History, Post WWII, 50s, 60s, 70s 80s and 90s

p Post World War II .1 POST WORLD WAR II DECADES ' TOP EVENTS Post World War II 2 Abstract

These were selected as top event for each of the post World War II decades , because they produced the biggest impact on the lives of Americans , and the lives of many around the world . Korean War and Vietnam War resulted in millions of lives lost and billions of dollar spent , plus great political and economical dislocations they produced Dissolution of USSR ended the Cold War and left USA as the only world

br superpower . Watergate Scandal was not an ordinary snooping act , but was a result of deeper problems that almost divided the nation Globalization and Internet changed ways of life of many , not just in United States . And these will continue to affect their lives even in the future . Post World War II 3

1950-1960 : KOREAN WAR

Korean War was declared on June 27 , 1950 and ended on July 27 , 1953 North Korea and South Korea existed with provisionary governments that were competing to control the whole Korean Peninsula . The conservative South Korea was attacked by the radical and Russia-China supported North Korea . USA was sucked into the conflict due to its fear that Korea will fall into communism

Korean War was unpopular here at home . Prior to 27 June l950 President Harry S . Truman had no notion of fighting a major land war in Asia or for that matter , engaging the nation in an exorbitant Cold War rearmament program . In September , the Soviets surprised the world and obliterated the U .S . atomic monopoly by exploding their first atomic bomb . Then came in October , the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War and which was quickly followed by the permanent division of Germany

The monetary and psychological costs of this massive military effort would prove enormous . By end of 1951 , the annual defense budget quadrupled from 13 .5 billion to 50 billion . As a result , the economy began to overheat . Casualties for all Koreans were estimated at 3 million , while the United States lost 34 ,000 or more of its soldiers for the three years war (Pierpaoli , Paul , Jr , Truman 's Other War : The Battle for the American Homefront , 1950-1953 ) Post World War II 4 On July 27 , 1953 , the United States China , and North Korea signed the Korean War Armistice Agreement (KAA However , South Korea refused to sign it , leaving the two Koreas separate and technically still at war to this day . However , to reinforce the United States ' commitment to the Republic of Korea (ROK , it signed The Mutual Defense Treaty on 1 October 1953 (Sanford , John M , The Korean Armistice : Short Term Truce or Long Term Peace

Korean War is the first armed conflict as a result of the Cold War between Democratic and Communist countries each side , aiming for a larger share of the spoils of World War II

1960-1970 : VIETNAM WAR

The Second Indochina War , 1954-1975 , grew out of the long conflict between France and Vietnam . In July...