Cold war timeline

  • United Nations Formed

    Four months after the San Francisco Conference ended, the United Nations officially began, on 24 October 1945, when it came into existence after its Charter had been ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories.
  • Hollywood 10

    The Hollywood Ten was a group of 10 film industry members that refused to testify to an anti-communist committee hearing during the Second Red Scare era. The Second Red Scare was a time period marked by the fear of a communist takeover during the initial phases of the Cold War Era.
  • Truman Doctrine

    President Harry S. Truman presented this address before a joint session of Congress. His message, known as the Truman Doctrine, asked Congress for $400 million in military and economic assistance for Turkey and Greece.
  • Marshall plan

    President Truman signed the Economic Recovery Act of 1948. It became known as the Marshall Plan, named for Secretary of State George Marshall, who in 1947 proposed that the United States provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe.
  • NATO formed

    The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. NATO was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere.
  • Start Korean War

    After five years of simmering tensions on the Korean peninsula, the Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when the Northern Korean People's Army invaded South Korea in a coordinated general attack at several strategic points along the 38th parallel, the line dividing communist North Korea from the non-communist Republic.
  • End Korean war

    The combat ended on 27 July 1953 when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, allowing the exchange of prisoners and the creation of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
  • Space race start

    when the Soviet Union responded to the US announcement of their similar intent to launch artificial satellites. The space race has its origins in the nuclear arms race between the two nations following the Second World War.
  • US official enters vietnam war

    President Eisenhower deploys the Military Assistance Advisory Group to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.This marks the official beginning of American involvement in the war as recognized by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
  • Bay of pigs (start)

    1,400 Cuban exiles launched what became a botched invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast of Cuba. In 1959, Fidel Castro came to power in an armed revolt that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.
  • Bay of pigs (End)

    The Bay of Pigs was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front, consisting of Cuban exiles who opposed Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution, clandestinely financed and directed by the U.S. government
  • Berlin wall goes up

    The Wall was designed to prevent people from escaping to the West from East Berlin. The Wall was designed to prevent people from escaping to the West from East Berlin.
  • Space race end

    The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability.
  • Soviets invade afghanistan(beginning)

    These uprisings, along with internal fighting and coups within the government between the People's and Banner factions, prompted the Soviets to invade the country. These uprisings, along with internal fighting and coups within the government between the People's and Banner factions, prompted the Soviets to invade the country.
  • Soviets invade afghanistan (end)

    Despite having failed to implement a sympathetic regime in Afghanistan, in 1988 the Soviet Union signed an accord with the United States, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and agreed to withdraw its troops.
  • Fall of Berlin wall

    During the Peaceful Revolution, it marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain.