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Potsdam Conference
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister, and President Harry Truman met to discuss the terms for the end of World War 2. -
Churchill's Iron Curtain speech
Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave one of the most famous speeches that led to the start of the Cold War. -
Truman Doctrine
In 1947, US President Truman gave a speech to Congress seeking aid for Greece and Turkey, saying the US should give support to countries or peoples threatened by Soviet/Communist forces the doctrine was seen by the communists as an open declaration of the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
Known as the European Recovery Program that directed $13 billion towards European economic reconstruction. This program saved a lot of Europe from Communism. -
Berlin Blockade
The soviet union blocked the access points such as roads and canals to Berlin from the Western Allies so they could no longer support them. -
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Berlin Airlift
A military operation where the US airforce flew food and supplies into West Berlin because they no longer had any access to outside trading and goods due to the construction of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Airlift occurred in response to the Berlin wall being built and people not being able to get the supplies they need. -
Berlin Airlift Ends
The Berlin airlift was a huge success for the US in the Cold War. When the Berlin airlift ended it meant West Berlin was no longer being held hostage by the Soviets. -
NSC 68 approved
The National Security Report 68 was a top secret policy report created by the United States National Security Council and was presented to President Truman on April 14, 1950. It was one of the most important statements of American strategy created during the cold war. This policy was created in reaction to the soviets increasing amount of nuclear weapons. -
Rosenberg Trial
Julius Rosenberg and his wife were accused of selling nuclear secrets to the USSR. Rosenberg and his wife were on trial for many months. Him and his wife were both sentenced to death in June of 1953. -
Stalin Dies
Stalin's death lead to a temporary halt of the Cold War. At this point Austria was able to regain its independence. Khrushchev took power of the Soviet Union and he wanted to create more of a "peaceful coexistence" with the west. -
Geneva conference
An effort to solve problems in Asia such as the conflicts in Korea and the battle between Vietnamese Nationalists and French. -
Warsaw Pact
A mutual defense treaty between Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union where the Soviet Union was put in charge of the armed forces. This treaty was created to further communist expansion and in opposition of NATO. -
Sputnik Launched
The worlds first artificial satellite launched by the Soviet Union. This was a major event that led to the creation of NASA in the US. By launching sputnik the Soviet Union was getting ahead of the US in the space race. -
Creation of Nasa
The US was committed to winning the "space race" against the Soviets so in response to the Soviets launching Sputnik the US created NASA "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration" to keep up. -
Nixon/ Krushchev Kitchen debate
Debate between Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev about capitalism and communism. The debate was held in Moscow in a model kitchen. Nixon claimed that Khrushchev made constant threats of using nuclear missiles. -
U-2 incident
An american U-2 spy plane that belonged to the airforce was caught violating Soviets airspace. The plane got shot down and Kruschev made all Soviet negotiators abandon their discussions on nuclear abandonment. -
Bay of Pigs
An unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles supported by the American government. -
Berlin Wall
The communist government built a concrete/ barbed wire barrier between east and west Berlin to keep the western "fascists" from going into Eastern Germany -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A confrontation between the US and the USSR that lasted 13 days. The US felt the Soviets were getting to close to America when the put their Nukes in Cuba. This confrontation almost led to Nuclear war between two of the most powerful nations in the world. Kennedy and Khrushchev came to a conclusion where the soviet Nukes would be removed from Cuba if the US promised nt to invade Cuba and removed their nukes from Turkey. -
US and USSR establish hotline
The US and the Soviet Union created a "Memorandum of Understanding." This was made to speed up the communications between the two governments.
