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Yalta Conference
The Allied leaders--Franklin Roosevelt (United States), Josef Stalin (Soviet Union), and Winston Churchill (Great Britain)-- meet to figure out postwar Europe. Their agreements include a declaration to respect democracy throughout Europe, but also the recognition of a de facto Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.The Allies also finalize plans to divide Germany into separate zones of occupation. -
Potsdam Conference
The leaders of the U.S., S.U., and Great Britain meet. The conference establish and agree upon a military administration for Germany. -
First A-bomb dropped on Japan
Enola Gay (American bomber) drops can A-bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. Causes instant devistation within the city of Hiroshima and shocks the world into the nuclear age. -
V-J Day
The day when Japan ceased fire in WW2. "Victory day." After Japan hit Pearl Harbor. -
“Iron Curtain Speech”
British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, delivers his "Iron Curtain" speech as a college graduation in Fulton, Missouri. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent... all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow." -
Truman Doctrine announced
President Truman asked Congress for $400 million in economic and military aid for Greese and Turkey. In his Truman Doctrine, he declared the the United States should help any countries that are trying to resist Communuism by armed minorites or outside pressures." Congress agreed because they belived this was necessary to keep the S.U. from spreading. Greatly reduced the take over of communism in Turkey and Greece. -
Marshall Plan announced
George Marshall (Secretary of State) proposes this Marshall Plan, which is a $13 billion foreign aid package designed to help Europe recover from the devastation of World War II. He wanted to give the European nations that needed help the chance against "hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos." -
Berlin Airlift begins
The Berlin Airlift was when American (under General Lucius Clay) and British officials flew food and supplies in West Berlin. This bringing of food lasted 327 days, and consisted of taking off and landing planes every few minutes, around the clock, resulting in 277000 flights and a total of 2.3 million tons of supplies. -
NATO treaty ratified
Ten Western European nations join the United States and Canada to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an anti-Soviet military alliance that extends the deterrent threat of America's nuclear weapons to cover Western Europe. -
End of Berlin Blockade
The SU realized it was beaten and lifted the blockade -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union forms the Warsaw Pact, a Communist military alliance intended to counter the threat posed by the West's North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). -
Soviets explode A-bomb
The Soviet Union detonates its first atomic bomb, causing shock and fear in the United States -
Communist takeover in China
Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declares the People's Republic of China as the Communists win their civil war against Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalists, who flee to Taiwan. -
Beginning of McCarthyism
Attacks on suspected Communists in the early 1950s. All of Joseph McCarthy's accusations were unsupported. -
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed
The Rosenburgs were minor activists in the American Communist Party. They denied the charges against them and pleaded the Fifth Amendment, choosing not to incriminate themselves. They claied they were being persecuted for being Jewish and holding radical beliefs and were eventually found guilty of espionage and sentenced to death. According to Judge Irving Kaufman, they were directly responsible for one of the deadliest clashed of the Cold War. -
Geneva Summit
Eisenhower traveled to Geneva, Switzerland to meet with Soviet leaders. He proposed his "open skies" idea to allow flights over each other's territory to try to guard against surprise nuclear attacks. The SU rejected this proposal but it was still a step towards peace. -
Suez War
(1955) The British and French paratroopers were sent to try to stop Egypy from nationalizing the Suez Canal. The US and Soviets tried helping/fixing governmental problems in other countries. -
Hungarian Uprising
The Hungarian Revolution begins when student protesters demand changes to the Communist government's national policies. The government falls and protesters organize to resist an invasion by Soviet troops. (Oct. 24) Imre Nagy becomes Prime Minister of Hungary during the revolution, quickly arranging a cease-fire but then cautiously backing the revolutionaries' calls for change. -
Launching of Sputnik
The Soviets launch Sputnik, the first man-made object to orbit the earth. The Soviets' technological success in building the world's first satellite strikes fear in the hearts of Americans and launches the space race. -
U.S. U-2 plan shot down
American pilot Gary Powers's U2 spy plane is shot down over the Soviet Union. President Eisenhower denies responsibility for the international incident and refuses to apologize, precipitating the collapse of a planned Paris summit between the United States and Soviet Union.
