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Iron Curtain
In one of the most famous orations of the Cold War period, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill condemns the Soviet Union’s policies in Europe and declares, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” Churchill’s speech is considered one of the opening volleys announcing the beginning of the Cold War. -
Truman Doctrine
In a dramatic speech to a joint session of congress President Harry S. Truman asks for U.S. assistance for Greece and Turkey to forestall communist domiation of the two nation. this became known as the Truman Doctrine, as the offical declaration of the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, channeled over $13 billion to finance the economic recovery of Europe between 1948 and 1951. The Marshall Plan successfully sparked economic recovery, meeting its objective of ‘restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole.’ The plan is named for Secretary of State George C. Marshall, who announced it in a commencement speech at Harvard University on June 5, 19 -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt in 1948 by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of France, Great Britian and the United States to travel to their sectors of Berlin, which lay within Russian-occupied East Germany. Eventually the Western Powers instituded an air;ift that lasted nearly a year and delivered much-needed supplies and relief in West Berlin. -
Korean War
On June 25,1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People's Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet- backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-western Republic of Korean to the south. The invasion was the first, military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea's behalf. -
Rosenberg Trial
The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins in New York Southern District Federal court. Judge Irving R. Kaufman presides over the espionage prosecution of the couple accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians ( treason could not be charged becuase the United States was not at war with the Soviet Union). -
U-2 Spyplane Incident
An International diplomatic crists erupted in May 1960 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet Air space and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Prestident Dwight D. Eisenhower was forced to admit the Soviets that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The first part of the plan was to destroy Castro's tiny air force, making it impossible for his military to resist the invaders. On April 15, 1961, a group of Cuban exiles took off from Nicaragu in a squadron of America B-26 bombers, painted to look like stolen Cuban planes and conducted a strike against cuban airfields. However, it turned out Castro and his advisers knew about the raid and moved his planes out of harms way. Almost immediately, the invasion was a disaster. -
Berlin Wall
On August 13, 1961, the Communist Government of the German Democractic (East Germany) began to build a barbed wire and concrete "Antifasciscrer Sckutwall", between East and West Berlin. The official purpose of the Berlin Wall was to keep Western "fascists" entering East Germany and undermining the Socialist State. It stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the GDR could cross the border whenever they pleased.
