The policy of Containment, formulated by George Kennan, was the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy to check the influence of the Soviet Union.

The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty signed by the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics in response to West Germany joining NATO.

The Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) is often called the 'Soviet Union's Vietnam' due to the protracted nature of the conflict and high military losses.

John F. Kennedy was the U.S. President during the thirteen-day confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba.

Glasnost (openness) was a policy introduced in the 1980s that allowed more freedom of speech and transparency in the Soviet government.

The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989, leading to the reunification of Germany and the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe.

The Truman Doctrine (1947) established that the United States would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.

The Soviet Union was officially dissolved on December 25, 1991, following the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev and the declaration by the Supreme Soviet.

Nikita Khrushchev engaged in an impromptu debate with U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon at the American National Exhibition in Moscow in 1959.

Winston Churchill delivered his famous 'Sinews of Peace' speech, known as the 'Iron Curtain' speech, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, in 1946.

The 38th Parallel was the original boundary between the two Koreas before the war and continues to define the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

The Marshall Plan, or European Recovery Program, aimed to rebuild European economies after WWII to prevent the spread of Soviet influence.

Perestroika translates to 'restructuring' and referred to the overhaul of the Soviet economic and political system to improve efficiency.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is widely regarded by historians as the peak of Cold War tension, bringing the two superpowers to the brink of nuclear war.

The Warsaw Pact was established in 1955 as a collective defense treaty among the Soviet Union and seven other Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe.

Nikita Khrushchev was the First Secretary of the Communist Party during the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961.

The Brezhnev Doctrine stated that the Soviet Union had the right to intervene in any country where a communist government was under threat.

The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) were signed by Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev, representing a thaw in Cold War tensions known as Détente.

Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare independence on March 11, 1990, which significantly accelerated the dissolution of the USSR.