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Cold War Starts
Clashing ideals of Communism and Capitalism arise and the United States intends to stop the spread of communism in Europe. Russia decides to expand their power throughout Europe and parts of Asia. America declares war on the Soviet Union in response. -
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
Churchill's speech about the Iron Curtain in Europe could be considered an opening speech to the Cold War. He praised the United States for being the pinnacle of world power. -
Truman Doctrine
Tension between the Communist Soviet Union and Capitalist America finally results in the Truman Doctrine. It was a declaration of war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Russia responded by officially going to war against the United States. -
Berlin Blockade
The Soviet Union began expanding its power and its Communism throughout East Europe, and Germany became its boundary. It became divided into Communist East Germany and Capitalist West Germany. People seeking freedom in East Germany were no longer able to go to West Germany because of blockaded roads, canals, and railroads. -
NATO Founded
Standing for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was a pact between the United States and many other European countries that stated that if one country under the pact was attacked, the rest would attack the country that attacked it. Russia responded by installing defensive weapons at its borders. -
McCarthyism Starts
U.S. Senator McCarthy was a radical Anti-Communist senator in 1950. He believed that if someone was a Communist, they were committing treason because they were Soviet spies. This belief was renamed McCarthyism. -
Korean War Starts
America and Russia fight for control over Korea. Russia supported North Korea and America supported South Korea, resulting in the divide of ideologies today. -
Truman Fires MacArthur
General MacArthur was in charge of the Korean war and intended to end it quickly despite Truman's beliefs. He intended to use the atomic bomb to halt North Korean advances towards South Korea. He was relieved of duty and Russia continued supporting the North Korean advance towards South Korea. -
Eisenhower Elected President
Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower became President, opposed by Adlai Stevenson, a former Illinois governor. It ended a streak of Democratic presidents that lasted for 20 years. -
Stalin Dies
Joseph Stalin, the corrupt leader believed to be evil, died to a stroke. This resulted in a temporary halt in America's plans to attack. Russia responds by electing a new leader, Khrushchev. -
McCarthy Censored by Senate
McCarthy was blaming random people for being Soviet spies and this was not seen as something a senator should be doing. He even went as far as to attack Truman for being a Soviet spy, so he was censored and condemned. -
Warsaw Pact Formed
Warsaw Pact was a defense treaty between Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union, which unified Soviet powers. It could be considered the opposite of NATO. It was Russia's response to America's NATO. -
Eisenhower Re-elected
Eisenhower had the same opponent as his previous election, but people didn't seem to want change. He continued his efforts in the Cold War until his second term was over. -
Sputnik Launched
The first-ever satellite named Sputnik was launched by Russia. It was about the size of a beach ball. America's response was Project Vangard, to launch their own satellite into orbit. -
NASA Created
NASA was founded when satellites and moon travel was wanted. It stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration and it still exists today. -
Khrushchev visits U.S.
Unlike Stalin, Khrushchev wished for peace between the United States and the Soviet Union despite their opposing political views. He was the first Russian leader to visit the U.S. and declares peace with the U.S. America wished to accept his offering of peace, but that changed after the U-2 incident. -
U-2 Incident
Khrushevec had just attempted to make peace with America to end the Cold War. Some time later, an American plane was shot down over Russian soil and the pilot was arrested. The USA and the USSR later did a prisoner exchange and America got its pilot back, but the Cold War continued. -
Bay of Pigs
The U.S. sets its eyes on the Communist Cuba in hopes of installing capitalism. The U.S. tries to force Fidel Castro to back down and get a new ruler to rise to power. The U.S. failed to overthrow Fidel Castro. The Soviet response was to prevent Castro from losing his position of power and to help him through it. -
Kennedy Assassinated
President John F. Kennedy traveled to Texas to resolve tension in the Democrat Party and Conservative John Connally. He was fatally shot in his car by Lee Oswald. The Russian response of the civilians was actually tolling church bells in his memory, according to a declassified FBI report.
