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Period: to
The Cold War
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Iron Curtain Descends
June 7th1945- December 26th 1991 Post WWII, the countries of Europe were divided into two parts, the West and the East Bloc. The East was made of communist countries and the West democratic. The Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie were symbols of this dividing line called the Iron Curtain. -
Potsdam Conference
17 July- 2 August 1945- The Potsdam Conference was a meeting between Joseph Stalin, Harry Truman, and Winston Churchill. They were the leaders in charge of deciding what to do with Germany and the rest of Europe after the war was over. This included post-war order, peace treaties, and rebuilding. -
Formation of the UN
24 October 1945- The United Nations was created following WWII to replace the ineffective League of Nations. It started with 51, but now has 193 nations participating. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. -
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a nuclear test done by the United States in the Bikini Atoll after World War II. They dropped two bombs on a group of Navy ships while a crowd watched. The tests were unsuccessful and the Atoll hasn’t been inhabited since because of nuclear fallout. -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a plan to stop the spread of communism in Europe. It pledged to help contain the sphere of influence the Soviets had created, and helped the countries that needed financial aid or military assistance. Basically it created the vision of being global policemen in the United States. -
The Marshall Plan
The United States started giving the countries of Europe financial aid to help them rebuild after WWII. This plan was created by Secretary of State George Marshall, and it was to help the countries of Europe reach stability in their governments. Deeper down, it was a fight to keep capitalism alive by stimulating the economies of those devastated European countries. It lasted for 4 years. -
Creation of Israel
May 14th 1948 Israel was created in the Jewish holy land next to Palestine. It was created to be a home for displaced Jews from the Holocaust. Major problems arose when Arabs in the area protested the creation of a Jewish state complaining that it took their lands -
Berlin Airlift
On June 24th 1948, the Soviet Union blockaded all of the roads, rails, and canals in Berlin, hoping to be able to start supplying them with aid. If the Soviets could supply aid to Germany, then they would be able to take it over and convert it into a communist state. In response, the people of the US, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa dropped supplies by air until May 12th 1949 when Germany was divided into the East and West. -
Formation of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded April 4, 1949. It is a group of countries that agree to defend and assist any partner country under attack. It was originally designed to defend against nations that were under the Warsaw Pact. -
Korean War
25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953- The Korean War was fought between the North and South Korean governments. The communist North Korean government invade South Korea with the aid of the Soviet Union and later China. The U.N. intervened and sent troops in to defend South Korea. The South Korean forces were able to push North Korea back, and although there is no longer fighting today, the hostility between the two countries is very real. -
Death of Stalin
1 March 1953- After a long dinner and a movie, Stalin returned to his mansion outside of Moscow to sleep and prepare for the next day. He never awoke, and at 10 pm they discovered him in his room barely alive. He died March 5 of internal hemorrhaging. People speculate that he was poisoned by his ministers, but the evidence is thin. -
Warsaw Pact
14 May 1955- The Warsaw Pact was a defense treaty between 8 European countries signed in Warsaw, Poland. They were to support each other in case of attack. The pact was formed after NATO include West Germany in its treaties, in anticipation of a war. -
Suez Crisis
July 26th 1956 The Suez Crisis was caused by an attack on Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel to not only gain the Suez Canal, but to remove Gamal Abdel Nasser from power because he supported the Soviet expansion. The US and USSR stepped in to stop the fighting and policed the border of Israel and Egypt to prevent further hostilities. -
Vietnam War
1 December 1956- 30 April 1975- The Vietnam War was fought between North Vietnam which was backed by China, the USSR, and other communist allies, and South Vietnam, which was backed by the US, France, and other anti-communists. The North wanted to unite Vietnam under communism and the South was trying to prevent the spread of communism or ‘the domino effect’ -
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 was the first ever artificial satellite to orbit the Earth. It was a Russian-made 58 cm metal ball with 4 “legs” or antennas attached to it. Sputnik provided a ton of data on things such as the density of the upper atmosphere and the behavior of the ionosphere. It also meant the start of the Space Race. -
Sputnik II
Sputnik 2 was the first ever space craft to contain a living organism bigger than a microbe. The dog Laika was chosen to ride in the satellite, and it died from stress and overheating. Sputnik 2 helped scientists discover how living things act in space. -
Creation of NASA
NASA was created by Dwight D. Eisenhower to explore space and create satellites. It was in response to the Soviet’s launch of the Sputniks in 1957. This competition created the Space Race, a race to get to the moon and the creation of hundreds of useful inventions. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an attempt by the CIA to invade Cuba. Because left-wing Fidel Castro had won the recent elections and started to communicate and trade with the USSR, a paramilitary group, Brigade 2506, was sent to overthrow Castro. They were stopped, captured, and interrogated before returning to the US. -
Berlin Wall Constructed
The Berlin wall was built by Eastern Germany to prevent emigration into Western Germany during the Cold War. Germany was divided into two parts, one being communist and the other democratic. The Eastern or communist part of Germany wanted to keep its citizens from escaping, so “protecting against fascism” was their official purpose for building the wall. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Oct 24-28 1962- The Cuban Missile Crisis was a result of the Soviet Union starting to build nuclear missiles in Cuba. The US blockaded Cuba and threats of mutual assured destruction were used for the first time. After 13 days of negotiating, the USSR agreed to remove their weapons from Cuba, and the US promised never to invade Cuba and to destroy all of their Jupiter nuclear warheads. -
JFK Assassination
November 22, 1963- The President John F. Kennedy Jr. was assassinated while in his car driving through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. He was killed by Lee Oswald Harvey, who was assassinated before he could go on trial. The death of JFK is thought to be a conspiracy to get rid of the president. -
USS Pueblo Incident
- On January 23rd, 1968, the USS pueblo, a small intelligence ship, was captured off the coast of North Korea. The sensitive information was destroyed but the captain and crew were captured and threatened with torture. Eventually the Americans were released after being starved and beaten on December 23, 1968
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Apollo 11 Moon Landing
July 16-21 1969- Apollo 11 was the first ever manned spacecraft to the moon. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins were on the mission. Neil Armstrong being the first man to walk on the moon. The moon landing officially ended the Space Race between the US and USSR. -
SALT Agreements
November 1 1969-1986- SALT is short for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. These talks were held in Helsinki, Finland, and were between the US and USSR to reduce their armaments. SALT 1 was successful in reducing the ballistic arms in both countries, but the US never ratified SALT 2 because the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. -
UN Resolution 2758
October 25, 1971- The UN general assembly decided that they would recognize the People’s Republic of China as the representatives in the UN. Representatives of Chiang Kai-shek were removed from the UN and still remains a point of contention in the UN, because Chiang Kai-shek’s men governed Taiwan at the time of the resolution. -
Nixon Visits China
February 21-28, 1972- President Richard Nixon took a trip to China. It helped the American people to normalize their relationship with China because they got to see all the pictures from the trip. It also marked a turning point in the Cold War because it pitted China against the USSR. -
Paris Peace Accords
January 27, 1973- The Paris Peace Accords were a series of documents created to achieve peace in Vietnam. It stopped the fighting between the Vietnamese governments briefly and ended the United States’ involvement in the war, although the Senate never ratified it. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981 52 US diplomats and citizens were kidnapped from the Tehran embassy and held for 444 days by Muslim students. The US declared their acts “terrorism and anarchy.” -
USSR Invades Afghanistan
December 24, 1979-February 15, 1989- The war in Afghanistan was between the Soviet-aided government, and a rebel group that was trained, supplied, and funded by anti-communist countries. Many civilians fled to Pakistan, but over 40 million were killed. The Soviet Union finally withdrew and the war ended with Afghanistan in ruins. -
US and USSR boycott Olympics
January 20 1980-May 8 1984- The US decided to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan along with other anti-communist countries. In retaliation, the USSR and other communist countries boycotted the 1984 Olympics in L.A. stating “an anti-Russian movement stirring up.” -
Korean Flight 007
September 1, 1983- Korean Flight 007 was an airline flight from New York to Seoul. It was shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor near Moneron Island. All 269 people aboard were killed. The plane was shot down because it was in USSR airspace and a US reconnaissance flight was being flown that day. -
US invades Grenada
25 October 1983- The US invaded an island named Grenada off the coast of Venezuela to help restore constitutional government. The government was facing a coup from radical revolutionaries with Cuban and Soviet connections. The invasion was short, bloody, and effective, and although supported by the US citizenry, the UN and other nations called it a violation of international law. -
Chernobyl Disaster
26 April 1986- A catastrophic accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine. A reactor ruptured and steam explosions erupted across the plant. It took 500,000 workers to clean up and decontaminate the area, and killed 31 people. Cancer and other radioactive side effects are still being found today. -
Iran Contra Affair
November 12 1986- It was revealed that the US was supplying arms to Iran for the release of seven American hostages being held in Lebanon. The arms were supposed to go through Israel to Iran and then the hostages would be released. The public found out and made several investigations, but all conspirators either made an appeal or gained presidential pardon. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
June 4 1989, several hundred student protesters were killed in Beijing for supporting the leader Hu Yaobang. He had lost a power struggle trying to reform economic and political conditions in China. He also supported freedom of speech, free press, government accountability, and the restoration of workers' control over industry. -
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Due to increasing unrest, a unsuccessful coup was attempted against leader Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991. Gorbachev seeing the unrest turned the government over to Boris Yeltsin December 25th. The next day, the Soviet Union was dissolved and the individual states gained freedom.
