THE COLD WAR

By ludmihischier

  • UN - Security Council

    • The US formalizes the future creation of the UN.
    • The US, the UK, the URSS, China and France become the five permanent members for the Security Council.

  • The Postdam Conference

    Germany, Berlin, Austria and Vienna are divided into 4 zones of occupation.

  • Attack to Japan

    • The US obtains a commitment from the USSR to attack Japan.
    • The US, the UK and the USSR want to recreate Poland. The USSR will keep the territory already conquered and the country will be moved to Germany's detriment.
    • Germany and Austria will be occupied and partitioned.

  • Surrender of Germany

    Surrender of Germany
    The UN is then created in San Francisco.

  • Hiroshima

    Hiroshima
    • First signs of disagreement between the three powers.
    • The US drops its first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

  • Nagasaki

    Nagasaki
    • A second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.
    • The USSR begins a military invasion of Manchuria, southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
    • After negotiate, the US obtains a temporary division of Korea.

  • End of World War II

    • Japan signs its surrender, making the end of World War II.
    • The US and the USSR are the world's two superpowers.

  • The Zhdanov Doctrine

    Andrei Zhdanov, a Soviet represenative, makes a speech in which he confirms that the world is now divided into two camps:
    - One imperialist, led by the US.
    - The other democratic, led by the Soviet Union.

  • Marshall Plan

    Marshall Plan
    In Western Europe:
    - The Communist parties rise.
    - The Marshall Plan is promulgate: designed to provide credit to speed up reconstruction, stabilize economies, and strenghten US influence.

  • Cominform

    Stalin reacts by founding the Cominform, an alliance of Communist countries dominated by the USSR.

  • The Truman Doctrine

    • Truman makes a speech in which he declares that the world is now divided between democracies and authoritarian regimes and that the US will embark on an inventionist policy around the world to stem the spread of communism.
    • The US supports Turkey and takes over the arming of royalists in Greece.

  • CIA

    CIA
    The CIA is created in the US to defend the country's interests around the world.

  • USSR

    • As tensions mount, the USSR invests massively to make up for its military and industrial lag with the USA, and to develop atomic weapons.
    • Stalin fails to impose his policies on Tito, leading to the first tensions between the two.
    • In the heart of Europe, Czechoslovakia is still seen as a bridge between the two blocs.

  • The Treaty of Brussles

    In response, the UK, France, and the Benelux countries form a military alliance to repel any attack from the East.

  • Czechoslovak coup d'État

    • The country remains a democracy with a strong Communist party. But in February 1948, after some tension, the Soviets support a coup d'état, and the country falls entirely into the Eastern bloc.

  • 1948

    • In Germany, the four fail to reunify the country. The United States and the United Kingdom then persuade France to unite their zones of occupation to create a federal, democratic German state to block the spread of communism.
    • Stalin responds with a coup de force, imposing a blockade on West Berlin.
    • The Westerners then organize an airlift that supplies the two million inhabitants of West Berlin for a year.

  • Stalin and Yugoslavia

    • Stalin formalizes the split with Tito, and excludes Yugoslavia from the Cominform. As a result, Yugoslavia stops supplying arms to the Communist camp in Greece.

  • NATO

    NATO
    • Western European countries form a military alliance with the USA and Canada to create NATO. If one member of the alliance is attacked, all of the others agree to defend it.
    • The countries of Western Europe are under the protection of the US, which is the only country to possess atomic weapons.

  • Creation of the Federal Republic of Germany

  • China and the Soviet Union

    • In China, Mao Zedong's Red Army overcomes the Kuomintang nationalists.
    • Mainland China becomes Communist and allies itself with the Soviet Union.

  • USSR: first atomic bomb

    The USSR successfully tests its first atomic bomb.

  • The First Indochina War

    War rages in Indochina between Communist forces and the French army, which is struggling to regain control of the territory.

  • The Korean War

    • The North Korean army, supported by the USSR, begins its invasion of South Korea.
    • The United States turns to the UN to organize the defense of South Korea. But on the Security Council, China is still represented by the Republic of China, which has taken refuge in Taiwan, provoking the displeasure of Stalin, who boycotts the meetings.

  • An army to defend South Korea

    • Without veto or opposition, the UN agrees to form an army under US command to defend South Korea.

  • New alliances

    • The US fears having to intervene militarily elsewhere in the world, and forges new alliances with the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, where it ends the occupation.
    • The US also fears a Soviet offensive against West Germany, which is not allowed to rearm so then applies political pressure to give the authorization for the country to rearm, and to join NATO.

  • Stalin dies

    Stalin dies
    In the USSR, Stalin dies without having prepared for succession. A period of instability follows, during which Nikita Khrushchev gradually establishes himself as the country's new leader.

  • Operation Ajax

    In Iran, the CIA secretly organizes a coup d'état to overthrow the Prime Minister, who has nationalized oil.

  • Ceasefire signed in Korea

    A ceasefire is signed in Korea, and a demilitarized zone becomes the new border between the two Koreas. This zone is constantly guarded by over a million soldiers.

  • Eisenhower

    Eisenhower
    In the United States, the new President Eisenhower relies on the country's nuclear superiority, and advocates for the installation of atomic weapons in Western Europe to discourage any attack.

  • United Fruit Company

    In Central America, in Guatemala, the left-wing government introduces an agrarian reform that is unfavorable to the powerful US company, the “United Fruit Company”. The latter then asks the CIA to organize a coup d'état to overthrow the government.

  • Defeat of France and division of Vietnam

    In 1954, in Indochina, France is defeated, and forced to withdraw. Laos and Cambodia are recognized, and Vietnam finds itself divided along the 17th parallel, with the north communist, and the Republic of Vietnam in the south.

  • Bandung Conference

    29 so-called “Third World” countries, most of which have recently gained their independence, meet in Bandung to condemn colonization and proclaim their neutrality.

  • Warsaw Pact

    • The USSR responds to the integreation of Germany into NATO by creating the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance between the Eastern Bloc countries.
    • Agreement is also reached on the reunification of Austria, but the new country must remain neutral in the context of the Cold War.

  • Germany is integrated into NATO

  • End of colonial domination by the UK and France.

    This event marks the end of colonial domination by the United Kingdom and France.

  • The Hungarian revolution

    In Hungary, an anti-Soviet insurrection rages and gains momentum. The Soviet army intervenes to quell the rebellion.

  • The Suez Crisis

    • In Egypt, the new president Nasser nationalizes the strategic Suez Canal, to the detriment of the French and British, who were controlling it until then.
    • In response, the latter ally themselves with Israel and launch a military offensive to regain control of the canal.
    • The USSR, allied with Egypt, threatens to retaliate with nuclear weapons, forcing the United States to call off the operation.

  • Mutual assured destruction (MAD)

    From then on, only the USSR and the USA impose their policies. But both have now developed large nuclear arsenals, and know that war would have devastating consequences.

  • SPUTNIK 1

    SPUTNIK 1
    The USSR surprises and worries the USA by sending the first satellite into space.

  • China bombs islands controlled by Taiwan

    • China begins bombing islands that are controlled by Taiwan.
    • The United States then deploys a military fleet in the Straits and puts an end to the offensive.

  • The Great Leap Forward

    The Soviet Union didn’t intervene on behalf of its Chinese ally, which irritates Mao Zedong. The latter distances himself from the Soviet Union, and launches his own development programs.

  • The Soviet Union and Cuba

    • The Soviet Union takes advantage of the failure of the Cuban invasion to move closer to Cuba, and obtains authorization to deploy nuclear missiles there, which pose a direct threat to United States soil.
    • Kennedy deploys his military fleet and imposes a total quarantine on the island, blocking the arrival of Soviet ships.
    • Tensions reach a climax, and the two powers are on the brink of nuclear war. But an agreement is finally reached.

  • Indonesia

    • In Indonesia, the United States supports General Suharto who, after overthrowing the Communist government, begins a bloody crackdown on his opponents.
    • More than 500,000 Communists are massacred, and hundreds of thousands more are imprisoned in camps.

  • The war in Vietnam

    The war in Vietnam intensifies, forcing the United States to deploy up to 500,000 troops.