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Beginning of Cold War 1945
FDR, Churchill, and Stalin attend the Yalta Conference. Stalin ultimately strained relations with the other allies and would become an obvious foreshadow of the cold war. Link text -
Rio Pact-Containment 1947
The Rio Pact stated that any armed attack against a state would be considered an attack against all American states. Accompanied by NATO in 1949, these alliances would lead to defense agreements and alliances that will be of importance later when South Korea is invaded. Link text -
Berlin Blockade 1948
The Soviet Union attempted to limit France, Great Britain, and the United States from traveling to their sectors of Berlin. This major clash gets the domino's of the war falling. Link text -
First Soviet Weapons Test 1949
The Soviet Union successfully makes its first nuclear bomb, similar in appearance to the "Fat Man" bomb the U.S. dropped in World War II. This is the first time that the United States is no longer the leading monopolist of the nuclear weapon scene. Link text -
Beginning of the Korean War 1950
The Soviets supported North Korea's invasion of South Korea, leading to the United States involvement on South Korea's behalf, along with the initiation of the Containment Doctrine. Link text -
Second Red Scare 1950
Also known as "McCarthyism", this period of hysteria surrounded Joseph McCarthy's communist witch hunts. This intensified the concern of a communist invasion and did not lead to many prominent communist captures. Link text -
Civil Rights Movement Brown vs Board 1954
Brown vs. Board of Education case in 1954 paves way for integration in schools. This was an important milestone for the United States, as they were being seen by other nations as an inherently racist country. The court ruling made for a more positive international image in the midst of the cold war. Link text -
Space Race 1957
The Soviets put two Sputnik satellites into orbit by rocket power. This posed a potential military threat to the United States if the Soviets could weaponize their rockets. Link Text -
Bay of Pigs Invasion 1961
Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba, but his obvious communist ties prevented the United States from associating with the nation, leading to Castro's turn to the Soviet Union. Fearful of Castro's proximity, President Kennedy had Cuban exiles train to be an invasion force back into Cuba with the hopes of knocking Castro out of power. However, this was a huge failure that leads to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Link text -
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
This was the closest that the United States and the Soviet Union would come to nuclear war. After the failure at Bay of Pigs, the soviets constructed missiles in Cuba. Kennedy called for a naval quarantine against Cuba, stopping import/export to the nation. On the verge of war, an agreement is reached to dismantle the bombs if the U.S. didn't invade Cuba. This slowed the nuclear arms race & helped JFK's image. Link text -
Nixon Presidency 1969
Nixon promised to take lead of the Space Race and does so, placing the first man on the moon. This lead on the Soviets was important to maintain military and technical superiority. Link text -
Paris Peace Accords Signed 1973
The Paris Peace Accords mark the end of the Vietnam War for the United States. While this was helpful for Americans in that we were able to pull out of Vietnam and focus the rest of our forces in the fight against communism, this did not support a peaceful agreement between N/S Vietnam, and eventually crumbled, resulting in N/S Vietnam fighting again to become a communist nation. link text -
Nixon's Resignation 1974
After the Watergate scandal, a staged break-in by official of the committee to re-elect Nixon in which Nixon himself was proven to be involved with, Nixon became the first president to resign from office, thus making way for President Carter to take charge. link text -
Strategic Defense Initiative 1983
President Reagan began the SDI to protect the country from a large scale nuclear attack by developing a space-based missile defense program with the hopes of destroying enemy missiles/bombs while in mid-flight. This kept the Soviets from reaching deals on various arms control measures until they agreed to stop discussing defense strategies along with intermediate-range forces. This then led to the signing of the INF treaty. link text -
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty 1987
President Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev sign a treaty agreeing to eliminate all intermediate and short-range ground-based nuclear missiles and launchers from Europe. This called for the elimination of an entire class of weapons and intrusive inspections that began the end for the Cold War. link text -
End of the Cold War: Communist Coup D'etat 1991
As nations under Soviet rule become independent, some "hard-line" Communists kidnap their leader Gorbachev and claimed he was no longer fit to rule. The uproar that this caused was too much to handle, and without the help of the military, they gave up. Months later, the Soviet Union collapsed once it realized that the people would accept nothing but a democratic government. Gorbachev resigned and the union ceased. link text
