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Russia dissolves Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern (1919–1943), was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919. The International intended to fight "by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the State.The Comintern was officially dissolved by Joseph Stalin during 1943. -
Hungarian Revolution '56
The Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. It was the first major threat to Soviet control since the USSR forces drove out the Nazis at the end of World War II and occupied Eastern Europe. Despite the failure of the uprising, it was highly influential, and came to play a role in the downfall of the Soviet Union. -
Soviet Union sends first ever man-made satellite, Sputnik, into space
Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was a 585 mm (23 in) diameter shiny metal sphere, with four external radio antennae to broadcast radio pulses. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on 4 October 1957. It was visible all around the Earth and its radio pulses detectable. The surprise success precipitated the American Sputnik crisis, began the Space Age and triggered the Space Race, a part of the larger Cold War. -
USA forms NASA and launches Explorer 1 satellite
Explorer was the first Earth satellite of the United States, launched as part of its participation in the International Geophysical Year. Explorer 1 was launched on January 31, 1958 at 22:48 Eastern Time atop the first Juno booster from LC-26 at the Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida. -
U-2 Spyplane incident (USSR)
The 1960 U-2 incident occurred during the Cold War on 1 May 1960, during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower and during the leadership of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down over the airspace of the Soviet Union.The United States government at first denied the plane's purpose and mission, but then was forced to admit its role as a covert surveillance aircraft when the Soviet government produced its intact remains. -
Paris Conference
Designed initially to resolve the "Berlin Question" but it outright failed due to the downing of a U2 Spy Plane the USSR had shot down over its Sovereign Territory. Kruschev demanded an apology from Eisenhower and Ike refused to give one. Kruschev walked out of the Summit and relations with the USSR deteriorated further from this point. Soon there after the USSR would build the Berlin Wall. -
Soviet Yuri Gagarin first man in space
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961. -
Khrushchev & Kennedy indulge in brinkmanship
In the summer of 1961 John F. Kennedy met with Khrushchev in Vienna in order to try to find a solution regarding the problem of Berlin. Kennedy suggested Khrushchev to remove the Soviet troops, after which the United States would remove their troops. However, the esteban crisis they found no solution, because neither side was ready to make concessions. The conference ended with Khrushchev issuing another ultimatum to the United States, giving them six months to get out of Berlin. -
Building of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The physical Wall itself was primarily destroyed in 1990. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis—known as the October crisis in Cuba and the Caribbean crisis in the USSR—was a 13-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side, and the United States on the other, in October 1962. It is one of the major confrontations of the Cold War, and is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict. -
Hotline established (between USSR and USA)
The Moscow–Washington hotline is a system that allows direct communication between the leaders of the United States and Russia. This hotline was established in 1963 and linked the White House via the National Military Command Center with the Kremlin. Although in popular culture known as the "red telephone", the hotline was never a telephone line, and no red phones were used. The first implementation used teletype equipment, which was replaced by fascimile units in 1988. -
Kennedy sets up Apollo program
The Apollo program was the third human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States' civilian space agency. First conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower as a three-man spacecraft to follow the one-man Project Mercury which put the first Americans in space, Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" -
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
The United Nations Disarmament Commission brought together the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and the Soviet Union to began negotiations on ending nuclear weapons testing.On August 5, 1963, after more than eight years of difficult negotiations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. -
Czechoslovakia Uprising ‘68
On the night of August 20, 1968, troops from Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria, East Germany, and Poland occupied Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovakian government immediately declared that the “invasion was a violation of socialist principals, international law, and the United Nations Charter.” During the occupation, those who initiated and supported the liberal reforms were forcibly removed to the Soviet Union in secrete and were compelled to sign a treaty. -
Brezhnev Doctrine
The Brezhnev Doctrine was a Soviet Union foreign policy, first and most clearly outlined by S. Kovalev in a September 26, 1968 Pravda article, entitled "Sovereignty and the International Obligations of Socialist Countries." This doctrine was announced to retroactively justify the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 that ended the Prague Spring, along with earlier Soviet military interventions, such as the invasion of Hungary in 1956.
