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Period: to
The Cold War 1945-1991
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Potsdam Conference
Harry S. Truman, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill came together in Potsdam, Germany to discuss European post war issues and the ongoing problems with Japan. The United States had dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, four days after the conference had concluded. -
Vietnam War (United States Involvement)
The U.S was afraid that communism would spread to Vietnam and Southeast Asia. The first time the United States became involved with Vietnam was when they were loaning money to France during the first Indochina War. After the first Indochina War the previously French colony, Indochina, was separated into Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Vietnam chose to separate itself further into the Communist North Vietnam and the Anti-Communist South Vietnam. South Vietnam did not want to be joined with North Viet -
Iron Curtain descends on Europe
A speech given by Winston Churchill that stated that the Cold War had begun. He gave his speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. He referred to the Iron Curtain a lot so that is why it was called the Iron Curtain Speech. -
Red Scare
Also known as McCarthyism, the Red Scare was a fear that people had in a nation about the spread of communism in their country. This scare has occurred in the United Stated after World War I and during the Cold War. The Red Scare is also the cause of death of Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg. -
Truman Doctrine
As a Declaration of the Cold War, President Harry S. Truman gave this address called the Truman Doctrine. It stated the reasons for the war and where both the United States and the Soviet Union stood in this pronounced war. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan is a program that had provided about thirteen billion dollars to aid European countries that were destroyed by World War II. This plan that the president of the United States Harry S. Truman had signed, had saved the United States from another falling economy. The Marshall Plan was also one of the reasons the Berlin Wall was raised between Eastern and Western Europe. -
Creation of Israel
The nation Israel is established on May 14, 1948, making it the first Jewish state in over two thousand years. This day was a very joyous day for the people of the newly formed Israel even though Great Britain had withdrawn their army and Egypt had started air assaults against Israel. -
Berlin Air Lift
Two days prior to the airlift, the Soviet Union had blocked all the roads and railroads leading to and from West Berlin. The Soviet Union had done this because they did not have a say in the future of Germany’s future. As a result, President Harry S. Truman ordered a direct military response to have airplanes land in West Berlin to provide the necessities of life to the people of West Berlin. -
Formation of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a military alliance that was set up to protect non-communist nations in Western Europe. It was also formed to prevent former enemies in Western Europe from starting World War III. -
Communist Witch Hunt
Taking advantage of the fear of communism in the United States, Joseph McCarthy came up with a list of two hundred and five State Department staff members, who he claimed were members of the American Communist Party. -
Korean War
North Korea had invaded South Korea making this the first military invasion during the cold war. America had believed that this was a communist campaign to take over the world. The United States sent its troops to first make all of the communists leave South Korea but, once the first fall of the war had approached it turned into a war to liberate North Korea from communists. -
Ivy Mike
The first hydrogen-bomb ever created was by the United States. It also was the biggest bomb created, and produced the biggest fireball. It created Einsteinium and fermium, elements that have never before been discovered. Ivy Mike had also completely vaporized the island which it inhabited, called Elugelab. -
USS Nautilus
The USS Nautilus was a submarine that was 323 feet long and had the ability to displace four thousand ninety two tons when it was submerged. It was the first ever submarine to be powered by nuclear energy. The USS Nautilus was built by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut. -
Rosenberg Spy Case
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were found guilty of espionage with top secret information that they were relaying to the Soviet Union about the atomic bomb that United States had. Julius was electrocuted first in the electric chair and then it was Ethel’s turn. She was dead sixteen minutes after her husband. -
William N. Oatis Trial
William was an Associated Press correspondent who lived in Prague and was convicted of espionage only by false confession, He did not choose to lie under oath he was forced to falsely confess by being sleep deprived for more than two days and at the same time was pressured psychologically. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was an agreement of the countries that signed including the Soviet Union but not the United States. It gave the Soviets the right to command the militaries of the countries that signed. The seven other countries that signed were Albania, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. These eight countries were all members of this pact. -
Suez Crisis
Nasser had the Suez Canal nationalized. He was supported by the Soviet Union arms and money. He was also angry with the United States because they did not follow through with the promise of funds for the Aswan Dam on the Nile River. The British troops had troops in this area so it angered them and as a result they had Israel and France join them in an invasion to take back the canal -
Sputnik Iand Sputnik II
October 4, 1957, November 3, 1957– The Sputnik satellites were launched by Russia. The first one was the first satellite ever sent into orbit around earth. The second Sputnik had also been put into orbit but it had contained a dog inside of it. These events had stopped the race to space but had started the race to the moon. -
Shooting Match
Nikita Khrushchev suggests during an interview that the Soviet Union and the United States have a shooting match. When the United States heard the interview, all it did was make them more fearful that the United States was falling behind in the arms race with the Soviets. -
NASA is Formed
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was passed by the United States Congress. This establishment was the sign that the Soviet Union was not alone in the space race. Even though the soviets had sent two satellites successfully into orbit around the earth, the United States was determined to beat them on the next thing on the space race list, obtaining the goal of having a man on the moon. -
Khrushchev Visits Los Angeles
Khrushchev is known for having a bad temper. So when an anti-communist was making comments about communism and the Soviet Union, he became very angry and started to threaten the anti-communist. To make matters worse, Khrushchev wanted to go to Disneyland and he was told by government authorities that for his safety it would be better for him if he did not go to Disneyland. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
President Kennedy ordered the CIA to prepare a force of Cuban exiles for an attack on Cuba in March 1960. Even though he was warned that this invasion would be an embarrassment for the United States, he still continued the order. The invasion immediately fell apart when Castro had his military unexpectedly counterattack the exiles’ ships. -
Berlin Wall Constructed
Also known as the iron curtain, the Berlin Wall separated East and West Berlin. Around midnight East German soldiers had placed 30 miles of a barbed wire barrier to prevent East German citizens from crossing the border into West Germany mainly through Berlin. Over time the barbed wire was replaced with a cement wall with barbed wire surrounding the top of the wall and was guarded around the clock with soldiers in watch towers who had access to machine guns and explosives. -
Tsar Bomba
The biggest bomb ever made was made due to demand by Khrushchev. It released fifty megatons in one nanosecond. Andrei Sakharov invented the Tsar Bomba. This bomb’s blast wave had the ability to wrap around the Earth three times. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union was installing several nuclear missiles under 100 miles away from the coast line of Florida. President Kennedy found out about how close the nuclear weapons were to the United States and ordered that the Soviet Union remove the missiles from Cuba. Since both countries would not compromise, there was a threat of World War III occurring which would have been a nuclear war. The threat lasted for about two weeks which was around the time that the United States and the Soviet Union c -
Checkpoint Charlie Incident
A standoff was occurring between the United States of America tanks, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) tanks at checkpoint Charlie soon after the Berlin Wall was built. It was over a dispute about whether or not East German guards were authorized by government authority to examine Allan Lightner’s travel documents, who was a United States diplomat. He was wanting to pass through the checkpoint to view an opera that was showing later on that day. Five days later, both the United S -
USS Pueblo Incident
The USS Pueblo was on the North Korean coast while preforming its routine surveillance when it was captured by North Korean patrol boats even though they were about 16 miles from shore line. They were charged with spying within the 12 mile territorial limit. After exactly eleven months of torture and one death, the remaining 82 crew members were freed from their captivity and were home just in time for Christmas. -
SALT I
Most commonly known as the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, SALT I was the first of the meetings about the Strategic Arms Limitation between the United States and the Soviet Union. August 3, 1972 was the day that the United States of America’s Senate signed their approval of the treaty. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
A group of Iranian students stormed into the American Embassy in Tehran taking 66 hostages. Over the course of the crisis 14 people had been released, while the other hostages were blindfolded and paraded in front of cameras and crowds. They weren’t allowed to read or speak and they were almost never allowed to change their clothes. -
United States and Soviet Union Boycotts of the Olympics
July 19, 1980 and July 28, 1984– The Summer Olympics of 1980 in Moscow was boycotted by the United States as an act to protest against the invasion in Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. The next Summer Olympics was scheduled to be in Los Angeles, United States was as well boycotted by the Soviet Union due to the fact that not many Americans did not like the Soviets. -
Korean Air Line Flight 007
Killing two hundred sixty nine passengers and crewmembers of Flight 007, the Soviet Union had shot down the airplane because the plane began to go off course and over the Kamchatka Peninsula where there were some top-secret military bases that the Soviet Union had owned. As a natural reaction, the Soviets sent two fighter jets to intercept the airline flight. Since one of the fighters did not receive a response, they launched a missile at KAL 007, which made the aircraft plummet out of the sky a -
Chernoyl Disaster
A group of engineers, who had little knowledge of reactor physics, were testing an experiment on the Number Four reactor. They wanted to see whether or not if on inertial power that the reactors turbine could run emergency water pumps. Their experiment failed and a chemical explosion of more than fifty tons of radioactive material went into the atmosphere, where it was carried by the currents in the air. Attempting to cover up the accident, Soviet authorities began to quickly and quietly evacuat -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Thousands of students that did want a greater democracy and for the Chinese Communist Party to resign were arrested and or killed by the Chinese troops. This tragedy that was delivered by the Chinese government had shocked the world during the Cold War. -
Malta Summit
Just three weeks after the Berlin Wall was deconstructed, President George H.W. Bush and USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared the end of the Cold War. Both President Bush and Gorbachev had hesitation about if the declaration was in fact true. This summit also marked that the tensions between the two superpowers were declining. -
Dissolving of the Soviet Union
Once it had collapsed, the Soviet Union was divided into fifteen separate countries due to lack of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. This event had ended the Cold War. Mikhail Gorbachev had also resigned as president of the Soviet Union on this day.
