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The Cold War, by: Katie Burns and Sierra Twesten
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Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference met in order to decide what would happen to Germany post WWII. The Allies (US, USSR, Great Britain, and France) divided Germany into four occupied zones, one for each nation. They also set up free elections within Germany. In addition, the League of Nations was disbanded and replaced by the United Nations. -
FDR Dies
Franklin D. Roosevelt has a stroke and dies while in Warm Springs, GA. -
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Postdam Conference
Held near Berlin, the Potsdam Conference was the last of the World War II meetings held by Truman, Churchill and Stalin. The talks established a Council of Foreign Ministers and a central Allied Control Council for administration of Germany. The leaders arrived at various agreements on the German economy, punishment for war criminals, land boundaries and reparations. Although talks primarily centered on post-war Europe, they also demanded “unconditional surrender” from Japan. -
US has Nuclear Weapons
President Truman tells Joseph Stalin that the United States has nuclear weapons. -
Hiroshima
In an attempt to end the war with the Japanese before the Russians could, the United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima (20 kiloton bomb 'Little Boy' kills 80,000) . It killed thousands of Japanese citizens. -
Nagasaki
Just days after they dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, the United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki, nicknamed Fat Boy. It would cause the Japanese emperor to agree to an unconditional surrender. -
Chinese Civil War Resumes
Chinese Civil War is resumed between Communist and Nationalist forces. -
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Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War begins again between communists and the conservative Greek government. -
Phillipino Independence
The Philippines gets its independence from the United States, and begins fighting against the communist rebels. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Winston Churchill gives his famous "Iron Curtain" speech, 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. 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. -
Palestine Joins UN
Palestine is given to the United Nations, which voted to partition Palestine into an Arab region and a Jewish one. -
Occupation Policies in Germany
The US announces new occupation policies in Germany. The occupation directive JCS 1067, whose economic section had prohibited steps to German economic rehabilitation, changed to US objectives. -
Communism in Czechoslovakia
Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia -
Communist Takeover in Czechoslovakia
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Loyalty Program
Truman's Loyalty Program created to catch Cold War spies -
Brussels Pact
Brussels Pact organized to protect Europe from communism. -
Formation of Western Germany
In response to the creation of a West German state by the Western allies, the USSR established established an East German state a few months later. -
Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan is announced setting a precedent for helping countries combat poverty, disease and malnutrition. It was officially the European Recovery Program (ERP) and 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 goals of the United States were to rebuild a war-devastaded area and rebuild Europe. -
Berlin Airlift
Soviets placed a blockade on the allied sector of Berlin to starve the population into Soviet alliance. The blockade was a soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy. the blockade was a high point in the cold war, and it led to the berlin airlift. The allied response was a unbelievably massive air supply- flying night and day to feed the city. -
Soviet Blockade
Stalin retailated by using Soviet troops to blockade Germany's capital, Berlin. They delcared that Berlin was now part of their zone of occupation and refused to allow western behicles to travel through the Soviet zone -
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Operation Vittles
This was also known as the Berlin airlift, was the US response to the Soviet occupation of Berlin. They funneled in coal to warm some two million isolated Berliners. The Soviets ended their blockade in May, but cold war rhetoric made the divided city an enduring symbol of the capitalist-communist divide. -
Communist Takeover in China
Communist takeover in China brought in a government led by Mao Zedong that was no longer the plaything of the traditional colonial powers. -
Formation of NATO
The United States, Canada, and their allies in western Europe and Scandinavia formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO provided a unified military force for is member countries. -
North Korea Invades South Korea
The North Koreans, with the support of the USSR, invaded US-backed South Korea, whose agents had themselves been stirring up tensions with incursions across the border. Eventually the two would split 1953. -
Stalin Dies
Amid looming troubles, Stalin died, and it soon became clear that the old ways would not hold. There were rebellions in the labor camps that led to the release of more than a million prisoners. -
Warsaw Pact
After the United States forced France and Britain to invite West Germany to join NATO, the Soviet Union retaliated by establishing with is satellite countries the military organization commonly called the Warsaw Pact. It was a security alliance of the Soviet Union and its allies formed in response to NATO. -
Vietnam War
The cold war was a fight between the United States and the USSR over the world's resources. South Vietnam was an ally 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. -
Golden October
Hungarians rebelled against forced collectivization and communism. -
Treaty of Rome
Treaty of Rome was signed, which provided a more general trading partnership called the European Economic Community (EEC), known more commonly as the Common Market. It reduced tariffs and developed common trade policies. -
Sputnik
Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite, was launched by the Russians. -
France Joins Nuclear Age
France joins its competitors by beginning its own nuclear testing, by launching France's first bomb in the Saharan Desert. -
Yuri Gagarin
The Russians put the first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, in orbit around the earth. The Soviets’ edge in space technology shocked the Western bloc and motivated the creation of NASA. -
U.S. Severs Ties with Cuba
President Eisenhower U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba. Officially ending all amicable and diplomatic relations between the two countries. -
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Beginning of the Berlin Wall
East German workers, supervised by police and the army, stacked bales of barbed wire across miles of the city’s east-west border as the beginning of the Berlin Wall. -
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Himalyan War
Chinese militants attack India, attempting to claim borders and territories. However, the war ended in November when China occupied a small portion of Indian land. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The CIA reported the installation of silos to house Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba. Kennedy responded forcefully, ordering a naval blockade of ships headed for Cuba and demanding removal of the installations. -
Paris Peace Accords
This treaty ends the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War Congress no longer supports of Indochina with funds. -
Partial Test Ban Treaty
The treaty is signed by the United States, England and USSR, prohibiting the testing of nuclear weapons anywhere except underground. -
JFK Assassination
President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald. Kennedy's vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson becomes the next president. -
Coup D'etat in Brazil
A military coup d'état overthrew president Goulart in Brazil. The president's proposals, such as land reform and bigger control of the state in the economy, were seen as communist. -
US Invades Dominican Republic
The United States is made to invade the Dominican Republic to stop a communist takeover like the one that occurred in Cuba. -
Bangkok Declaration
Bangkok Declaration made to calm the communist threat in Southeast Asia. -
Suspension of Bombings in North Vietnam
President Johnson temporarily ends bombings over North Vietnam and announces he is not running for reelection. -
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is opened for signature to prevent any further launching of nuclear weapons. -
Election of President Nixon
The United States votes Richard Nixon to be the next president. -
US Takes on the Moon
US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin walked on the moon’s surface, the climactic moment in the space race. -
Vietnamization
"Vietnamization" begins with U.S. troop withdrawals from Vietnam and the burden of combat being placed on the South Vietnamese. -
NPT Ratified
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, ratified by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States, among others, enters into force. -
Four Power Agreement
The Four Power Agreement is signed by the England, the USSR, France, and the United States to tackle the Berlin problem. -
SALT I
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) agreement marks the beginning of aggreement between the US and USSR. -
President Ford Elected, Nixon Resigns
President Gerald Ford becomes president of the United States after the resignation of Richard Nixon. -
North Vietmam Wins War
North Vietnam wins the war in South Vietnam. The South Vietnam regime falls with the surrender of Saigon and the two countries are united under a Communist government. -
Civil War Attacks Angolans and Mozambicans
Portugal leaves from Angola and Mozambique, where Marxist governments were installed, the former with backing from Cuban troops. The Civil war engulfs both nations and involves Angolans, Mozambicans, South Africans, and Cubans, with the superpowers supporting their respective ideologies. -
Apollo-Soyuz
It is the first joint flight of the US and Soviet space programs. The mission is seen as a symbol of détente and an end to the "space race". Despite the fact that it was during the Cold War, the two countries were collaborating. -
Helsinki Final Act
Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe was signed by the United States, Canada, the Soviet Union and Europe. They signed the declaration in an attempt to improve relations between the Communist bloc and the West. -
Communist Regime in Afghanistan
Just months after the Afghan president was overthrown, a new communist government was put in charge. -
Overthrowing the Afghan President
President of Afghanistan Sardar Mohammed Daoud's government is overthrown when he is murdered in a coup led by pro-communist rebels. -
Boycott of 1980 Olympics
The US and its allies announced that they would boycott the 1980 summer olympics. This was in reaction to the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. -
Star Wars
This was the announcement of the US ‘Strategic Defence Initiative’, or ‘Star Wars’, to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. -
Summit at Washington
The USSR and the US had a summit at Washington. The US and USSR agreed to remove medium range missiles from Europe. -
Gorbachev Speech
In a speech to the UN, Gorbachev repudiates the Brezhnev Doctrine, encourages free elections and ends the Arms Race, in practice ending the Cold War; democracies emerge across Eastern Europe. -
Reunificaiton of Germany/Falll of Berlin Wall
The East German government officially recognized the reunification of Germany. Thousands gathered to climb and pass through the wall and over the coming weeks the wall was torn down. -
USSR Dissolves
After years of their domination, the USSR dissovles to once again become Russia.