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Yalta Conference
Feb. 4-11, 1945.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin came to russia and discussed the post-war reorganization of Europe. They had to re-establish nations accross the cointinent of Europe. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift lasted a year, and it was where the United States sent millions of tons of supplies and aid to Western Berlin. This was necessary due to the blockade that the Communists of Eastern Berlin put on the west. -
NATO Created
The prospect of further communist expansion prompted the creation of NATO. NATO is a government and military alliance system that was countered by the Soviet Warsaw Pact. NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. -
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Korean War
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The Geneva Accords
The Geneva Accords on Indochina produced a set of agreements which temporarily seperated Vietnam into two zones. The North controlled by the Viet Minh, and the South controlled by former emperor Bao Dai. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty among eight communist states of Central and Eastern Europe in response to the creation of NATO. Its main purpose was to help maintain peace in Europe. -
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Vietnam War
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Launch of Sputnik
The launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik was the first artificial earth satellite. This event ignited the space race during the cold war and eventually led to American Astronauts landing on the moon. -
U-2 Incident
An American U-2 spy plane is shot down while conducting a spy mission over the Soviet Union. The incident derailed an important summit meeting between President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that was scheduled for later that month. Kruschev produced evidence of the downed U-2 plane along with the pilot, who survived the crash. Eisenhower had to publicly admit that it was indeed an American spy plane. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs invasion took place from April 17-19 in 1961. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed invasion of Cuba carried out by the CIA. Cuban Exiles were funded and trained by the CIA. The invasion was an attempt to overthrow the communist dictator Fidel Castro. The invading army was defeated in three days by the Cuban Armed Forces. -
Berlin Crisis
The Berlin crisis began on June 4, 1961 and lasted until November 9. The USSR provoked the Berlin Crisis with an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of Western armed forces from West Berlin, culminating with the de facto partition with the Eastern German erection of the Berlin Wall. There was a stand-off between USSR and American tanks, but there were no shots fired. -
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Berlin Wall
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 14 - 28, 1962) was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the deployment of ballistic missiles in Cuba. This event was the closest event in the Cold War that almost led to a full out nuclear war. Castro's request for nuclear missiles in Cuba was granted by Krushchev during a secret meeting. The missiles were intended to deter the future harrassment of Cuba. Some view this event as President Kennedy's finest hour. -
Moscow-Washington Hotline
The hotline was established at a convention in Geneva with the United States and the Soviet Union on June 20, 1963. Representatives of both countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the Establishment of a Direct Communications Line. This was meant to establish a fast, direct way for the president to contact the Kremlin in a moment's notice. -
President John F. Kennedy Assasination
While visiting Dallas, Texas, President Kennedy was shot and killed in his motor vehicle while riding down the street waving to spectators. After an investigation by the Warren Commision, it was found that Lee Harvey Oswald was the assissin. Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into the presidency. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution declared that President Johnson was authorized to take any necessary steps to insure and promote international peace in Southeast Asia. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive had three phases and began on January 30, 1968 and ended on September 23, 1968. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam launched an attack against the forces of South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies. It was a campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian commands and control centers throughout South Vietnam. -
Apollo 11 Moon Landing
Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first humans on the Moon, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on July 20, 1969. Armstrong became the first to step onto the lunar surface six hours later on July 21 Armstrong spent about two and a half hours outside the spacecraft, Aldrin slightly less, and together they collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material for return to Earth. -
Nixon's Visit to China
"It takes a Nixon to go to China." An important step in nomalizing relations between the United States and China, President Nixon's visit to China (February 21-28 1972) ended 25 years of seperation between the two nations. -
SALT II
In a series of negotiations from 1972-1979, The United States and the Soviet Union attempting to curtail the manufacturing of stretigic nuclear weapons. On June 18, 1979 Presidnet Carter and Brezhnev signed an agreement to limit stretegic launchers. -
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Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
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Invasion of Grenada
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Fall of the Berlin Wall
On November 9, 1989, the communist party of East Berlin announced changing relations with Western Germany. This led to the easing of Cold War tensions in Germany. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Gorbachev was in office from March 15, 1990 to December 25, 1991. Gorbachev's policies of openness and restructuring as well as summit conferences with United States President Ronald Reagan and his reorientation of Soviet strategic aims contributed to the end of the Cold War, removed the constitutional role of the Communist Party in governing the state, and inadvertently led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
The collapse of the Soviet Union started as early as 1985. The Soviet Union officially ceased existence on December 26, 1991. A day earlier, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned from power, declared his office extinct and handed over his powers. The Soviet flag was lowered over the Kremlin and replaced with the pre-revolutionary Russian flag.