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Russian Revolution
A social revolution in Russia that started in 1917 due to heavy military setbacks from WWI and ended in 1923. Monarchy was abolished and the Soviet Union was established and the old government was replaced with communism. -
Potsdam Conference
A meeting between the leaders of the Allied powers after the war's end. They were deciding on what to do with defeated Germany, as well as the establishment of postwar order. It ended on August 2, 1945. -
Atomic Bomb
A new class of weapon that was used as leverage by both the US and the Soviets against each other. It was first used on two Japanese cities, completely obliterating them. -
Iron Curtain
A metaphor explaining the USSR's efforts to create a 'soviet sphere' around itself, capturing and using countries in the Eastern half of Europe as a sort of 'buffer zone.' The border that divided Soviet-controlled countries with the Western half of Europe was referred to as the Iron Curtain. -
Molotov Plan
A system created by the Soviet Union that was similar to the Marshall plan. It provided aid to help rebuild Eastern European countries under Soviet control. -
Hollywood 10
A group of people who declined to answer during HUAC interrogations. -
Truman Doctrine
A foreign policy designed by Harry Truman to 'contain' communism around the world and halt the spread of it to other countries. -
Long Telegram
A report on the actions and behaviour of the Soviet Union's government to the US. It claimed that Russia was 'insecure' and that while it wouldn't be able to reason, it would respond to force. -
Marshall Plan
An American plan that aimed to provide aid for Western European countries in danger of falling into Soviet control. Aid came in the form of coal, materials, food, and other supplies. -
Berlin Blockade
An event where the Soviet Union blocked the Eastern half of Berlin from the rest of Europe. The Western Allies created the Berlin Airlift to provide much-needed supplies to the starving country. -
Berlin Airlift
During the Berlin Blockade, the European Allies fed a constant stream of supplies to the starving city with the use of airplanes. -
Alger Hiss Case
Alger Hiss was an American who was accused of being a Soviet spy. The trial declared him guilty, though many questioned the validity of the verdict. -
NATO
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was a mutual defense treaty against the Soviet threat that included many Western European countries, as well as a few others. -
First Soviet Bomb Test
The Soviets had sucessfully conducted their first test of an atomic bomb, years ahead of expert predictions. -
Chinese Communist Revolution
After Mao Zedong and his Communist party defeated the Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War, and China fell under Communist rule. -
Korean War
As the Communist North Korea (supported by the Soviets and China) began to invade the South, America and some other countries that were a part of the UN supported the South to repel the attack. Eventually, at the end of the war, on 27 July 1953, the border between North and South Korea was placed at almost the exact same place it had been previously. -
Rosenberg Trial
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused of giving secrets about America's nuclear weapons to the Soviets. They were convicted of espionage and sentenced to death, though it was a controversial ruling in the opinions of many citizens. -
Army-McCarthy Hearings
A series of hearings between the US army and Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy had accused hundreds of being communists without evidence. -
Warsaw Pact
A pact, similar to NATO, between Russia and other Eastern European countries under Soviet control. -
Hungarian Revolution
A nationwide revolution in Hungary that protested the current government and its Soviet-influenced policies. Students marched through Budapest, protesting. They were fired upon, sparking discord throughout the country. However, the Soviets eventually killed the revolution on November 11, 1956. -
U-2 Incident
An American spy plane was shot down over Russia. The pilot was captured, and the Soviets recovered surveillance equipment from the crash, leading them to discover the U.S.'s spying. This event further degraded relations between the two superpowers. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
The U.S. attempted (and failed) to overthrow Fidel Castro by sponsoring Cuban exiles to invade Northern Cuba for them. It lasted only three days before their attempted coup fell to pieces. -
Berlin Wall
A concrete barrier that divided Berlin. It finally fell in 1989. 100,000 tried to escape before then, and only 5,000 actually succeeded. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The U.S. had discovered Soviet missiles stationed in Cuba. This was the closest that the two superpowers came to a nuclear war during the Cold War, as distrust grew even further and tensions mounted. On the 28th, the Soviets agreed to remove their missiles, and a potential catastrophe was avoided. -
Asassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding through Dealey Plaza by Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was killed soon after by another person, Jack Ruby. -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
A joint invasion of Czechoslovakia by countries that were a part of the Warsaw Pact. Some countries refused to join the invasion, and East Germany was told not to join, but the invasion was a success, and it put an end to the Prague Spring. -
Nixon Visits China
Dubbed "the week that changed the world," president Richard Nixon made a week-long trip to China, which helped promote warm diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China. This also gave the U.S. leverage over the Soviet Union. -
Reagan Elected
Ronald Reagan, a Republican, wins the presidential election against Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election. This was the beginning of the Reagan Era. -
SDI Announced
The SDI was a U.S. plan to defend themselves from any intercontinental ballistic missiles that may have been fired upon them. It was nicknamed 'Star Wars' by the American public, and while the weapons researched were never used, it remains a symbol of anti-communism in the U.S. -
Geneva Conference wth Gorbachev
The Geneva Conference of 1985 was a Cold War meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. It was between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet General Secretary. They met to hold talks on international diplomatic relations. -
"Tear down this wall!" speech
A speech by Ronald Reagan in West Berlin that was aimed at Mikhail Gorbachev, specifically calling for the opening of the Berlin Wall that had divided Berlin since 1961. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
On this date, the Iron Curtain finally fell, after the many years of a divided Europe. This marked the end of the Cold War. Germany was reunified the following year.
