Events of the Cold War

Yalta Conference

Feb 4, 1945

This conference was to discuss how Germany and Europe in total would be reorganized. President Franklin D. Roosevelt discussed these with Stalin and Churchill.

Potsdam Conference

Jul 17, 1945

All of the German industry that could have been used for military purposes had to be dismantled. Germany had to be disarmed and demilitarized.

Second Red Scare

Sep 2, 1945

The Second Red Scare happened right after the Second World War. This was the idea that foreign communists were infiltrating American Society.

Creation of The Iron Curtain

Mar 5, 1946

The Iron Curtain sealed the Soviet Union and its states from the West. It made it so Western Europe couldn't have open contact with the Soviet Union and its states.

Truman Doctorine

Mar 12, 1947

Harry Truman asked Congress for 400 million dollars to provide aid. He was providing military aid to countries such as Turkey and Greece.

Berlin Blockade

Jun 24, 1948

The Berlin Blockade was done by Stalin to cut off transit between West Berlin and West Germany. This was so the Allies couldn't travel to the Soviet Union as well.

Creation of NATO

Apr 4, 1949

NATO was created to provide security against the Soviet Union. The USA, Canada, and several Western European nations were involved in NATO.

Korean War

Jun 25, 1950

This war was when North Korea invaded South Korea. 3 million people died and the war was 3 years long.

The Space Race

Aug 2, 1955

The United States had the goal of landing on the moon before the Soviets did. The US won the space race when Niel Armstrong landed on the moon.

Vietnam War

Nov 1, 1955

The United States was helping South Vietnam but the North ended up winning. The North united Vietnam as a Communist country.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Apr 17, 1961

This was a failed invasion of Cuba's southwestern coast. This was done by Cubians who opposed Fidel Castro. This was funded by the USA.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Oct 16, 1962

The Soviet Union started putting missiles in Cuba. Cuba is close to the USA so this was the closest the USA and The Soviet Union got to an all-out war. They had to agree to remove the missiles.

Soviet-Afghan War

Dec 24, 1979

The Soviet Union went to war with Afghanistan and the war lasted for 10 years. The Soviet Union was defeated and this led to a Civil War in Afghanistan.

Chernobyl

Apr 26, 1986

The nuclear reactor in Chernobyl failed during a low-power test. The explosion destroyed the nuclear reactor and released a lot of radiation. The disaster caused over 50 people plus some with radiation poisoning.

Fall of The Soviet Union

Dec 26, 1991

There was an attempted coup against Gorbachev which made Gorbachev's power lessen. there was a lot of government turmoil where a lot of Moscow's influence was lost. This then later led to the Union collapsing.