cold war timeline

  • formation of the Eastern Bloc

    formation of the Eastern Bloc
    The formation of the Eastern Bloc originated at the end of World War 2. Joseph Stalin created the formation. The Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania.
  • Greek Civil War

    Greek Civil War
    The Greek Civil War is a two-stage conflict during which Greek communists unsuccessfully tried to gain control of Greece. The Greek government forces and the Democratic Army of Greece was the cause of the war. The Greek government won the war in the end.
  • Postwar occupation and division of Germany

    Postwar occupation and division of Germany
    Germany was divided into four occupied zones the Great Britain in the northwest, France in the southwest, the US in the south and the Soviet Union in the east.
  • Enactment of the Marshall Plan

    Enactment of the Marshall Plan
    The Marshall plan were to help rebuild the postwar British economy and minimize trade barriers. Also, to prevent the spread of communism and Soviet influence in Western Europe. When the Soviet Union refused to participate or allow its satellites to participate, the Marshall plan became an element of the emerging Cold War.
  • Berlin Blockade and airlift

    Berlin Blockade and airlift
    The Berlin blockade and airlift is a 327-day operation. The U.S. and British planes flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviets blockaded the city in 1948. 275,000 planes transported 1.5 million tons of supplies to Berlin. Stalin wanted to destroy Germany and was stripping East Germany of its wealth.
  • Chinese Communist Revolution

    Chinese Communist Revolution
    Mao Zedong lead the revolutions and lasted for 10 years. The goal was to preserve Chinese communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society. Poverty, abuse, and early death were the only prospects for nearly half a billion people.
  • Korean War

    Korean War
    For five years there was tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The Northern Korean People's Army invaded South Korea. 2.5 million people died from the Korean War.
  • Cuban Revolution

    Cuban Revolution
    The revolution began with a failed assault on Cuban military barracks by Fidel Castro. One of the starting causes of the revolutions were over different political views. There was 196,000 casualties.
  • Hungarian uprising

    Hungarian uprising
    A speech by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in which he attacked the period of Joseph Stalin's rule started the revolution. Soviet troops moved against Budapest with great force and crushed the remainder of the rebellion. Thousands of Hungarians were killed by Red Army troops.
  • Bay of Pigs Invasion

    Bay of Pigs Invasion
    The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an abortive invasion of Cuba. The U.S. Government financed and directed the invasion. The invasion was a fail because it was poorly executed and planned.
  • Building the Berlin Wall

    Building the Berlin Wall
    German Democratic Republic built the wall during the Cold War. It was to prevent its population from escaping Soviet-controlled East Berlin to West Berlin. It took two weeks for the wall to be built.
  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    Cuban Missile Crisis
    It was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was the last time that the world was brought to the brink of nuclear weapons use. Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov stopped the Soviet nuclear torpedo launch.
  • Rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization

    Rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization
    the purpose of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was to liberating Palestine, achieving Palestinian self-determination. Yasser Arafat was appointed leader of the PLO. The organization's initial goals were to unite various Arab groups and create a liberated Palestine in Israel.
  • Vietnam War

    Vietnam War
    Two U.S. destroyers stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam radioed that they had been fired upon by North Vietnamese forces. President Lyndon B. Johnson requested permission from the U.S. Congress to increase the U.S. military presence in Indochina. President Eisenhower deploys the Military Assistance Advisory Group to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam..
  • Prague Spring

    Prague Spring
    The Prague Spring reforms were a strong attempt to grant additional rights to the citizens of Czechoslovakia. There was 72 deaths and 702 injured. Reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ),
  • Soviet War in Afghanistan

    Soviet War in Afghanistan
    The Soviet Union and Afghanistan went to war because the growing Muslim population in Soviet Central Asia threatened the Soviet control. The Soviet Union tried to make the communist regime stronger and suppress the Mujahideen rebellion against the government. In the end the Soviet Union ended in defeat.
  • Tiananmen Square Massacre

    Tiananmen Square Massacre
    There was protestors in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing. The Chinese authorities responded with overwhelming force to repress the demonstrations. Military units were brought in and unarmed protesters and onlookers were killed.
  • Fall of the Berlin Wall

    Fall of the Berlin Wall
    There was a peaceful revolution that marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Günter Schabowski and other East German officials said to bring the wall down. During the night of November 9, 1989, crowds of Germans began dismantling the Berlin Wall.
  • Fall of the Soviet Union

    Fall of the Soviet Union
    The Soviet Union collapsed due to satellite nations declaring independence and they couldn't economically compete with the West. The Russian, Belorussian, and Ukrainian SSRs leaders declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed. Estonia was the first Soviet republic to declare state sovereignty inside the Union.
  • 9/11 Attacks

    9/11 Attacks
    There were four coordinated terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda thought that by attacking these symbols of American power, they would promote widespread fear throughout the country and severely weaken the United States' standing in the world community.