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UNITED NATIONS (UN) FORMED
The United Nations (U.N.) is a global diplomatic and political organization dedicated to international peace and stability -
GERMANY DIVIDED
After World War II, defeated Germany was divided into Soviet, American, British and French zones of occupation. The city of Berlin, though technically part of the Soviet zone, was also split, with the Soviets taking the eastern part of the city. -
TRUMAN DOCTRINE
In a dramatic speech to a joint session of Congress, President Harry S Truman asks for U.S. assistance for Greece and Turkey to forestall communist domination of the two nations. Historians have often cited Truman’s address, which came to be known as the Truman Doctrine, as the official declaration of the Cold War. -
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COLD WAR
The Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union lasted for decades and resulted in anti-communist suspicions and international incidents that led the two superpowers to the brink of nuclear disaster. -
MARSHALL PLAN
The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II. It was enacted in 1948 and provided more than $15 billion to help finance rebuilding efforts on the continent. -
BERLIN AIRLIFT
After World War II, the Allies partitioned the defeated Germany into a Soviet-occupied zone, an American-occupied zone, a British-occupied zone and a French-occupied zone. Berlin, the German capital city, was located deep in the Soviet zone, but it was also divided into four sections. -
NATO FORMED
In 1949, the prospect of further Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Soviet Union and its affiliated Communist nations in Eastern Europe founded a rival alliance, the Warsaw Pact, in 1955. -
KIM II-SUNG INVADES SOUTH KOREA
After the Korean War, Kim Il Sung shaped his country according to the nationalist ideology of “Juche”. The state assumed tight control over the economy, collectivized agricultural land and effectively asserted ownership over all private property. -
UN FORCES PUSH NORTH KOREA TO YALU RIVER- THE BORDER WITH CHINA
After UN forces successfully landed at Incheon and recaptured the besieged South Korean capital city of Seoul, U.S. President Harry Truman applauded General MacArthur’s “brilliant maneuver” and called the general’s campaign one of the best military operations in history. -
CHINESE FORCES CROSS YALU AND ENTER KOREAN WAR
The communists had succeeded in conquering China, forcing the legitimate Chinese government into exile on Taiwan. The new People's Republic of China, with its leader Mao Zedong, was an enigma. Nobody knew for sure what position China would take if the entirety of North Korea. -
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KOREAN WAR
the 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. -
ETHEL AND JULIUS ROSENBERG EXECUTION
The Rosenbergs' were the first U.S. citizens to be convicted and executed for espionage during peacetime and their case remains controversial to this day. -
ARMISTICE SIGNED
After three years of a bloody and frustrating war, the United States, the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea agree to an armistice, bringing the Korean War to an end. The armistice ended America’s first experiment with the Cold War concept of “limited war.” -
WARSAW PACT FORMED
The Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. -
SPUTNIK 1
The Soviet Union inaugurates the “Space Age” with its launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for “satellite,” was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic.
