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over placing missiles in Cuba. The U.S. was staunchly against the Soviet Union placing nuclear weapons so close to the U.S., and because of this conflict it led to near nuclear war.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

A mission of 1,400 anti-communist cubans sent to storm Cuba, orchestrated by the CIA and JFK to end Castro's rule in the region. This dismally failed, and was one of many US led forceful removal of communism and believed threats it would bring to the US's perfect capitalism.

JFK

1961

35th president who promoted racial equality, ending impoverishment, aiding developing nations, and peace. Responsible for the bay of pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis, his staunch anti-communism was shown through his involving the CIA in communist countries affairs and attempting to assasinate multiple leaders. Assasinated 3 years into his presidential term, by Lee Harvey Oswald.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. It's still a alliance and many more countries have joined. NATO was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere.

Collapse of the Soviet Union

Gorbachev the former Soviet leader, had started numerous radical reforms which led to turbulence in the soviet territories. Then the unsuccessful coup against Gorbachev sealed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The dissolution lasted through 1988-1991.

Domino Theory

The domino theory is a political theory that was dominant in the United States from the 1950 to the 1980 which posited that if one country in a region came under the influence of communism and the Soviet Union, then neighboring countries would follow in a domino effect.

Brown v. Board of Education

Started with a Black family not being allowed at a Topeka white school and was taken all the way to the supreme court. The Supreme Court found that racial segregation in schooling was unconstitutional, and led to more dismantling of Jim Crow laws.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Revolutionary Civil Rights Activist, who organized the March on Washington; which led to equal laws being passed such as the Civil Rights Act of 1965. His work led to sweeping change in racist policies, and he influenced politicians such as JFK. He was assassinated in 1968.

Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II. It was enacted in 1948 and provided more than $15 billion to help finance rebuilding efforts in West Europe. The Soviet Union quickly copied it with the Molotov plan.

Berlin Wall built

The Berlin Wall was a concrete wall that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989 as well as encircling and separating West Berlin from East German territory. "Communism" was on the east side and the free market on the west, the west side was desperately impoverished and cutoff from needed supplies from the Soviet Union.

Korean War

1950

American and South Korean war on North Korea's "communist" state. North Korea attacked South Korea and because the U.S. was desperate to fight communism they let 150,000 soldiers and a total 5 million die in this unnecessary war beginning in 1950.

Peace Corps

1961

The peace corps was founded by JFK to send trained American men and women to foreign nations to assist in development efforts. The nuanced goal was to prevent the domino effect and not let communism spread to developing nations.

The Great Society

1964

A set of domestic policies orchestrated by LBJ to promote ending poverty, reducing crime, abolishing inequality and improving the environment. Its long-term impact was shown through the Civil Rights Act, Voting rights act, Medicaid, and Medicare, and their benefits to minorities, impoverished people, and the elderly.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.

Rosa Parks

1955

Black NAACP activist who was one of many to disobey the bus rules at the time of not allowing black people to sit down if white people wanted to. Her action led to bus boycotts and reformation. Though she wasn't the first to not stand up, Claudette Colvin did it before her but due to Claudette Colvin's darker black skin and her pregnancy, the NAACP wanted a more wholesome face for the bus reformation.

Truman Doctrine

1947

The Truman Doctrine is an American foreign policy that originated with the primary goal of containing Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War, 1947. The doctrine provided military, economic, or political assistance to democratic countries under threat of coming under "communism's" reach.

38th Parallel

1951

The 38th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 38th parallel north formed the border between North and South Korea prior to the Korean War.

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Malcolm X

1965

Malcolm x was a revolutionary civil rights activist who believed in forceful overthrowing of racist and discriminatory policies. His work did much to help civil rights and due to it's raw belief in need to revolt against ostracizing power, he was assasinated in 1964.

WWI

1914

World War I, also called First World War or Great War, an international conflict that in 1914–18 embroiled most of the nations of Europe along with Russia, the United States, the Middle East, and other regions. The war pitted the Central Powers—mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey—against the Allies—mainly France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and, from 1917, the United States. It ended with the defeat of the Central Powers. The war was virtually unprecedented in the slaughter, carnage, and destruction it caused.

WWII

1939

World War II, also called Second World War, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–45. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. The war was in many respects a continuation, after an uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes left unsettled by World War I.

Great Depression

1929

The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Over the next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep declines in industrial output and employment as failing companies laid off workers. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its lowest point, some 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half the country’s banks had failed.

Little Rock Nine

1957

Group of Nine Black students who tried enrolling at an Arkansas high school but were prevented from doing it by the Arkansas National Guard who had been ordered by the Governor. They were brutalized but ended up being able to attend, due to Brown v. Board of Education.