|
|
|
Inspired by nationalist movements elsewhere, native Angolans launch guerrilla war against the Portuguese who control Angola.
The Kennedy administration increases foreign aid for Third World nations whether or not they are politically aligned with the
United States. The Alliance for Progress, created in March 1961, especially targets Latin America.
The United States and Cuba sever diplomatic and consular relations.
1,000 CIA-trained Cuban refugees land at the Bay of Pigs on the Southern coast of Cuba in an attempt to "liberate" Cuba from the Castro regime. The attempt fails. The Bay of Pigs incident becomes a victory for Castro as it shows him defeating forces trained by the United States, the strongest military power in the world.
Looking back on the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
The U.S.-backed Nicaraguan Somoza government allows Cuban exiles to use Nicaragua as a launching pad for the Bay of Pigs invasion. This creates animosity between Fidel Castro and the Somoza government.
A cease-fire is agreed upon. An international conference convenes in Geneva to produce an agreement providing for the neutrality of Laos under a unified government. Souvanna Phouma of the neutralist government is put as head of this coalition government.
East Germany is operated under a strict Stalinist regime. This causes many dissatisfied East Germans to cross the border into West Germany. To prevent East Germans from leaving, the Communist government builds a barrier around West Berlin. Within a year the wire fence is replaced by a stone wall known as the Berlin Wall.
The Soviet Union detonates a nuclear device, estimated at 58 megatons, more than all the explosives used during World War II. It is the largest nuclear weapon the world had ever seen at that time.
|
