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U.S.S.R declares war on Germany
After Hitler broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact by invading Poland and the Soviets decided to declare war on Germany. -
Period: to
Confrontation
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Yalta Conference
Roosvelt, Churchill and Stalin joined to make plans for postwar Europe. -
Truman Doctrine
Harry Truman pledged to provide aid to democratic nations fighting the spread of communism. -
V-E Day
After Hitler commited suicide, Germany surrendered to the Russian army, ending World War II in Europe. -
Potsdam Conference
World leaders divided Germany and Berlin in four occupation zones each. Britain, France and USA would control the zones in the west and the Soviet Union, the zones in the east. -
V-J Day
Japan surrendered to Allied forces after the United States dropped two atomic bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. -
The Berlin Blockade
The USSR attempted to stop Western influence and access into East Berlin by blocking the roads, railways and canals. The Western powers resorted to airlifting supplies to the trapped East Berlin citizens. -
Korean War
Soldiers from the USSR and North Korea invaded South Korea. Later, the US sent troops to defend South Korea against the communist invasion. -
Korean War ends
North Korea, South Korea and the US signed the Korean Armistice that established the Korean Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea and ended the Korean war. -
Vietnam War
After the failure of the Geneva Accords, he U.S. established the American Military Advisory Group to support South Vietnam, unofficially entering the conflict. -
The Space Race Begins
The Soviet Union sent Sputnik I and Sputnik II (artificial satelittes)and Laika (a dog) one month later, being this one the first living creature in space. -
First man in space
The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human to travel in space. -
Berlin Wall Goes Up
Communist East Germany built a wall to to protect and insulate its citizens from the democratic influence of West Germany. -
Period: to
Détente
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Cuban Missile crisis
After the U.S. discovered secret Soviet missile bases in Cuba, the U.S. weighed a response that would not lead to nuclear war. The situation eventually de-escalated with the Soviets removing their Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. removing their missiles in Turkey. -
U.S. deploys into Vietnam
The United States sent their first troops to defend their airbase in Da Nang. -
Apollo 11
American astronauts land on the moon, winning the space race against the Soviet Union. -
Paris Peace Accords
North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Viet Cong and the U.S. signed a treaaty that ended American involvement in the Vietnam War and tried to stop the hostility between North and South Korea. -
The fall of Saigon
The Vietnam War oficially ended when Saigon, South Vietnam capital, fell. It was renamed Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam was reunified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. -
Period: to
Rapprochement
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Fall of the Berlin wall
Massive protests in East Berlin prompted the East German government and the Soviet Union to open the border between East and West Berlin. -
End of the Soviet Union
Most Soviet republics had already withdrawn from the Soviet Union when Mikhail Gorbachev resigned his post on December 25. The next day, Boris Yeltsin became president of Russia, and the USSR ceased to exist.
