Cold War

By Jason_Riley
  • Period: to

    Yalta Conference meeting of FDR, Churchill, Stalin - the 'Big Three'

  • Victory in Europe. Germany surrenders to the Red Army in Berlin

  • Potsdam Conference - Germany was officially partitioned into four zones of occupation.

  • The United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima (20 kiloton bomb 'Little Boy' kills 80,00

  • Defeat of Germany and Japan

  • Russia declares war on Japan

  • The United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki (22 kiloton 'Fat Man' kills 70,000)

  • Japanese surrender End of World War II

  • Emperor surrender broadcast - VJ Day

  • Stalin hostile speech - communism & capitalism were incompatible

  • "Sinews of Peace" Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill - "an "iron curtain" has descended on Europe"

  • Truman demands Russia leave Iran

  • Operation Crossroads with Test Able was the first public demonstration of America's atomic arsenal

  • America's Test Baker - underwater explosion

  • March 12 : Truman Doctrine - Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War

  • Marshall Plan is announced setting a precedent for helping countries combat poverty, disease and malnutrition

  • Rio Pact - U.S. meet 19 Latin American countries and created a security zone around the hemisphere

  • Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia

  • Truman's Loyalty Program created to catch Cold War spies

  • Brussels Pact organized to protect Europe from communism

  • Berlin Blockade begins lasting 11 months

  • Berlin Blockade ends

  • NATO ratified

  • Russia tested its first atomic bomb

  • Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China and establishes the People's Republic of China

  • Chiang Kai-shek moved to Formosa and created Nationalist government

  • Truman approved H-bomb development

  • Korean War begins. Stalin supports North Korea who invade South Korea equipped with Soviet weapons

  • Federal Civil Defense Administration establishe

  • Truman fires MacArthur

  • A-bombs developed by Britain

  • Period: to

    Nuclear Arms Race atomic test series of 11 explosions at Nevada Test Site

  • RAND report on the "Vulnerability of U. S. Strategic Air Power"

  • Korean War ends

  • Ike's Atoms for Peace speech

  • H-bomb Castle-Bravo test

  • KGB established

  • CIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and Guatemala

  • Vietnam split at 17th parallel

  • Warsaw Pact formed