-
Period: to
Cold War 1947-1966
-
Truman Doctrine
Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War. The Truman Doctrine is an American foreign policy that pledges American "support for democracies against authoritarian threats." The doctrine originated with the primary goal of containing Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. -
Allied Control Council
After the Potsdam conference, Germany was divided into four occupied zones: Great Britain in the northwest, France in the southwest, the United States in the south and the Soviet Union in the east. -
Rio Pact
U.S. meet 19 Latin American countries and created a security zone around the hemisphere. Also called the Rio Pact or the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, the treaty became effective on December 3, 1948, when two-thirds of the member states had ratified it. The treaty provided for mutual assistance if an act of aggression threatened the peace of the Western Hemisphere. -
Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia
Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, with Soviet backing, assumed undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia. It marked the onset of four decades of the party's rule in the country. -
Trumans Loyalty
Truman's Loyalty Program created to catch Cold War spies. With the Truman Doctrine, President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. -
Berlin Blockade
An early crisis of the Cold War comes to an end when the Soviet Union lifts its 11-month blockade against West Berlin. The blockade had been broken by a massive U.S.-British airlift of vital supplies to West Berlin's two million citizens. -
NATO is Ratified
Secretary of State Dean Acheson signed the North Atlantic Treaty on behalf of the United States, formally wedding his country to the future of Europe. The Senate ratified the treaty on 21 July 1949 by a vote of 83-13. -
Mao Zedong
Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China and establishes the People's Republic of China. The founding of the People's Republic of China was formally proclaimed by Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on October 1, 1949, at 3:00 pm in Tiananmen Square in Peking, now Beijing (formerly Beiping), the new capital of China. -
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek moved to Formosa and created Nationalist government. Chiang Kai‐shek, also known as Jiang Zhongzheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China and the Generalissimo from 1928 to his death in 1975 – until 1949 -
H-bomb
Truman approved H-bomb development. Truman supported the development of the hydrogen bomb because the Soviet Union had exploded a fission bomb earlier in the year. Previously, the US had been the world's only nuclear power. Truman felt that the possession of a hydrogen bomb would restore America's superiority. -
Joe McCarthy
Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt and loyalty tests. He was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. -
Korean war starts
The war broke out on June 24, 1950 when North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel, invading South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Il-sung launched the attack once he had received a promise of support from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. -
Chinese soldiers capture Seoul
Chinese capture Seoul. Ultimately retaken by UN March 18. The offensives undertaken by the belligerents underscore a stalemate which was, nevertheless, deadly in terms of casualties. -
FCDA - The Federal Civil Defense Administration
The Federal Civil Defense Administration was organized by President Harry S. Truman on December 1, 1950, through Executive Order 10186, and became an official government agency via the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950 on 12 January 1951. -
Truman fires MacArthur
On 11 April 1951, U.S. president Harry S. Truman relieved General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of his commands after MacArthur made public statements that contradicted the administration's policies. -
A-bombs
A-bombs developed by Britain. Britain developed its own atom bomb to remain a great power and avoid complete dependence on the United States, which was refusing to share atomic information. -
Greece and Turkey join NATO
Greece was formally welcomed as one of NATO's first new members since the creation of the Alliance in 1949, along with Turkey. His Majesty King Paul I, king of the Hellenes, signs the Instrument of accession for Greece in Athens on 11 February -
Matyas Rakosi become prime minister of Hungary
Mátyás Rákosi, born Mátyás Rosenfeld, was a Stalinist dictator of Hungary from 1945 to 1956 through his post as General Secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party supported by the Soviet Red Army. -
Nuclear Arms Race
March 17-June 4
Nuclear Arms Race atomic test series of 11 explosions at Nevada Test Site. -
Korean War ends
On July 27, 1953, seven months after President Eisenhower's inauguration as the 34th President of the United States, an armistice was signed, ending organized combat operations and leaving the Korean Peninsula divided much as it had been since the close of World War II at the 38th parallel. -
Ike's speech
Ike's Atoms for Peace speech. “The world and we have passed the midway point of a century of continuing challenge. We sense with all our faculties that force of good and evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history.” Dwight David Eisenhower spoke those words during his Inaugural Address on January 20th 1953 -
H-bomb
H-bomb Castle-Bravo test. Castle Bravo was the first in a series of high-yield thermonuclear weapon design tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, as part of Operation Castle. -
Vietnam split
Vietnam split at 17th parallel. The accords established the 17th parallel (latitude 17° N) as a temporary demarcation line separating the military forces of the French and the Viet Minh. North of the line was the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, or North Vietnam, which had waged a successful eight-year struggle against the French. -
KGB and CIA
KGB is established, CIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and Guatemala. As the Cold War with the United States intensified, the KGB came to be viewed as a counterpart of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); however, unlike the CIA, the KGB conducted most of its activities domestically, on Soviet soil and against Soviet citizens. -
The Baghdad Pact
The Baghdad Pact is founded by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. It is committed to resisting Communist expansion in the Middle East. -
Warsaw pact formed
Formally known as the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance, the Warsaw Pact was created on 14 May 1955, immediately after the accession of West Germany to the Alliance. -
Syria's Request for Soviet Military Intervention
In 1955, Moscow invited Syria, along with Egypt, to join a pro-Soviet pact. Turkey, a U.S. ally, mobilized troops along its southern border in an attempt to dissuade Syria from joining this pact. From 1955 to 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev provided Syria with more than $200 million in military aid to solidify the alliance and to counter U.S. influence in the region. -
USSR sent military aid to Afghanistan.
At the end of December 1979, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan and immediately assumed complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country. -
USSR
USSR sent tanks into Poznan, Poland, to suppress demonstrations by workers. About 400 tanks and 10,000 soldiers of the Polish People's Army and the Internal Security Corps under the command of the Polish-Soviet general Stanislav Poplavsky were ordered to suppress the demonstration and during the pacification fired at the protesting civilians. -
Egypt's control
Egypt took control of Suez Canal. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company, the joint British-French enterprise which had owned and operated the Suez Canal since its construction in 1869. -
Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis began with Israeli attack led by Mo she Dayan against Egyptian forces in the Sinai. he Suez Crisis began on October 29, 1956, when Israeli armed forces pushed into Egypt toward the Suez Canal, a valuable waterway that controlled two-thirds of the oil used by Europe. -
THE WORLD'S FIRST ICBM
In 1961 a modified R-7 launched the first manned spacecraft, Vostok, which carried cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Refined versions of the R-7 are still in use today. A workhorse of the Soviet space program, the R-7 rocket has launched many missions. -
Sputnik launched into orbit
The Soviet Union launched the earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I. The successful launch came as a shock to experts and citizens in the United States, who had hoped that the United States would accomplish this scientific advancement first. -
Sputnik II launched - Laika died in space
Sputnik 2, or Prosteyshiy Sputnik 2 was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, and the first to carry an animal into orbit, a Soviet space dog named Laika. Laika died on the fourth orbit due to overheating caused by an air conditioning malfunction. -
Explorer I launched
Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year. The mission followed the first two satellites the previous year; the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, beginning the Cold War Space Race between the two nations. -
NASA began Mercury project using Atlas rocket
Two types of rockets were used for Project Mercury. The first two of the six flights with an astronaut on board used a Redstone rocket. The four manned flights that orbited Earth used an Atlas rocket. Both of these rockets were originally designed as missiles for the United States military. -
Khrushchev demands withdrawal of troops from Berlin
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev delivered a speech in which he demanded that the Western powers of the United States, Great Britain and France pull their forces out of West Berlin within six months. -
Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro
After the Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in court, Fidel Castro organized an armed attack on the Cuban military's Moncada Barracks. -
The Kitchen Debate
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges through interpreters between U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon, then 46, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikita Khrushchev, 65, at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. -
Khrushchev visits United States
The state visit of Nikita Khrushchev to the United States was a 13-day visit from 15–27 September 1959. It marked the first state visit of a Soviet or Russian leader to the US. -
A-bombs developed by France
On February 13, 1960, France detonated an atomic bomb from a 105-metre (344-foot) tower in the Sahara in what was then French Algeria. The plutonium implosion design had a yield of 60 to 70 kilotons, three times the yield of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. -
Soviet Union reveals that U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory
The U-2 incident was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union that began with the shooting down of a U.S. U-2 reconnaissance plane over the Soviet Union in 1960 and that caused the collapse of a summit conference in Paris between the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France. -
John F. Kennedy elected President of USA
United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. In a closely contested election, Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy defeated the incumbent vice president Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee. -
Bay of Pigs invasion see Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline
In early 1961 President John F. Kennedy concluded that Fidel Castro was a Soviet client working to subvert Latin America. After much debate in his administration Kennedy authorized a clandestine invasion of Cuba by a brigade of Cuban exiles. The brigade hit the beach at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, but the operation collapsed in spectacular failure within 2 days. Kennedy took public responsibility for the mistakes made, but remained determined to rid Cuba of Castro. -
Construction of Berlin Wall begins
The decision was taken to build a Wall. Work began in the early hours of 13 August 1961. The Berlin Wall became the symbol of the Cold War and a tangible manifestation of the world's separation into two distinct ideological blocs. -
Berlin border is closed
East German premier Walter Ulbricht, after consultation with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, decided to close the border separating East and West Berlin -
U.S. involvement in Vietnam increases
Direct U.S. involvement in Vietnam grew following surrender of the French and partition of North and South Vietnam. At that time, North Vietnam sought to develop a communist state, while South Vietnam aligned with the West. -
Thermonuclear War
At the height of the Cold War, for two weeks in October 1962, the world teetered on the edge of thermonuclear war -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. -
John F. Kennedy visits West Berlin
He went to give his speech, President Kennedy discusses his hopes for the reunification of Germany, and emphasizes the philosophical differences between capitalism and communism, noting, "Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free." In his remarks President Kennedy famously proclaims, "Ich bin ein Berliner." -
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified
The Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. After Senate approval, the treaty that went into effect on October 10, 1963, banned nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water. -
President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
Shortly after noon on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas. -
United States aircraft bomb North Vietnam for the first time
Operation Rolling Thunder was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States 2nd Air Division, U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War -
Gulf of Tonkin incident
The Gulf of Tonkin incident was an international confrontation that led to the United States engaging more directly in the Vietnam War. -
A-bombs developed by China
The atomic bomb was a part of China's "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program. It had a yield of 22 kilotons, comparable to the Soviet Union's first nuclear bomb RDS-1 and the American Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. -
Death of Sir Winston Churchhill
Sir Winston Churchill, the British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War, died on 24 January 1965, aged 90. His was the first state funeral in the United Kingdom for a non-member of the Royal Family since Edward Carson's in 1935. -
U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic to fight Communism
The Dominican military, however, despised Bosch and his liberal policies. Bosch was overthrown in 1963. Political chaos gripped the Dominican Republic as various groups, including the increasingly splintered military, struggled for power. By 1965, forces demanding the reinstatement of Bosch began attacks against the military-controlled government. -
Announcement of dispatching of 200,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam
President Lyndon B. Johnson announces that he has ordered an increase in U.S. military forces in Vietnam, from the present 75,000 to 125,000. Johnson also said that he would order additional increases if necessary. He pointed out that to fill the increase in military manpower needs, the monthly draft calls would be raised from 17,000 to 35,000. -
Charles De Gaulle calls for United States forces to leave Vietnam
French president Charles de Gaulle urges the United States to get out of Vietnam. In a speech before 100,000 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, President Charles de Gaulle of France denounces U.S. policy in Vietnam and urges the U.S. government to pull its troops out of Southeast Asia. -
France withdraws its troops from NATO
French President Charles de Gaulle announced France's withdrawal from NATO's integrated military command, resulting in the relocation of NATO headquarters from Paris to Brussels.. France, under the leadership of President Charles de Gaulle, had been a founding member of NATO. -
B-52s Bomb North Vietnam
Strategic Air Command B-52 bombers attack targets in North Vietnam for the first time. They strike the Mu Gia Pass, a crucial enemy supply route adjacent to Laos near an entrance to the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This bombing is part of Operation ROLLING THUNDER