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The Cold War
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Yalta Conference
On 11 February 1945, following meetings at Yalta, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin declared their resolve to establish "a general international organization to maintain peace and security". -
Gouzenko Affair
A Russian clerk named Igor Gouzenko escaped the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa with 109 documents proving the existence of a Soviet spy ring in Canada. His actions helped ignite the Cold War. -
United Nations Created
The United Nations is created as its Charter is ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council and the majority of other signatories, and comes into force. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Winston Churchill gives the famous speech and is cited for coining the term "iron Curtain" when referring to the soviet Union. Many give this speech credit for the beginning of the cold war. -
The Iron Curtain
"Iron Curtain" is a term used to describe the boundary that separated the Warsaw Pact countries from the NATO countries from about 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The Iron Curtain was both a physical and an ideological division that represented the way Europe was viewed after World War II. To the east of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the former Soviet Union. This included part of Germany Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania. -
India and Pakistan win independence from Britain
They can become there own nations for the first time. As WWII ended colonies were disbanded. They were free to pursue a democratic government. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild a war-devastated region, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again. -
Berlin Blockade
The first major international crises of the Cold War. Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under the control of Allies. -
Communist Revolution in China
China turns from a independent to red state in this year. They are allied with Russia in the goals of expanding communist ideals world wide. -
NATO created
Signed in Washington, D.C. on 4 April 1949. It included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down." Popular support for the Treaty was not unanimous, and some Icelanders participated in a pro-neutrality, anti-membership riot in March 1949. -
Communists Take Over China
By 1948 the Communist Party of China was gaining momentum. In October of 1949, the CPC captured Beijing. They declared victory and said that China was now under the rule of the People's Republic of China. The nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan where they established their own government called the Republic of China. -
Korean War begins
Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. -
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Korean War
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Joseph Stalin Dies
Stalin dies in old age from heart complications. The leader of the Soviet Union and the driving force behind its success is gone. Some believe he was murdered by his inner circle to prevent another purge. His death brings a new power struggle in the communist state and immediate destalinization in the USSR. -
Korean War ends
Korean War came to an end. In all, some 5 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives during the war. The Korean peninsula is still divided today. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union and its affiliated Communist nations in Eastern Europe founded a rival alliance, the Warsaw Pact, in 1955. -
Vietname War begins
The cold war was a fight between the United States and the USSR over the world's resources. South Vietnam was an allie of the US and North Vietnam was an allie of the USSR. The US feared if North Vietnam won the war other countries in South Asia would also fall to Communism. -
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Vietnam War
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On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences
Soviet leader Krushchev denounces Stalin in "Secret Speech" to Communist Party Congress. This speech was an effort to distance the party from stalinism and return to leninism, during a time of internal turmoil for the party. -
Uprising in Hungary against USSR
Revolts against the influence of Communism and the USSR in Hungary. This was the first major threat to soviet control since the war. The uprising was unsuccessful but it was very influential and would ultiamtely cause the fall of the USSR years later. -
Sputnik launched
A new age of the cold war was ushered in and the US began to focus more on its space program. The space race had begun. -
Fidel Castro Comes to power in Cuba.
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Nationalization of the Suez Canal
The nationalization of the Suez Cana was brough about by Egyptian leader General Abdel Nasser. Resulted in a Egyptian and Soviet victory. -
The Berlin wall is erected
The wall between eastern and Western Berlin is built in order to keep easterners from fleeing soviet Union. The symbol of the soviet iron Curtain. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Regarded as the moment when the cold war came closest to a nuculear conflict and actuall fighting. Russia had moved missiles to Cuba which would be in striking distance of the US mainland. Us had previously planted missiles in states surrounding the soviet Union. -
The US is first to the moon
The US beat the Russians to the moon and thus winning the space race. The US were able to sustain power over the soviets from this -
SALT 1
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were a series of talks between the US and the USSR talking about getting rid of weapons of mass destruction. -
Vietnam War Ends
After the U.S. had withdrawn all its troops, the fighting continued in Vietnam. In early 1975, North Vietnam made another big push south which toppled the South Vietnamese government. South Vietnam officially surrendered to communist North Vietnam on April 30, 1975. On July 2, 1976, Vietnam was reunited as a communist country, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. -
US and China establish diplomatic relations
For the first time the US and China are on political speaking terms. The US recognizes the Chinese communist government. This is huge in terms of negotiating the war. -
Miracle on Ice
Us olympic hockey team composed of amatuers beat the russians amidst Cold War tensions who had not lost in years and were considered the best team in the world -
Raegan becomes US president
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Chernobyl
This nuculear disaster killed thousands and harmed thousands. It showed the international community a reminder of the power of nuculear energy and how dangerous it was. -
US and USSR agree to remove short and medium range missiles
The US and USSR the two leading nuculear powers in the world remove missiles from short and medium range striking distances. This is a good move towards dissolving nuculear war. -
Poland becomes independent
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Berlin Wall Falls
The symbol for Tyranny breaks down and the Soviet Union begins to dissolve. East Germans rush to Austria and refuse to return.