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Cold War Timeline
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• Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech
o Churchill’s famous speech, spoken at Westminster College, Missouri. This speech was considered to be the beginning of the Cold War. -
• Red Scare
o Promotion of fear of the potential rise of communism in society, or in the government, or both. -
• Truman Doctrine
o President Truman asked congress for 400 million in economic and military aid for Greece and Turkey. He made a statement that was named the Truman Doctrine, declaring that “it must be the policy of the US to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” Congress agreed and decided that this was essential to keeping Soviet influence from spreading. -
• Marshall Plan
o Program to aid Europe, in which the U.S. gave economic support to rebuild Europe and prevent the spread of Communism. -
• Berlin Blockade
o The Berlin Blockade was an attempt by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of the US, France, and GB to travel to their territories in Berlin, which were in the Russian-occupied East Germany. As a result, the western powers instituted an airlift that went almost a year and brought supplies and relief to West Berlin. Coming three years after the end of WWII, the blockade was the first major battle of the Cold War and was a preview of tension between countries concerning Berlin. -
• Communist takeover in China
o Mao Zedong, leading the Communists, pushed the Nationalists out of Mainland China. The People’s Republic of China is formed, and is governed by the Communist Party of China (CPC). -
• NATO created
o The Berlin Blockade resulted in increased Western European fear of soviet aggression. To counter this fear, ten Western European nations (Belgium, Denmark, France, GB, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Portugal) joined with the US and Canada to form a defensive military alliance known as NATO. They pledged military support to one another in case one was attacked. -
• Soviets explode first atomic bomb
o Soviets successfully detonates its first atomic bomb; code name “First Lightning”. Test site was at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. -
• Korean Conflict
o North Korea attacks South Korea. North backed by Soviets and South backed by U.S. -
• Warsaw Pact formed
• Warsaw Pact formed (1955-1991)
o Collective defense treaty among eight communist States of Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War -
• Hungarian Uprising
o Spontaneous nationwide revolt against the Hungarian People’s Republic. Failed, but played a role in the downfall of the Soviet Union. -
• Suez Crisis
o Construction of the a canal in Egypt led to even more tension between the Soviets and Americans, and other surrounding countries were also affected. In response, Great Britain, France and Israel (Israel was directly affected) sent troops. The UN quickly stepped in to stop the fighting by persuading GB, France, and Israel to withdraw. However, it allowed Israel to keep the canal. -
• Vietnam Conflict
o Communist North Vietnam against South Vietnam with U.S. allies. Communists won in 1975. -
• Sputnik
o Soviet Union successfully launches Sputnik 1, which was the world’s first satellite. -
• Castro takes power in Cuba
o Overthrew Fulgencio Batista in 1959, and ruled over Cuba for nearly five decades. He established the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. -
• U-2 incident
o The U.S.’ U-2 spy plane’s covert surveillance mission over the Soviet Union. Shot down and, after the Soviets forced the US to admit the mission, embarrassed the U.S. This market the deterioration of the relations between the U.S. and the Soviets. -
• Berlin Wall Constructed
o The U.S.’ U-2 spy plane’s covert surveillance mission over the Soviet Union. Shot down and, after the Soviets forced the US to admit the mission, embarrassed the U.S. This market the deterioration of the relations between the U.S. and the Soviets. -
• Bay of Pigs
o A failed military invasion of Cuba, to overthrow Fidel Castro, undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506. -
• Cuban Missile Crisis
o 13-day confrontation between the U.S., Cuba and the Soviet Union. Regarded as the time when the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict. Also first documented instance of MAD. -
• Prague Spring
o Period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia from the Soviet Union. -
• Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
o Russian paratroopers land in Kabul and sweep out Muslim tradition. -
• Polish Solidarity
o First non-Communist Party controlled trade union in a Warsaw Pact country. Reached 9.5 million members before September 1981, and the U.S. provided financial support with up to 50 million USD. -
• Perestroika
o The economic and political reform movement in the Soviet Union initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev. -
• Tiananmen Square
o Square where the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989 took; pro-democratic movements, which ended on 4 June 1989 due to martial law. -
• Poland becomes independent
o Poland becomes independent with the political power of the Solidarity movement, and at the same time marks the collapse of communist regimes and parties across Europe. -
• Gorbachev ends military occupation of Eastern Europe
o Gorbachev, elected as president of the USSR, and allowed many radical reforms to occur; stopping the Cold War. -
• Berlin Wall Taken Down
o Torn down on November 9, 1989. -
• Germany reunited
o GDR joined the Federal Republic of Germany, and reunited to form Germany. -
• Warsaw Pact ends
o The pact ended; this action was another sign that the Soviet Union was losing control over its former allies and that the Cold War was falling apart.