Events in the Museum
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain can be described as a boundary separating eastern and central Europe from noncommunist and western Europe. The Iron Curtain lasted from 1945 to the end of the Cold War(1991). Most countries east of the curtain were countries that had a connection with the Soviet Union, those countries included East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungry, and Bulgaria. Yugoslavia was on the east side of the curtain but they maintained their relationship with the west side. When Joseph Stalin passed away in 1953, the tension started to go away, but then the construction of the Berlin Wall rised the tension again. The curtain finally was abandoned in 1989-90 as communist left eastern Europe.
Marshall Plan
Many European countries were devasted through many hard years of WWII and were in need for some serious help and the United States who was a stable nation helped them out. The US was helping the European economy by providing financial in 1945 to 1947. Greece and Turkey received help from the United States military and were very grateful towards America. Industrial and residential places lay in ruins all across Europe along with millions of people wounded and killed and the US helped them recover offering medical aid and rebuilding. The Marshall plan was effective in blunting the spread of communism in Europe and also gave America a good image.
Berlin Crisis
The Berlin Crisis was an accident and result of bad planning and the Cold War tensions; it took place after WWII. The Soviet Union was against the western efforts so the Soviets decided to set up a blockade and cut off Berlin. WWII allies such as the United States helped Berlin during this time because they had trouble getting supplies that was necessary to survive. Airlifting supplies into Berlin was a sign that the west could hold up against the Soviets aggression. In the end the cut off of Berlin ended in building a huge wall through the city which enraged the west.
Korean War
The Korean War lasted 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953. It started when the leader of north Korea wanted to rule south Korea. The leader of North Korea when to the leaders of Russia and China and asked if they would support him in times of war. They said yes and North Korea invaded South Korea. The north used support from Russia and China to drive the Border South. America didn’t want North Korea to become too powerful so America put 300 thousand soldiers in South Korea and drove them back. They came to a still fire at the 38th parallel.
Space Race
The space race was a race of who could get the most firsts to show the world how advanced and technologically advanced they were. The Russians started the race with the launching of the sputnik satellite and were the first country to send living beings into space such as a dog and humans. The United States started to catch up by sending the first man in orbit around the earth. The space race competition died down after the U.S. landed people on the moon and eventually America pulled away from the soviets.
Vietnam War
The Vietnam war was a conflict between Communist North Vietnam known as the Viet Kong, and the allies to USA the South Vietnam. JFK sent 400 special operation (Green Barrett) troops to teach the South Vietnamese how to fight. There is no exact date that the Vietnam War started like other American Wars. Dwight D. Eisenhower restrained US involvement because he doubted the US could fight a land battle in Southeast Asia.
Construction of the Berlin Wall
The construction of the Berlin Wall started on August 13, 1961 which separated West Berlin from East Berlin and East Germany. The wall was constructed by the German Democratic Republic. The wall was monitored with guards and a section of the wall later became known as the “death strip.” The purpose of the wall was to prevent defection from eastern Germany during post WWII. The government of western Germany referred to the Berlin Wall as the wall of shame. When the wall was being built, over 3.5 million East Germans tried to cross to the western side so they could travel to other western countries. From 1961 to 1989 the walls purpose was to stop all emigration. 5000 people tried to jump the wall but most didn’t make it and over 600 were killed.
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs operation started as a CIA operation during Eisenhower’s presidency. President Kennedy approved of the operation. The operation was to train Cuban nationals and use them to over though Fidel Castro. Fidel learned of the operation and sent forces to the Bay of Pigs to stop the invaders. Several planes piloted by Americans were shot down. Most of the ground forces did not have the supplies they needed and were forced to surrender. Many of the American prisoners were eventually deported back to the U.S. and some of the Cubans were publically executed.
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis was the closest the world has come to a nuclear war. The United states was ready, and so was the Soviet Union to protect the island of Cuba in case of an invasion. Thanks to JFK and Premier Nikita Khrushchev a war was averted. The soviets were behind the Americans in the arms race. The Soviet Union’s missiles could only strike Europe while the United States missiles could hit all of the Soviet Union. Fidel Castro wanted his island to be protected so he gave permission to Khrushchev to put missiles on the island. President JFK demanded a quarantine on the island and that any missile launched from Cuba would be considered an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union and the US demanded the Soviets remove all offensive weapons from Cuba.
Destruction of Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was a symbol of communism and used to prevent the movement from east to west. President Ronald Ragan of the United States went to Berlin on June 12, 1987 to give his “tear down this wall” speech. The wall being a communist symbol meant that it could not support freedom. The people tore down the wall and Germany gained its “liberty”. Ronald Ragan had them tear down the war so he could gain there support in case of war. Twenty years later Time magazine said that Ragan was a war monger.