Cold War Timeline

By Kenzie_yule

  • End Of WWII

    End Of WWII
    World War 2 ended with the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers. On 8 May 1945, the Allies accepted Germany's surrender, about a week after Adolf Hitler had committed suicide.

  • Cold War Begins

    Cold War Begins
    The Cold War began in 1945, as the United States and Soviet Union turned to face one another after defeating Hitler's Germany and Japan.

  • Cold War Heating Up

    Cold War Heating Up
    The Cold War world was separated into three groups. The United States led the West. This group included countries with democratic political systems. The Soviet Union led the East.

  • A Little Help

    A Little Help
    n the nineteen fifties, the United States began sending military advisers to help South Vietnam defend itself against communist North Vietnam. That aid would later expand into a long and bloody period of American involvement in Vietnam.

  • Tensions Rise

    Tensions Rise
    Eisenhower and Nikolai Bulganin met in Geneva, Switzerland. The leaders of Britain and France also attended.
    Eisenhower proposed that the Americans and Soviets agree to let their military bases be inspected by air by the other side. The Soviets later rejected the proposal. Yet the meeting in Geneva was not considered a failure. After all, the leaders of the world's most powerful nations had shaken hands.

  • Dying Down?

    Dying Down?
    A few months later, Israel invaded Egypt. France and Britain joined the invasion For once, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed on a major issue. Both supported a United Nations resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.

  • Some years on

    Some years on
    Egypt defects to the American camp by accepting a U.S. cease-fire proposal during the October 1973 war. It seems to be less violent in the later years.

  • Coming to an end

    Coming to an end
    Reagan and Gorbachev meet for the first time at a summit in Geneva, Switzerland, where they agree to two (later three) more summits.

  • Christmas wish

    Christmas wish
    US President George H. W. Bush, after receiving a phone call from Boris Yeltsin, delivers a Christmas Day speech acknowledging the end of the Cold War.

  • All Over

    All Over
    All Soviet institutions cease operations. The official end of the cold war.