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An Iron curtain descends across Europe
The Iron Curtain was a political, military, and ideological barrier erected by the Soviet Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependent eastern and central European allies from open contact with the West and other noncommunist areas. This could be important because it symbolized it led to opposing alliances and the divide between communism and capitalism in Europe. -
Berlin Airlift occurs and Czechoslovakia becomes the last Eastern European to become Communist
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Creation of East and West Germany
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China comes to the aid of North Korea and forces UN troops to retreat
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North Korea invades South Korea
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The Korean War ends with a cease fire and Korea remains divided at the 38th parallel and Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, dies.
On July 7th 1953, the communists signed a ceasefire, thus ending the fighting in Korea, due to increasing UN air power pressure. The end of combat created the famous Demilitarized Zone or "DMZ" between the two Koreas. This was important because the ceasefire resulted in the creation of the DMZ, which still stands to this day and serves a very important purpose, preventing another invasion of South Korea. -
The French lose the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and decide to pull out of Indochina
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Nikita Khrushchev becomes Soviet Premier and Austria reunifies under the condition they remain neutral in the Cold War.
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Soviets crush a revolt in Hungary while the West does nothing
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Sputnik I is launched
The Soviet Union launched the earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, on October 4, 1957. Many US citizens hoped that the United States would have accomplished this scientific advancement first, but the fact that the Soviets were successful fed fears that the U.S. military had fallen behind in developing new technology, raising Cold War tensions. This was important because it pushed the US into landing on the moon, which was one of the biggest technological advancements in all of mankind. -
American U-2 spy plane is shot down by the Soviet Union
The pilot of the plane, testified that he had the mission of flying across the Soviet Union, collecting intelligence information en route and admitted working for the CIA. But the US stated there had been no authorization for any such flight as Khrushchev had described. This was important because it led to the U.S. government immediately stopping flights over Soviet territory, also apologizing for those already made, and punished the persons responsible. -
Construction begins on the Berlin Wall & the Bay of Pigs Invasion occurs.
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Cuban Missile Crisis occurs
The Cuban missile crisis was a major confrontation that brought the United States and the Soviet Union close to war over the presence of Soviet nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba. The Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev promised to defend Cuba with Soviet arms. To stop further Soviet shipments of missiles, Pres. JFK decided to place a naval “quarantine” on Cuba. This is important because the confrontation is widely considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into full-scale nuclear war. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the US, was shot as he rode in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. His accused killer was Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine who had embraced Marxism and defected for a time to the Soviet Union. After conducting some 25,000 interviews and running down tens of thousands of investigative leads, the FBI found that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. This was important because the Warren Commision proved that the Soviet Union had no role in the assassination. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Indicident occurs and the United States' Congress passes the Guld of Tonkin Resolution and Leonid Brezhnev becomes the leader of the Soviet Union
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President Lyndon B. Johnson sent the first 60,000 ground troops to Vietnam
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Tet offensive occurs
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Apollo 11
The Cold War between the US and Soviet Union was a geopolitical struggle, an ideological contest between capitalism and communism, a nuclear arms race, and a space race. The nuclear arms race helped lead to the development of rocket technology that made putting humans into space a reality. Only 12 years after the Russians launched Sputnik I into orbit around the Earth, Americans sent astronauts to walk on the moon. This is important because it led to many more advancements in space. -
Detente begins
Détente was a period of easing of tensions in the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. During this time, trading and cooperation between the US and the Soviet union increased. President Nixon traveled to Moscow to discuss matters such as arms limitation, prevention of nuclear war, and trade between the US and the Soviet Union with Premier Aleksey N. Kosygin and Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev. This was important because it reduced the arms race and improved relations. -
United States and North Vietnam agree to a cease fire
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The last combat troops leave South Vietnam and the nation falls to Communist North Vietnam
President Nixon continued U.S. involvement in Vietnam for “peace with honor,” but North Vietnam resisted negotiations. After their 1972 invasion, U.S. bombing forced negotiations, leading to the 1973 Paris Accords. Even though the U.S. withdrew, the fighting between North and South Vietnam resumed, which resulted in South Vietnam's fall in 1975. This is important because it prevented the death of more US soldiers, and led to Vietnam being a communist country. -
Soviet-Afghan War begins
The Soviet Union intervened in support of the Afghan communist government in its conflict with anti-communist Muslim guerrillas. The Soviets suffered some 15,000 dead and many more injured. Despite having failed to implement a regime in Afghanistan, in 1988 the Soviet Union signed an accord with the United States, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and agreed to withdraw its troops. This is important because it led to the United States leading a boycott of the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, in 1980. -
Josip Broz Tito, president of Yugoslavia, dies and Lech Walesa establishes the Solidarity Movement in Poland
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Mihkail Gorbachev becomes the leader of the Soviet Union
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The Soviet union withdraws troops from Afghanistan, Romanian uprising ousts Nicholae Ceausescu and his wife, and the USSR allows the dismantling of the Berlin Wall
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Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania declare their independence and East and West Germany reunite under Chancellor Helmut Kohl
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Soviet republics of Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan declare independence and Gorbachev resigns
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Czechoslovakia becomes the Czech Republic and Slovakia
