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WW2 ends
The war ended with the defeat of the Axis powers and the death of Hitler. After the war many conflictions started between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. -
Creation of the "Iron Curtain"
"Iron Curtain" is a term used to describe the boundary that separated the Warsaw Pact countries from the NATO countries from about 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The Iron Curtain was both a physical and an ideological division that represented the way Europe was viewed after World War II. To the east of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the former Soviet Union. -
Formation of NATO
In 1949, the prospect of further Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). -
Vietnam War
The cold war was a fight between the United States and the USSR over the world's resources. South Vietnam was an ally of the US and North Vietnam was an ally of the USSR. The US feared if North Vietnam won the war other countries in South Asia would also fall to Communism. -
Hungarian Revolution
It was a nationwide revolt against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies. Though leaderless when it first began, it was the first major threat to Soviet control since the USSR's forces drove out Nazi Germany from its territory at the end of World War II and broke into Central and Eastern Europe. It began as a student demonstration. -
1st person in space
Russia was the first country to put a human into space. The U.S. wanted to do the same to be considered the best. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
1400 Cuban exiles launched what became a botched invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast of Cuba. In 1959, Fidel Castro came to power in an armed revolt that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. This led the Soviet Union and the U.S. to come to an agreement. -
Berlin wall built
The Berlin wall was built to separate the West from the East. This wall separated many family and friends. People could no longer escape the communist society on the East side. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
It was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. Along with being televised worldwide, it was the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. -
1st man on the moon
The U.S. sent the first man to the moon, his name was Neil Armstrong. This was a big advantage for the U.S. in the Cold War against the Soviet Union, it was like winning. -
End of the USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formally dissolved on 26 December 1991 by declaration of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. This declaration acknowledged the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union following the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
