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Yalta Conference
A conference between “The Big 3” (FDR, Stalin, and Churchill)
This was the start of the Cold War. -
VE Day
Nazi Germany had surrendered to the Allies, which ended WW2 in Europe. -
Potsdam Conference
An agreement was reached on how to punish Germany. The “5 D’s“ were agreed. (demilitarization, denazification, democratization, decentralization, and deindustrialization). -
Hiroshima
President Truman had set out to drop a bomb on Japan as revenge for Pearl Harbor. It killed roughly 80,000. -
Nagasaki
Second bomb on Japan by US. This bomb killed around 70,000 -
Russia Declares War On Japan
During the Yalta conference, Stalin had promised that he would go to war with Japan, once Germany was defeated. -
Truman Doctrine
A foreign policy that was intended to stop Soviet expansion. -
Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia
The communist party of Czechoslovakia was supported by the soviets. This alarmed the western countries, as they were already weary of a communist takeover. -
Truman Loyalty Program
Created to investigate federal employees to make sure that none of them were spies. -
Marshall plan
The US sent money to Western Europe to help them build their economy and recover from WW2. The goal was to help get rid of trade barriers and prevent the spread of communism. -
Berlin Blockade
Soviet Union attempted to prevent the allies from accessing certain parts of Berlin. Berlin was forced to use air travel to get their supplies. This blockage deeply hurt berlins economy and lasted 11 months. -
NATO ratified.
NATO = The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was created by the US, Canada, and other countries in Western Europe. It was a peaceful military alliance intended to hold off against the Soviet Union. -
Truman approved H-bomb
The US was falling behind in the developments of atomic bombs, so Truman requested one be made. This bomb was estimated to be way more powerful than those dropped on Japan. -
Korean War begins
First military action of the Cold War. America supported South Korea. For America, it was a way against communism. -
ANZUS Treaty
The United States, New Zealand, and Australia all signed a treaty that allowed them to agree on the conditions of the pacific. -
Mutual security act
Harry Truman had announced to the world that the US was willing to provide military aid to free people, targeting communist countries. -
Balkan Pact
A pact signed by Greece, turkey, and Yugoslavia that pushed themselves away from Communism. -
Armistice Agreement
The armistice agreement ended the fighting in the Korean War. President Eisenhower had threatened them with nuclear weapons if the war did not end -
Warsaw Pact
Communist counteraction to NATO. It was a military alliance of the communist nations. -
Sputnik launches
Russia launched the first ever satellite into earths orbit. Created more tension for the Cold War because people were worried about how advanced Russia was. -
Explorer 1 launched
A response to Sputnik, America’s first successful space launch. -
Berlin wall built
Europe was split into a more westernized Side, and a communist side. The wall was built to prevent citizens from escaping from the communist side. -
Moscow summit
A meeting between President Nixon, Leonid Brezhnev (part of the Soviet communist party) where they met to sign the threshold test ban treaty, which limited the amount of underground nuclear weapons a country could have. -
Soviet Afghan War
A group called the mujahideen fought against the soviets for years, and were backed by the US. In 1979, the Soviet’s invaded Afghanistan, which started the war. -
Berlin Wall demolished
During a reform after the Cold War, an eastern German official declared that the wall should be demolished because it represented a bad time in Europe’s history. This was a sign that the war was finally coming to an end.
